A must-read book by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD.

This is the complete text of a must - read book for all Catholics entitled "Jewish identity," by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD. Essentially, it deals with the idea that the Jewish identity was "phased out" as the Gentile presence became more important in the Church, and helps Hebrew Catholics find their place in the Church, which in turn helps the world more clearly understand the mission of the Church, and helps to reconcile painful histories between Jews and Christians.

Hebrew Catholics: Jewish Identity (the book) - Elias Friedman OCD (Complete version)

Charlotte Mason 101

If you're just now hearing about Charlotte Mason, there is a lot of information to sift through.
I'm by no means an expert, but Charlotte has had a profound impact on my family and on our homeschool, and I've been asked to give some information about her, so I'm happy to share what I do know.

In the past, I've been drawn to Charlotte Mason but have chosen many times to go with a different philosophy or outlook in the education of my own children, found that it wasn't working for my family, and then tried Charlotte's way, and found it to be superior. I've even gone through phases where I was VERY distrustful of her ideas, but as time went on they proved to be effective in areas I was really struggling with. So by trial and error, I find myself saying often "I wish I had trusted Charlotte more from the beginning."

There are a lot of people out there providing a "Charlotte Mason" style curriculum these days. There is need to make definitions and help people understand what a CM education is and what it isn't, because the ideas that people have about Charlotte's methods aren't always accurate.

From the very beginning, it's critical to say that in your own homeschool, implementing the methods I'm about to describe will give you a good foundation, but they will not provide your child with "a Charlotte Mason education" unless you read her works for yourself and incorporate her world view, ideas, and vision into your parenting and schooling choices. They are a good backdrop, but they aren't the heart of a CM education. They are necessary methods, but they aren't the only thing you have to do to consider your children "educated" by Charlotte's standards. If you have seen kids raised on Charlotte Mason's ideas and want that for your own family, it won't happen just by incorporating just one or two of these ideas-- it's actually the combination of methods working together towards an ideal or vision shared with Charlotte that creates the whole picture.

For that reason, it is critical that ANY parent who plans on implementing a Charlotte Mason education read her works themselves. I have been reading Charlotte Mason's works for seven years. In the beginning, I didn't have that much interest, but as I grew and experimented with parenting and schooling ideas, I became very attached to her and to her ideas. In our homeschool, Charlotte is like a trusted, old friend. But that only came about because we read her works. We still are, and we are still learning from her daily.

You can purchase her works in printed form or read them free online at Ambleside, and if you plan on pursuing a CM education that should be your first stop after reading this blog.

What is a Charlotte Mason education?

A Charlotte Mason education is an education that follows the philosophy of victorian-era educator Charlotte Mason. In her time, children were receiving what's known as a Classical eduction, and she chose to make some positive changes in the way that education was provided, such as considering with great care that a child is a person, not a programmable machine.

In a nutshell, her philosophy can be described as "self-education." Her goal was to teach children to learn to love learning, and therefore to be able to learn anything and always seek what is right and true and good.
Charlotte believed that education did not end with "school" but was a whole life experience. She is famous for saying that "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." Meditating on that gives one a sense of what she was trying to accomplish.
Her motto for students was "I can. I am. I ought. and I will!"

Her philosophy is best encompassed in the following quote:

“The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

Charlotte was also a Christian. For the curious, she was Episcopalian by denomination  (therefore accepted in many ways by both Catholic/Orthodox AND protestants) and her faith informed everything she said and did. The end-all, be-all of education, in her mind, was knowledge of God.
There are secular Charlotte Mason curriculum providers out there, but they will not be, by nature, completely in line with her way of thinking. Her goal was to pass on faith.

“This idea of all education springing from and resting upon our relation to Almighty God-we do not merely give a religious education because that would seem to imply the possibility of some other education, a secular education, for example. But we hold that all education is divine, that every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above, that the Lord the Holy Spirit is the supreme educator of mankind, and that the culmination of all education (which may at the same time be reached by a little child) is that personal knowledge of and intimacy with God in which our being finds its fullest perfection.”

She did not focus on religious education, therefore, but did include daily catechism instruction and Bible study in her schedules. She also tried to help children understand from the beginning that all things they study in creation come from God and ultimately can lead us to Him.

How does CM compare to other educational styles?

CM is not child-led. Therefore CM is not unschooling, nor is it related to Waldorf or Montessori, although they may share some qualities and ideas. CM is NOT a unit-studies approach. CM is not "traditional" in the sense of the modern educational methodology in which subjects are taught one after the other using textbooks in a teacher-directed classroom setting where an hour or so is afforded each subject and tests or examinations constitute affirmation of knowledge. CM IS classical, but it retains an element of human dignity and gentle-ness that is not present in most Classical mindsets. It does teach the liberal arts, and focus on philsophy and reason, but only insofar as philosophy and reason help us to understand God and creation, not so much for the sake of itself. CM can be described as "well-rounded," incorporating many elements but also standing on it's own and completely unique.

What are CM's methods?

There are several methods Charlotte advocated using. If you are new to CM but not to homeschooling, I suggest going through these in order, and beginning to implement them one by one, rather than making a big change all at once. The important thing to realize is that Charlotte viewed education as "an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." In that regard, choosing a Charlotte Mason education means that the entire family is embarking upon an educational journey and way of life. It is not confined to "school hours."

The first of these is a foundation built on good habits. Charlotte advocated teaching good habits from birth and focused in the early years on habits of obedience, truthfulness, and attention above all.
Giving a child plenty of good habits, from personal care to religious habits and everything in between "lays the rails" so to speak and allows a family to develop order and ordered thoughts. This is critical. If you realize that your child has many "bad" habits, instead of despairing, select a good habit and begin to work on it. When that one is established, select a new habit and work on that one, keeping an eye on the old habit.
The best book available on Charlotte Mason's ideas about habits is found here.
 It takes all of Charlotte's quotes about habits and arranges them in a clear format. I consider this book the Charlotte Mason parenting Basic Training Manual, and recommend it to everyone.

The second of these is the idea of a living education using living books. Most people are attracted to CM without knowing much about it based solely on this concept-- that we should select excellent literature over garbage and that we should teach from "real" books (biographies, historical novels, etc) over textbooks. These books place the student in context and help them to really feel their way into a subject by bringing it to life. As a caveat, I should say that many, many people think they are doing this by using "living books" in their curriculum, but then cramming tons of them into their year. CM advocated developing a relationship with a book, reading it slowly over months and years, as opposed to all at once. Even for her youngest students, she also took an "only the best" approach, avoiding what she called "twaddle" (books that weren't literary in quality-- junk food books) and books which overstimulated due to graphics or anything else. Think older books--- books using complex language in creative ways and with few, beautiful illustrations, for example. Charlotte also read poetry to her children every day and they were expected to frequently memorize poems and hymns and passages of scripture or catechism.

Next, there is the method of narration. Narration is the art of "telling back" and is the foundation of a Charlotte Mason language arts program. Through it the child learns composition and demonstrates reading comprehension. Vocabulary is built. Narration is the key that unlocks the CM education because it creates a relationship between the child and the text. In order to use narration in your homeschool, first select a passage that contains one episode--- usually a chapter, but it can be as short as a paragraph, especially for younger children. BEFORE you read, identify any complicated ideas or words you think the child may have problems with. For younger children, it may help to draw a narration map containing all the main characters and events in picture, or for an older child you can simply write on a white board the names of the places and people involved. Then read the story all the way through. Do not repeat yourself. If the child misses what happened.... tell them to pay closer attention next time and don't go back.  Read animatedly and with expression in your voice. Do not stop to explain terms you think are difficult, but if the child asks what something means feel free to go ahead and answer and move on. Once you are done reading, close the book and ask the child for a narration. In the beginning, they may give you only a sentence, but within weeks of daily practice they will be able to re-tell the story, often surprising you with the vivid details and language they can use. After they have narrated, you can join in the "Great conversation." This is the dialogue of the ages and puts you in partnership with other thinkers of ideas gone past. Have the child ask you his or her questions. Don't ask your own until they have done so, but feel free then to point out something they might have missed. The idea is to allow them to make their own connections. Do not begin to use this method until the child is ready-- ideally around 6. Never force a narration out of a child younger than six. In the beginning, the child will be narrating books which you have read to her/him. By the end, the child will be narrating his/ her own books to you--- usually starting around 3rd or 4th grade.

The Book of Centuries is next. Like many homeschoolers, Charlotte Mason's students used a timeline, but instead of a flat timeline they created their own timeline notebook. This enabled them to interact with the topics they studied and see them in chronological order as a whole leading through time. When you study a historical person, place, or event, you can include it in your Book of Centuries. Usually, families with students younger than 4th grade will have a communal Book of Centuries and then each student will keep their own. For younger students I will often put the narration map we drew into the book as the entry for that event or person-- it later helps to jog their memory when they go over the book. In geography, Charlotte used map drills, usually asking children to fill in blank map outlines. She also used poetry and art and nature study to help children develop a relationship with the lands they studied.

Copywork and dictation is the CM answer to spelling, grammar, and handwriting. Charlotte wanted her students to have legible handwriting that wasn't complicated and she used a technique that many people today equate with the italic font. Many CM homeschoolers, including my family, use the Getty Dubay handwriting program because it shares many facets with CM's ideas about handwriting and helps to build the habit of attention. However, no handwriting program is necessary-- Charlotte simply showed the child how to form the letters and focused on perfect execution. Once a child is comfortable enough forming the letters, he or she can begin copywork. Pull a sentence or paragraph (start with a small sentence!) from their schoolbooks and ask them to copy it exactly. Demand perfection and encourage the child to do his or her best work. Do not let them turn in sloppy work!
Once copywork has begun it continues throughout the years. Charlotte's students kept a copybook called a "Book of Mottoes" where they transcribed passages that they intended to use for character formation. My students keep a copybook where they transcribe poems, scripture passages, and hymn lyrics they find meaningful. Once copywork is established you can begin dictation. This again is a foundational method-- select a passage from the child's reading. Allow the child to read it over and internalize it, and then read it aloud to the child who then writes it without looking. Correct the mistakes made during the dictation and have him/her copy it over.
Charlotte didn't teach Grammar to children below 4th grade. Her students, however, were incredible writers and oral narrators, and had a much higher reading level than other children in comparison.

Short lessons is a fundamental CM way of ensuring things get done without overstimulating the young child. Subjects are rotated out one at a time, with a varied schedule (ie. we do something different each day) and with short lesson times. Younger children (up through 3rd or 4th grade) will use increments of just 10-15 minutes, and older children 20-30 minutes. This ensures that we get a lot done in one day without making things dreary and difficult for the child. Further, it builds good habits-- it teaches the child that there is no time for foolishness and that dawdling does not pay. Charlotte emphasized the need to train dawdling right out of a child. She said: "When a child grows stupid over a lesson, it is time to put it away."
She advocated putting it away and doing something COMPLETELY different with the child and then coming back to it afterwards. This is a very effective way of both training them to work and yet still doing so gently so that there are few "blow ups." CM parents, I've noticed, who follow this advice have the least schooltime resistance from their children. In fact, it becomes delightful.

Nature Study is another method of Charlotte's that formed all her students and created in them many wonderful habits. For her, nature study was a critical part of our overall mental health, our religious education, our physical health, our habit/character formation, and many other important facets of our personality. Charlotte Advocated going outside for great lengths of time, every day, rain or shine, cold or heat.  If you intend to run or are thinking about running a CM homeschool, know that you AND your students will spend a great deal of time outdoors. Her students had nature journals which they painted or drew in, and learned to identify and befriend every aspect of the natural world around them. Although we do FORMAL nature study once a week in my house (sometimes twice) we spend time outdoors every single day, and many times we spend MOST of the day out there. Of all the CM methods, this is the one that has produced, in conjunction with intentional habit forming, the most beautiful visible results in my home. Nature study IS science for the first six years or so of a CM child's education, and learning to identify and connect with and order the natural world, scientists will tell you, is the perfect building block and foundation for later scientific study in other areas (chemistry, biology, physics-- all take on a purpose when we have awe and respect for the natural world and the created order.)

Fine Arts Studies and Handicrafts are other integrated aspects of Charlotte's methods. A child receiving a CM education will, in one week, do a hymn study, a folk music study, a classical composer study, a poem study, and a picture study. These more or less resemble each other in method: the child is shown a picture or listens to a piece of music, discusses various aspects of it, and it is then learned and put away. These lessons are short and very enjoyable. Children of all ages can be put together on the same piece of art or music, which makes family time interesting and lively. Handicrafts are crafts that produce works--- such as needlepoint, wood working, etc. These are usually worked on in the afternoons, after "school" is finished.

There are many other aspects of a CM education, but these are the core methods.

What about the early years?

In the early years, Charlotte focused very much on good personal habits, and advocated leaving formal "school" of any kind out of the picture COMPLETELY until about age six. Younger children should get plenty of see and touch experiences and interactions with the REAL world (not plastic food, but making real food with mom in the kitchen. Not pretending to study nature, but being given a real magnifying glass and a real journal to draw in. Etc.) They should get plenty of outdoor time and exercise, healthy food, and lots of love and affection. They should also be learning discipline and forming habits of cleanliness, obedience, truthfulness, attention, moral habits, religious habits, etc.
Charlotte believed in giving children room to grow and lots of free space to do so. She didn't believe in directing their play, but in leaving them to their imaginations. However, she advocated strongly for the development of good habits-- so the children were not "wild" as some might imagine,  but instead  free, disciplined, and delightful.
Children with older siblings doing formal school should certainly be free to participate in family schoolwork such as picture study, hymn study, read alouds if they desire, etc.

Regarding the early years, Charlotte Mason said:

"Away with books, and 'reading to'--for the first five or six years of life. The endless succession of story-books, scenes, shifting like a panorama before the child's vision, is a mental and moral dissipation; he gets nothing to grow upon, or is allowed no leisure to digest what he gets."

She also said:

"In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air."

A wonderful resource for the Early Years is this book.

Is there a pre-made curriculum you recommend that can be called "Charlotte Mason" style?

There are a few CM curriculum providers out there, but the beauty of a CM education is that the parent can carefully select, using her standards, whatever books feel right for the family. The closest curriculum to that which Charlotte used herself is called Ambleside Online. This is the curriculum I use myself, but because there are a few un-Catholic concepts presented in the history books selected, namely about the reformation and about the way we Catholics look at the religious historical aspects of England or America, for example.
Concerned Catholics then created an attempt at a Catholic Charlotte Mason Curriculum, called Mater Amabilis. (at the time of writing this blog, their website appears to be down for the moment.)

Personally, I prefer Ambleside to Mater Amabilis for many reasons, and use Ambleside with no problem, simply substituting any concerning material on my own. I read the children's schoolbooks ahead of time so I'm well aware of what to look out for, and I find the selections on Ambleside to be far superior to anything else put out there. In fact, as an adult I enjoy my first grader's selections as much as she does. You can read about my own substitutions and booklists here on my homeschooling blog.
Ambleside also uses almost all books available online for free, and does not charge for the use of their curriculum. The project is a labor of love made by a community of women who, like myself, have fallen in love with Charlotte's ideas and methods. I love to support them and promote them and am happy to help any Catholics who desire to use Ambleside with a little tweaking because it is thanks to Ambleside that I can say we have a truly delightful homeschooling experience.

What about scheduling?

Daily, a CM student will practice:

Phonics/ Reading and free reading
Arithmetic
Copywork/Dictation
Grammar if s/he is in 4th grade or above
Oral or written narration
Poetry
Foreign language
Bible study
Outdoor time
Habit formation
Handicrafts

Weekly, a CM student will practice:

Nature Study
Map Drills
Book of Centuries
Picture Study
Hymn Study
Classical study
Poet study
Folk music study
Music Theory/Instrument
Art
Citizenship

In addition, each term a CM student will study both selections from Shakespeare and from Plutarch.

In our homeschool, we devote one day a week to each subject. We discuss the bible at breakfast. After breakfast, we pray together. Then the day "begins."
In the early parts of the day we do the hard stuff: exercise, chores and the "dreary" 3Rs, and then we break for outdoor time and nature study. The later part of the morning is devoted to reading living books on the day's subject, narration, and conversation. We then eat lunch, take naps, do some crafts or projects, have dinner, pray together again, and then read all together before bed.

Our basic schedule is:

Mondays: Science & Nature study
Tuesdays: Literature & Poetry
Wednesdays: Geography & Biography
Thursdays: History & Church History
Fridays: Music & Arts

A CM student is able to do all this AND to finish formal school before noon each day because there is an order and structure to the day. It is truly amazing to see and participate in. If you have any questions please feel free to post them below, and let me know how I can help you get started. The best advice I can give you is to begin to read Charlotte's works yourself. Ask other homeschooling mothers around you if they are using Charlotte's Methods. Spend some time getting to know the wonderful CM resources available on the internet, especially at Ambleside Online.

Have fun!

Third week of Advent-- Joy is here!

The events of last week have broken so many hearts.
On Friday, a young man who appears to have struggled with a neurological and a personality disorder all his life, shot his own mother and then shot his way into an elementary school where he murdered many beautiful young children and their teachers and support staff. More challenging for most people to comprehend-- there appears to be no motive.

For Christians, of course, the problem of evil is not a new one.
The Catechism makes this clear when it says:

"This dramatic situation of the whole world, which is in the power of the evil one, makes man's life a battle: The whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day." -CCC 409

But for most people walking around trying to make sense of what happened, this quote from the catechism is not a tangible reality. In fact, what happened on Friday is incomprehensible to most, and therefore utterly devastating, to those affected by this horrible news.

In the face of this senseless violence, many people have responded by taking down their Christmas decorations, because they cannot feel joy in their hearts. What meaning can Christmas have when so many beautiful young lives have been cut short for no reason at all?

And yet this is the message of the third week of Advent: REJOICE, even when all looks bleak and dark. This message is so powerful.
When my family gathers around the dinner table or family altar to sing our favorite advent hymn with the advent candles lit and the lights turned down low, this is the refrain that moves us to tears and in which our serene voices seem to carry not from us, but from heaven: REJOICE! REJOICE! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The shooting happened on the feast day of Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite monk, mystic,  and spiritual director who suffered greatly in his quest for holiness.

When my first reaction was one of rage and fury at the shooter, a troubled young man named Adam Lanza, It was St John of the Cross who whispered to me: "Where there is no love, put love, and there you will find love." Within the hour I was reflecting on what I could do to improve care for the mentally ill in my community. I suddenly felt compassion for him and for his mother and whole family.... a family which had been ripped apart, no doubt in part by this very illness and everything that it entailed. I felt compassion for all those who daily experience life with the mentally ill. As someone who has seen the poisonous effects of mental illness in my community and family time and again, I began to feel compassion and love for the Lanzas. My heart was changed.

In that same way, we can "put on the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:13-16) and be  transformed in our minds. We can stop our suffering thinking and put it to use. What meaning can we ascribe to our suffering that gives us cause to rejoice?

First, we can offer our suffering up. When we give to God those things which cause us pain we participate in the Cross of  Christ and great joy can come out of knowing that we have co-operated with Him in His mission. We believe in redemptive suffering, that our suffering can bring about a positive result. And so, though we find it so painful, we can lay our pain on the altar and say to Our Lord, who suffered so greatly for us, that we are willing to take on some of that weight. It grieves the heart of God, who wills good and not evil for each of us according to scripture, to see the innocent suffer. In fact, He does not tolerate it.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (Habbakuk 1:13, NIV)

Indeed, why??
We can find the answer in the plans God has for our suffering. Glory is revealed in suffering. If we have not overcome, we have nothing to rejoice in and life becomes stale. A stale life is the result of ingratitude. My husband likes to say that ingratitude is the mother of iniquity. When we are ungrateful, we begin to turn sour. A life of perpetual "fun" is empty and meaningless. This is why Scripture tells us to praise God.

Upon hearing the news, most people had the reaction of desiring to hug their own kids a little longer. In the morning, many may have sent them off to school with a sigh of relief:  Perhaps they thought: "Finally, some quiet around the house!" But a few hours later, many of them raced to school to pick up their children with one thing on their minds: GRATITUDE.

In order to rejoice, we need to start with obedience. We cannot put on the mind of Christ if we are not doing what He says to do. Some of those messages are particularly hard. He tells us, for example, to love the unloveable. This includes people with mental illnesses, who are made in God's image. It is hard to love people who are hard to love. It is hard to rejoice in our pain! And yet those of us who walk the Christian walk will tell you that we have experienced our greatest personal growth through accepting this truth and following Nike's famous advice: Just do it. This is how we are transformed and transform the world.

There is a little known passage in Ezekiel that demonstrates this reality.

Ezekiel 24:18 says:

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

Did you catch that? In the evening, his wife died. This was his Dark Night. But in the morning, he did as he was commanded. The great blessing for Ezekiel, and the fact that even today we reflect on his experiences and life in our own pursuit of holiness, was that in the morning, he did as he was commanded. Untold grace flowed through those actions. It was through Ezekiel that we receive the vision of the dry bones snapping back to life:

37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 38, NIV)

Saint John of the Cross spoke of this Dark Night often-- in fact it was the subject of most of his writing. He taught that the Dark Night was a necessary step in our faith lives and union with God. He advised people to stay quiet in their own Nights and continue to pray although they may feel numb. In fact, he taught that this numbness of feeling was a blessing that would later enable us to rejoice unspeakably and forever!

Ezekiel 24:17 says:
Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.”

I believe this is the key to our hope. if you are a Catholic today, you have the Bread of Angels to eat instead. We have this Eucharistic banquet to partake of... human sorrow, though we can experience is, is not the end. We are a people of the resurrection, and there is no permanence in our sorrow. Though we grieve these victims here on earth, when we receive communion we are united to them and in their presence with Jesus-- they are closer than our breath.

The command to love one another is not something Jesus took lightly. In fact, He scripture records that He called it the second greatest commandment. While many grapple for a way to cope with their loss and with the fear and sadness they experience in their suffering, Jesus Himself has provided the answer.

On the feast of St John of the Cross, known for his joy in suffering, we were called to enter with him into the Dark Night.  There is a poem often attributed to him that will help us obey God's commandment to rejoice in the midst of our darkness:

And I saw the river over which every soul must pass
to reach the kingdom of heaven
and the name of that river was suffering:
and I saw a boat which carries souls across the river
and the name of that boat was love.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” –John 1:5

Credo Domine- Official Hymn for the Year of Faith

This is the English translation of Credo Domine, the official hymn for the Year of Faith.


1. Pilgrims we, full of expectation,
searching in the darkness.
Lord, you come, revealing the Father,
You for us are Son of the Most High.
Credo Domine, credo!
With the saints who are walking with us,
O Lord, we ask:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem! (continued after jump)

2. Pilgrims we, lost and despairing,
what bread for our journey?
Lord, your Birth feeds us with your light,
You for us are the Morning Star.
Credo Domine, credo!
With Mary, the first of all believers,
O Lord, we pray:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem!

3. Pilgrims we, broken and exhausted,
our wounds open still.
Lord, you heal those who seek you in the desert
You for us are the hand that heals.
Credo Domine, credo!
With the poor who are yearning for help,
O Lord, we implore:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem!

4. Pilgrims we, your cross on our shoulders,
we follow in your footsteps.
You arise in the morning of Easter,
You for us are life everlasting.
Credo Domine, credo!
With the humble who wish to be born anew,
O Lord, we plead:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem!

5. Pilgrims we, gathered by your call
for each new Pentecost.
You recreate the breath of the Spirit,
You for us are the Word of the future.
Credo Domine, credo!
With the Church which proclaims your Gospel,
O Lord, we invoke:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem!

6. Pilgrims we, thankful and united
each day that you give.
Lord, you guide us on the pathway of life
You for us are the hope of salvation.
Credo Domine, credo!
With the world where your kingdom is among us,
O Lord, we cry:
Adauge, adauge nobis fidem!
Credo Domine, adauge nobis fidem!

Covenant and Communion, a review

Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI by Scott Hahn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Absolutely incredible. I have hope again!
Scott Hahn explains the heart of Pope Benedict and the purpose of his pontificate in terms of his theological undertakings. Useful read for protestants, nondenominational Christians, Messianic Jews, Catholics, Orthodox, everybody!
He covers every topic of interest to me: from the Jewish roots of the Gospel mysteries to the de-Hellenization of society, the problematic results of using the historical-critical method, and so so much more.
OH, that Catholics would listen to their pope! That all would be one. Maybe we can be if we all read this.





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Lighting the Night!

We enjoy having friends over and
lighting the menorah every  year.
Right now, the light comes from outside,
but tonight it will come from us.

Chag Urim Sameach to those who are celebrating their miracles!
In our house, we are celebrating Hanukkah with you-- and many people keep asking us why.

There are several reasons Hanukkah might be a meaningful celebration to a Christian family, not the least of which is that it celebrates a miracle in which God preserved the Jewish people.
This is a victory for all people who believe in religious freedom.

The events of Hanukkah are recorded in the Deuterocanonical books-- they are not considered scripture by most protestants, but to Catholics and Orthodox these are sources of great treasure.
The Holy Maccabean Martyrs are considered saints by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and are commemorated on August 1. The events of their lives are certainly worthy of attention and reflection.

As an observant Jew, probably a pharisee, Jesus Himself observed Hannukah, and would have done so according to Jewish custom. We read in John 10:22:

Now it was the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 

And Jesus walked in the temple...

As a side note, it was at this time, while God's miraculous provision was being remembered,  that Jesus chose to utter these six unthinkable words: "I and my Father are One."  Words which by the way are outrageous to a Jew, but considered to be truth by followers of the itinerant Rabbi from Nazareth.

The feast of the Dedication was known as the Festival of Lights, (ie. Hanukkah,) and commemorated the re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC. You can read about these events in 1 Mc 1-4, which is considered scripture for Catholics and Orthodox but not protestants at this time. According to the Orthodox Study Bible, "during this festival, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds."

The story of Hanukkah is very moving.
After many hardships during the terrible persecution of the Jews by the Greeks, the Jewish people managed to retake the land. Sadly, they had discovered there was only one day's worth of oil left with which to purify the temple. They lit the lamp anyways... and God Himself provided the oil necessary to keep them burning the eight prescribed days.

Tonight, we celebrate His miracle. Not the oil alone, which flowed freely, but the hearts of the strong who fought bravely.

My oldest daughter decorated our house in preparation for tonight's kickoff...it is one of our favorite times of year. There is a special bond of indescribable love for Jews everywhere that is felt at the moment of lighting, a love which has so sorely lacked throughout time.

I encourage you to ask your Jewish friends for a Hanukkah invite this week or to ask them how to celebrate in your own home. Also, if you are a Catholic, please keep in mind that the US Bishops have asked that you not alter or change the traditional Jewish blessings if you are participating in this or any Jewish holiday out of respect for the Jews to whom this holiday belongs.

Hearing the traditional blessings and remembering these events among family and friends, may our eyes and hearts be opened.

Advent, week one: HOPE is here!

I love the way God works.

Last week I posted about our annual Thankful for Advent party. If you remember, Advent is separated into four weeks, and each week has a theme. The theme for this week is hope. Since the theme for this year's party was discipleship in the family, we tried to work on applying the concept of building hope to our family discipleship.  This morning I learned that Hope is a gift God wants to give liberally!



One resource I had used was my friend Liza's blog, in which I read a while back a post which affected me for it's reminder to speak good and true things.

The particular hymn she brought up was one I remembered singing a few times and whose message I really appreciated for times of need. I determined that it would be one I should teach my children.  We learn a few hymns per month as a part of their homeschooling, and this seemed like one we should add to our repertoire.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.


My kids are very young, and singing hymns is touch-and-go right now.
They love to sing, but it is a painful process of off-key rambling for weeks before they learn the lyrics since they cannot read, or at least, not well enough to keep up. Some people find this stuff delightful. My husband and I, who are big on peace and order, not so much.

So the in-between learning stage of each song we impart to them has driven my husband and myself slightly bananas... although we have enjoyed the periodic misunderstandings of the lyrics we glimpse. One of my facebook statuses the other day said:

During bathtime tonight, (my second youngest) was singing about "another ground chicken named Sam," which gave me pause until I realized she was singing the lyrics to a hymn we are learning.... "all other ground is sinking sand." :D

Anyways, in the same vein, I had taught last week that family devotions created a culture of faith in the home, and that FAITH was the key that unlocked hope. I asked everyone to recommit themselves to family devotions, even if they were hard or seemed unfruitful, and I commited myself to persevering in that area as well.

My kids are just getting old enough to where we can enjoy family devotions without them being drudgery for the adults (my husband and I are not really "kid people." Ironically, considering we have a few of them.)
We have never dumbed things down for them, but finding meaningful ways to impart knowledge to a child that isn't campy or contrived is challenging. My husband definitely has more of a knack for speaking to children than I do.
The other night I was privileged to witness the Jesse tree family devotional of my friend Cherry's dinner table. Her children are young and they kept it very simple and fun. It was beautiful to experience, and seeing all the adults in the room intentionally spending this time with the children to pass on the faith was so encouraging. Her children were so happy and involved.
That simplicity is not something which comes naturally to me. It takes nurturing and sacrifice on my part to speak in their language.

To add to the difficulties, we live in a house with my father in law, who not being Catholic, has a great mistrust of any Catholic-isms we use in prayer or devotions (like lightng a candle or holding a crucifix), and who is notorious for interrupting our family devotions or prayer time for things that can-- and should-- wait.

So thusfar our family devotions have been kind of.... blah.... and I have rarely felt that everyone was making the deep connections outside of "surface behavior" that I hoped they would make. We aren't mining the Word, just kinda scratching the surface, and we are constantly interrupted.
Until today.

By some miracle, we woke up this morning and everyone remembered and understood the lyrics to our call to prayer and to our hymn.
My husband has recently noticed the kids were tuning out during LOTH and recommended something less burdensome,  so we are trying something new, focusing just on the mass readings but unpacking them together.

They actually listened with interest to the readings today. They sang our hymn with zeal and enthusiasm.
And would you believe that this just happened to be the Gospel reading?

Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

 To top it off, we had witnessed a huge argument between family members the day before and it had really affected us all. It triggered in each of us feelings of hopelessness and deep regret and sadness and anger.
We have just begun for now to get our family devotional reading from The Word Among Us, and I had printed out the following devotional to read to them:

Saint Nicholas, Bishop

“It did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” (Matthew 7:25)
Thursday, December 6
All builders know the importance of a firm foundation. Before they begin putting up walls or windows or doors, they make sure that they have dug down far enough to set the house on solid ground. Over time, however, the weight of the home or erosion of the soil can cause the foundation to shift, allowing cracks to form in the walls. These cracks act as a warning, telling the home­owner to fix the damage before things get worse. When the warning comes, the best solution is to attach sturdy steel piers to the foundation and bore deeper into the soil, set­ting the home on more solid rock.
Many of us would say that our spiritual homes are pretty well built. We believe in the Lord, we try to pray at Mass, and we seek to live out Jesus’ command to love one another. Even so, we can all proba­bly identify a couple of areas where cracks are beginning to show. Especially now, with the holidays approaching, family relationships can show the greatest signs of stress.
Don’t let the warnings go unheeded! Is there someone in your family whom you are strug­gling to love or forgive? Try to set the relationship on a firmer foun­dation—the foundation of Jesus’ teachings on love and mercy. Ideally, this may involve asking that person for forgiveness, or offer­ing forgiveness yourself. But it may also mean simply making a con­scious decision to treat that person with respect and continue to pray for healing and resolution in your relationship. Or it may mean just asking the Lord to keep the situa­tion from driving you crazy!
Whatever the situation, don’t feel as if you have to resolve everything by Christmas—although it would be wonderful if you could! If you could take just one more step in setting your own house on a more solid foundation, you will make sig­nificant progress. You can’t control how other people will respond to you, but you can set yourself on a foundation that will support what­ever stress may still be involved in the relationship.
“Jesus, help me to stand on solid rock in all my relationships this Advent. Guide me as I try to resolve any unsettled issues with my loved ones. Lord, I want my home to reflect your love, mercy, and peace.”
Isaiah 26:1-6; Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27

My father in law was in the kitchen as we went through it, and for the first time since moving in with him he actually listened and participated. Instead of derailing the direction of the conversation, he contributed and even mentioned how good it was for him to hear.
Can you imagine a more perfect moment?? We discussed forgiveness, how love was the answer to each of these problems, and we even broke into song at one point-- all singing the same hymn lyrics and realizing how they connected. It was the first time I felt TRUE fellowship with my children during bible STUDY. And I can't even begin to describe how beautiful our prayer time immediately afterwards was. They prayed from their hearts, and it was incredible.

My heart was filled with gratitude. And just as the theme for our week one of advent was HOPE, and as I had mentioned to the ladies at our Thankful for Advent party last week, through faithfulness to commit to family prayer time despite all distractions, faith is built, which leads to hope.

My friend Holly in Isla Vista went into labor on thanksgiving with their daughter Hope. Her husband says: "Remember that Thanksgiving gives birth to Hope!" It's true-- as we gathered round the breakfast table faithfully to pray and offer thanks, we received the gift of Hope!

So persevere, mammas, in family prayer time. Eventually those young ones will begin to grasp what you are trying to build and why, and better yet-- will bring their own bricks to lay on your firm foundation. All other ground is sinking sand!

St Barbara, Ora pro nobis!

Sorry about the formatting being so wonky, but here is a beautiful meditation from Dom Guerrangère's The Liturgical Year for today's feast of St Barbara. Happy advent to all! Don't forget to plant your wheat for the crèche today!

SAINT BARBARA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR

ALTHOUGH, in the Roman liturgy, St. Barbara is merely commemorated in the Office of St. Peter Chrysologus, yet the Church has approved an entire Office for the use of those Churches which honour
the memory of this illustrious virgin in a special manner. The legend which follows, although of considerable weight, has not, consequently, the authority of those which are promulgated for the use of the whole Church, in the Roman breviary. Let us not, on this account, be less fervent in honouring this glorious martyr, so celebrated in the east, and whose feast has been for so many ages admitted, with more or less solemnity, into the Roman Church. The acts of her martyrdom, though not of the highest antiquity, contain nothing in them but what redounds to the glory of God and the honour of the saint. We have already shown the liturgical importance which attaches to St. Barbara in this season of Advent. Let us admire the constancy wherewith this virgin waited for her Lord, who came at the appointed hour, and was for her, as the Scripture speaks, a Spouse of blood, because He put the strength of her love of Him to the severest of all tests.

Barbara, a virgin of Nieo·
media, the daughter of Dios·
coru~, a nobleman but a
superstitious pagan, came
readily, by the assistance of
divine grace, from the con·
templation of the visible
things of creation to the
knowledge of the invisible.
Wherefore, she devoted her·
self to God alone and to the
things of God. Her father,
desirous to preserve her from
all danger of insult, to which
he feared her great beauty
might expose her, shut her
up in a tower. There the
pious virgin passed her days
in meditation and prayer,
studying to please God
alone, whom she had chosen
as her Spouse. She cour·
ageously rejected several
offers of marriage, which
were made to her, through
her father, by rich nobles.
But her father hoped that,
by separating himself by a
long absence from his child,
her intentions would easily
change. Ile first ordered
that a bath should be built
for her in the tower, 80 that
she might want for nothing;
and then he set out on a
journey into distant coun·
tries.
During her father's abo
sence, 'Barbara ordered that
to the two windows already
in the tower a third should
be added, in honour of the
blessed Trinity; and that
on the edge of the bath the
sign of the most holy cross
should be drawn. When
Dioscorus returned home,
and saw these changes, and
was told their meaning, he
became so incensed against
his daughter, that he wont in
search of her with a naked
sword in his hand, and, but
for the protection of God,
he would have cruelly murdered
her. Barbara had
taken to Hight: an immense
rock opened before her, and
she found a path by which
she reached the top of a
mountain, and there she hid
herself in a cave. Not long
after, however, she was discovered
by her unnatural
father, who savagely kicked
and struck her, and dragging
her by the hair over the
sharp rocks, and rugged
ways, he handed her over to
the governor Marcian, that
he might punish her. He,
therefore, having used evcry
means to shake her constancy,
and finding that all
was in vain, gave ordcrs
for her to be stripped and
scourged with thongs, to
have her wounds scraped with
potsherds, and then to bo
dragged to prison. There
Christ, surrounded by an
immense light, appearing to
her, strengthened her in a
divine manner for the sufferings
she was yet to endure.
A matron, named Juliana.,
who witnessed this, was converted
to the faith, and
became her companion in
martyrdom.
At length Barbara had her
body torn with iron hooks,
her sides burnt with torches,
and her head bruised with
mallets. During these tor·
tures she consoled her com·
panion, and exhorted her to
fight manfully to the last.
Both of them had their
breasts cut off, were dragged
naked through the streets,
and beheaded. Tho head of
Barbara was out off by her
own father, who in his exces·
sive wickedness had hardened
his heart thus far. But his
ferocious cruelty was not
long left unpunished, for
instantly, and on the very
spot, he was struck dead by
lightning. The emperor
Justinus had the body of
this most holy virgin trans·
lated from Nioomedia to
Constantinople. It was after·
wards obtained by the Vene·
tians from the emperors
Constantine and Basil; and
having been translated from
Constantinople to Venice,
was deposited with great so·
lemnity in the basilica of St.
Mark. Lastly, at the earnest
request of the bishop of
Toreello and his sister, who
was abbess, it was translated
in the year of grace 1009, to
the nuns' church of St.
John the Evangelist, in the
diocese of Toreello ; where it
was placed in 0. worthy se·
pulchre. and from that time
has never ceased to be the
object of most fervent vene·
ration.
Such is the account of the life and martyrdom of
the courageous virgin of Nicomedia. She is invoked
in the Church against lightning, on account of the
punishment inflicted by divine justice on her execrable
father. This same incident of the saint's history has
suggested several Catholic cuswms: thus her name
is sometimes given w the hold of men-of war where
the ammunition is stowed; she is the patroness of
artillery men, miners, etc. ; and she is invoked by the
faithful against the danger of a sudden death.
Of the liturgical pieces, used in our western Churches
in honour of St. Barbara, we will content ourselves
with the following beautiful antiphon, composed in
the days of chivalry.

ANTIPHON
o divinre bonitatis immensa
clementia, qure Barbaram
illustravit vero claritatis
lumine, ut tcrrenre
dignitatis contempto splendore,
divinitatis conscia effici
mereretur: hrec vdut
lilium inter spinis enituit,
et lux in tenebris eluxit.
Alleluia.

o immeasurable mercy of
divine goodness, which did
enlighten Barbara with the
brightness of the true light,
making her worthy, by her
contempt for what was daz·
zling in earthly grandeur, to
be admitted to a. union with
God! As the lily among
thorns, as light in darkness,
80 shone Barbara. Alleluia.
The Greek Church is profuse in its praises of St.
Barbara. We will take from the Memea a few out of
the many strophes which are sung in honour of the
holy martyr:

HYMN OF THE GREEK CHURCH
When welcome death carne
before thee, 0 venerable martyr
Barbara! joyously and
nimbly didst thou run thy
course, and being immolated
by the wicked hands of an
impious parent, thou wast
offered a victim to God.
Now, therefore, art thou in
the choir of the truly wise
virgins, and contemplatest
the beauty of thy Spouse.

This lamb of thine, 0
Jesus, cries to thee with a.
loud voice: Thee, 0 my
Spouse, do I desire, thee do
I seek by my combat; I am
immolated and buried in thy
baptism; I suffer for thee,
that I ma.y reign with thee;
I die for thee, that I may live
in thee; receive me, therefore,
as a.n unreserved sacrifice
lovingly sacrificed to
thee. Save our souls, 0 merciful
Jesus, by her prayers.
Glorious Barbara I most
sacred rose grown out of a
thorny stem, sweetly perfuming
the Church, and ruddy
by the blood of thy battle!
we this day most fervently
proclaim thee blessed.
Neither the sweetness of
luxury, nor the flower of
beauty, nor riches, nor the
pleasures of youth, could rob
thee of thy energy, 0 glorious
Barbara, most fair virgin,
espoused to Christ.
All stood in amazement at
witnessing thy combat; for
thou didst endure the tortures,
and chains, and cruelties,
of thy persecutors, 0
Barbara, of wide-world fame!
Therefore, did God give thee
the crown thou didst covet;
thou didst run thy course
with courage, and he healed
thee.
Full of love for Jesus thy
Spouse, thy bright lamp was
well trimmed, and thy virtucs
shed forth their splendour,
0 virgin worthy of
praise!

Thankful for Advent Party 2012

Our first Shabbat of the Advent season.

Hello friends!

Last night was my annual "Thankful for Advent" party. This was the first year I have had a co-host and it was such an enjoyable experience. My dear friend Cherry and I have been in dialogue with God and each other all year over the same issues... namely discipleship, and our theme for this year was "Discipleship in the Family." Our hope was that, taking the Holy Family as their model, our guests would go home and look at advent in a new light- as an opportunity to create structured moments of prayer and traditions that lead to right living and discipleship in the midst of those closest to them. That what they started at Advent would stick all year long.
When Cherry gets a chance to type up the things she discussed, I will post them up here because they were so insightful! I love the joy she brings to everything. Before the party, my husband dropped me off at her home much earlier than she and I had planned. Because of that, I was present while her family had dinner and put up their first Jesse Tree ornament. Though I was nursing the baby in the next room while they ate to give them some privacy, I was so encouraged by the sweet sounds of a family doing just that--- parents teaching their children and training them up to live for the Lord. It was a beautiful blessing to me!

Another thing that greatly encouraged me was the topic. I got to share how one family made such an impact on me and reflect on how to impact my own family in the same way. And I got to use that family's own thoughts and blogs to do it. It was amazing!

So without further ado..... Here are the notes for Thankful  for Advent  2012! PLEASE join us next year if you missed this year.





ADVENT IS: -HOPEFUL EXPECTATION-

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.



1. Advent is waiting. But what are we waiting for?
JESUS to be birthed into the world.
We make a parallel between that and making a home for Him in our hearts.

2. How can we prepare ourselves to meet Him?

+ become holier
+ become more aware of Him
+ become more LIKE Him
_____________________
= PRAY, because we cannot do it alone. We need HIS Help, and He has sent us the Holy Spirit to do just that.
= STUDY, because we need to know how to pray and what to do
= ACT, because God will not move if we do not step out in faith and ACT. In fact, He says in the Word that faith without works is dead.

--Let’s look at those whose hearts WERE prepared to meet Him in the Bible for a minute: The Jews.


--During Advent, we study OT connections that prepare us for the coming of the Messiah
-- traditions like the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons walk us through salvation history.

(see resource table)

-- I Encourage you to do that year-round as a faith builder
-- Start a havurah or small group if you aren't already in one, where you can study and pray alongside people who share a desire to KNOW God more. This will help motivate you as you learn alongside your family members. Maybe even get several families together!

(see resource table)

-- A Jewish rhythm of life is centered around the liturgical and life cycle.
-- This is the Catholic way and always has been, but the Catholic year centers on the fulfillment of the feasts in Christ.
-- Protestants are observing both more and more.

The Holy Spirit is doing this work to remind people that time is going somewhere… that all this ends one day. Advent is the greater part of a whole….Christmas is not the whole story, we have Easter too.

As Fr. Barron pointed out in the video—waiting is half of it, and ACTING is the other- stepping out in faith. Responding to the tasks He gives us. What tasks do we have?

To start, Jesus himself has given us a GREAT COMMISSION. Let’s read it:

MT 28: 16-20.
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

So, God calls us to MAKE DISCIPLES, not just EVANGELIZE.

1. According to Scott Hahn’s Catholic Bible Dictionary, a disciple is a student or follower who emulates the example set by a master and seeks to identify with the master’s teachings.
(We can see, of course, that EVERYBODY is learning from someone from our kids responses to our teachings, even when we forget they are watching. Mt 10:24-25)
2. In a Jewish context (the culture of the students of Torah) a Rabbi means a “learned teacher.” A disciple means “his loving student.”
3. In fact, in the OT, the disciples followed the PROPHETS. (Is 8:16)
4. In the NT, John the Baptist had disciples (Mt 14:12, Jn 1:35, 3:25) as did the Pharisees (Mt 22:16, Mk 2:18, Lk 5:33) who called THEMSELVES disciples of Moses (Jn 9:28). There is a culture of discipleship that permeates the Bible. In the NT it most commonly means “a follower of Jesus Christ.”
BUT it can mean ANY follower. (acts 6:1, 9:1, 19, 13:52)
5. More specifically in the NT, it refers to one of the 12 apostles. (Mt 10:2, 28:16-20, Mk 16:14-18, Lk 24:47-49) There are over 250 references to DISCIPLE in the NT, most of which are found in the Gospels and in the book of ACTS.

Being a disciple of Jesus = radically different than any other experience of discipleship known to the Jews at that time. Why?

FIRST-- Most rabbis had followed the course of instruction of another rabbi. Jesus was no ordinary rabbi, because HE HAD NOT!

SECOND-- Rabbis sought permission to teach from Jewish authorities. Jesus did NOT seek it and did not need it! (Mt 13:54, John 7:15)

So: Jesus’ teaching was unprecedented.
(Mt 7:29, Mk 1:22)

ALSO-- His closest disciples did not come to Him for instruction. Instead, they were each PERSONALLY called by Him to a life of discipleship by His own authority!
(Mt. 4:18-22, Mk 1:16-20) (CCC 767, 787)

THIS discipleship was not merely a matter of listening to the teachings and learning wisdom. It was a commitment to a new way of life-- one modeled by Jesus!!

The Characteristics of this new discipleship were twofold:

FIRST- The disciples had to be willing to “take up their cross and follow Jesus.” (Mt 16:24, Mk 8:34, Lk 14:27)
SECOND- The disciples must be willing to LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND (family, friends, posessions) and share in His mission, joy, suffering, and even death for the sake of Jesus.
(Mt 8:19, 10:37, Lk 9:57, 14:26)

If you are a person who has ever gotten serious enough about God, I guarantee you have experienced both of these things.
--Carried your own cross
-- Left things/people behind.
If you have not, I encourage you to ask yourself WHY you haven’t yet? These are signs of our discipleship.

So there are FORMAL applications of discipleship, and there is a place and a time for those, as we have seen, and then there is the radically different experience of being a disciple of JESUS.
We have seen that we must PERSONALLY be discipled by JESUS, and that WE are called to represent Jesus to the world. We are called to BE discipled and TO disciple.

There are two aspects of human life that enable this process: family and community.

God willing, next year we will cover advent discipleship in the community. Today, we are focused on family. This might sound selfish, to start with ourselves, but families are in fact the building blocks of society.

--Consider that God Himself is a family.

Scott Hahn says:

"Earthly households reflect this in various ways but always imperfectly. “The life of the trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life,” says the Catechism in 234. It is the source of all other mysteries of faith, and the light that enlightens them."

I have a personal story of how it enlightened me. Many years ago on Christmas Eve, God saved me by sending me a revelation of His Son. I wasn't looking for anything at the time and it wasn't something I was actively seeking out, but like his own disciples God called me to follow Him despite the fact that I was going along in life thinking everything was fine. Little did I know that everything was NOT fine and that the path I was on lead to death. When I realized that, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head and I knew that God had called me personally out of the crowd and asked me to give myself to Him in love. Of course, I had no choice but to say: "yes," but my next question was: "how??"

The event that occurred that Christmas eve was clearly one of a supernatural nature. By a series of  completely "random" events, I found myself in the middle of a nondenominational church service even though I had never been to one in my life. By contrast I had been going to Sunday mass and even daily mass, praying the rosary, and observing the Christian life all of my life.I often ask myself why that lightbulb never went off in mass, or during a Catholic retreat. It took me singing the words to a song: "I surrender all," and realizing I didn't mean them. It took an incredible series of events in which people I had never met to my right and to my left and behind me and in front of me, by a power I could not explain outside of "God," began speaking things to me which they could not possibly know-- speaking to me of my innermost hopes, my fears, my dreams. Speaking healing into places no one had ever seen. I came alive that night and I've never been the same since.

So now I knew, without a doubt, that Jesus was real. But next I needed to answer the question: "How now shall I live?"
And the answer to that seemed to be part of the Great Conversation I had had all my life. I was a Catholic-- I needed to go to mass. I needed to go to confession. I needed to pray the rosary. These things seemed obvious to me, and I did them with increasing zeal, but I was literally starving for more. I wanted to know how that internal change could reflect itself in my everyday actions. I often acted one way, and DESIRED to act another way. I was stuck.

Enter a family--- a family many of you have met or heard me talk about-- who was able to answer those questions.

At first, I just attended a bible study for young people in their home. Led by the father, a successful local businessman, I began at this Bible study to learn to do simple things like read my Bible every day, repent when I sinned (I can still see him standing up and giving us a visual image of a sinner-- an archer who had missed the mark) and ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. His wife was there serving us and listening to him with great respect, which made an impression on me. Though I had almost never heard her say a word, which was unheard of where I come from, her sweet presence and thoughtful, compassionate demeanor gave her a strength that very few women I had ever met have shared.
Eventually I began to pick up more details about righteous living. I learned to close my mouth instead of open it (I'm still working on that one) when I was going to say something unwise. I learned to fast and to wage spiritual warfare. I learned to look for spiritual gifts and put them to use.
And as I did, I learned the things that this family had learned from other families who had sown into their lives. Over time, I was introduced to this man's daughter, and she -- thank God-- saw through the mess I was and shared her life with me to help me see that God had plans for me. We developed a relationship and she became one of my most treasured friends. To this day, I often want to call and ask her: "what do you think I should about.....(insert random difficult situation here.)"
To her credit, I am always reminded that she would tell me: "well, what does your husband think?" Such a friend is a priceless treasure.

-- I still in my daily life retain their teachings and I still pass them on to my own children and the people I find myself in discipleship or counseling situations with. How many of you have heard of Elisabeth Elliot, Derek Prince or Charles Simpson because of me? How many of you have heard me mention Liza or her father?  I am certain that every person in this room whom I have met have heard these names from me because I have shared again and again how their faithfulness to teach what they themselves had learned had changed my life. But more importantly, how many of you have heard me mention JESUS? If today I can speak to you of our Lord with love and tenderness, it is because long ago these people were faithful to speak to me of God's love and of their journey with Him. These people have become a part of me, and a part of the children I am raising. Through them I have learned to know God myself, and become an active part of Christ's mystical body. So are my children! What a beautiful thing one family can do.

So what exactly did this family do that was so different from what I had experienced in the past?

-- They never once tried to mold me so that I would conform to THEM, but rather to CHRIST in my own circumstances and with my own specific gifts. They asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom in counseling me, and they were receptive to what God told them, even when it meant that I was to do things differently than they had.

-- They were also willing to love me through some serious sin in my life. Because they so clearly mirrored God to me, I often hid from them the truth about what I was doing or thinking because I was afraid they would see me in my sinfulness and not like me! But instead, because they were people of prayer, they seemed to always know my sin even before I realized it WAS sin, and to love me anyways despite it-- gently guiding me towards right living. Even today, years later, when I am struggling in a parenting decision, Liza has reminded me that it is GOD'S KINDESS that leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

--They took their role in discipleship more seriously than any other job they had. First towards each other and then towards the rest of us. This is a biblical pattern I believe is necessary to follow.

-- So that’s the story of how A FAMILY modeled after the HOLY FAMILY turned me towards Jesus and taught me how to live for Him by being disciples themselves.

-- Later on, I reflected about the role of my family in discipleship towards me. My family had always taken me to church each week, made sure I knew how to say certain prayers, that I received the sacraments and that I lived by the liturgical year. But there was NO discipleship in my home, because there was no desire to pass on a personal relationship or personal revelation, or to ensure that I was interacting with a LIVING God. People prayed behind closed doors and did not talk about Jesus as if He were a real part of their lives, but more as if He were a distant and mysterious God. They turned to him in trouble, but rarely in good times. And even then, He was distant, not present among us. It's ironic, looking back, because I was RECEIVING Jesus Christ in the Eucharist at the time--- closer than my breath. But somehow I had boarded a sinking ship... and yet He called me.

Here I am enjoying a Cajun breakfast with Liza years ago

My hope is that my OWN children will have a relationship with us that is more like the relationship that Liza has with her own parents—one of mutual encouragement, discipleship and trust in the Lord Jesus. Together. And because of her, I learned to honor my OWN father and mother, and my husband, and to work to build that in my OWN family. Because we want that for our children, we have had to model it ourselves for them.



In the past at these parties we have talked a great deal about the traditions of advent, and I suspect that’s why many of you are here. Every year, people come because they want to learn new traditions to use during advent!

Those traditions, which we are all becoming more familiar with, are an essential part of the “great preparation.” They help to form hearts and minds and speak a tactile language to the people in our lives. They help us to form a community, and a Church, and they cause us to quiet ourselves and HEAR God.

Tonight, though, we are going to focus on a different aspect: that of DISCIPLESHIP in the home, which happens when the reasons behind those traditions become like little lightbulbs over our children’s heads.
Next year, God willing, we will discuss discipleship in the COMMUNITY, but today we are going to look at the example of the Holy Family—of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

-A note of caution: Be careful not let the personal aspect of discipleship in the family deter you from the traditional aspect. There must be a healthy uniting of these two things: tradition and personal revelation-- within the family in order for the family to thrive, just as we need this in the greater context of the Church. Protestants might be uncomfortable with using the word tradition just as they are with using the word "religion." But the reality is that in tradition there is structure, and in structure-- there is peace.

- These traditions are what transform culture from mundane to HOLY. There is a tendency in some people to reject tradition because people are afraid that it stifles the Holy Spirit. This could not be further from the truth--- in fact, they enable us to quiet OURSELVES, submit to one another, and hear God. Of course, it is possible to MISS the actions of the Holy Spirit because one is so focused on a tradition, and that would be a shame. Ideally, these two aspects are interwoven in a beautiful tapestry of grace.

-- We, the Church, are called and set apart. Like Israel, we are called to live in community, and God came at Christmas to dwell among us to demonstrate that fact. There is nothing “individual” about the Christian life… our sin affects all others just as our peace affects all others. These very traditions which we are building into our lives or which we grew up on are there to bond us one to another in faith, hope, and love. Just as Jews the world over feel a kinship as they light the sabbath lights, so we too as Christians recognize our brothers and sisters in the actions of advent preparation in the home.

-- It was the traditions of the Jewish people that enabled them to SEE and RECOGNIZE Jesus when He came, and of his disciples to SEE and SHARE him after He had gone again. It speaks the language of salvation to all those whom God is calling.

- The story of advent is the story of how ONE family welcomed a child and changed the world.
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INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP ACTIVITY

Advent is separated into FOUR weeks, and each of the weeks has a theme.

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT: HOPE
THE KEY TO HOPE IS FAITH
Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.



-- Hope is brought to our family through regular prayer and the establishment of a relationship with God.
-- Hope is an attitude of the heart.
-- Hope is built out of our faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

1. READ LIZA'S BLOG ENTRY:  “WHAT MY FATHER SAYS ABOUT BEING SPIRITUAL” This is about the need for structure AND personal revelation and how they work together to build FAITH.

2. DISCUSS: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BUILD YOUR OWN FAITH? YOUR FAMILY’S FAITH? CAN YOU INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU SPEND PRAYING? PRAY TOGETHER?
HOW CAN THE TRADITIONS OF ADVENT POINT YOU TOWARDS PRAYER?
BRAINSTORM, and PREPARE  an answer to this question:
“THIS FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT, WHEN THE FOCUS IS ON HOPE, I CAN DO THESE THINGS TO DISCIPLE MY FAMILY IN HOPE….”

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT: PEACE
THE KEY TO PEACE IS GRACE
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.



-- God desires for our families to be places of peace (A shalom bayit or “house of peace” in the Jewish tradition.)
--God sent His Son so that we may HAVE peace. He sent the Holy Spirit to enable us to LIVE this peace of heaven in the midst of the storm.

1. READ “What my father says about finding Grace for your journey.”
2. DISCUSS: WHAT IS OUR RESPONSE WHEN OUR HOMES ARE NOT PLACES OF PEACE, BUT PLACES OF CHAOS? WHEN DOES THIS MOST FREQUENTLY OCCUR? WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF OUR TENSIONS AS FAMILIES? WHAT CAN WE DO TO BRING GOD’S PEACE TO OUR EVERYDAY STRESSFUL SITUATIONS? DID THIS ARTICLE HELP YOU TO SEE THAT FAITH IS A JOURNEY?
BRAINSTORM and PREPARE an  answer to this question:
“THIS SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT, WHEN THE FOCUS IS ON PEACE, I CAN DO THESE THINGS TO DISCIPLE MY FAMILY IN PEACE…”

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT(Gaudete—“rejoicing”—Sunday): JOY
THE KEY TO JOY IS OUR NEW NATURE!
Isaiah 12:6 “… Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”



-- Joy is the representation to others of our faith in Christ. We are to be marked by Joy.
-- We are called to even SUFFER joyfully!

1. READ “What my father says about The New Nature.”
2. DISCUSS: WHEN IS IT HARDEST TO FEEL AND REFLECT JOY IN FAMILY LIFE? HOW MUCH DO OUR CHILDREN REFLECT OUR LACK OF JOY IN THESE AREAS? WHAT CAN WE DO TO CHANGE THAT? WHO WAS THE MOST JOYFUL SUFFERER YOU HAVE EVER MET AND HOW DID THEY AFFECT YOU?
BRAINSTORM and then PREPARE and answer to this question:
“THIS THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT, WHEN THE FOCUS IS ON JOY, I CAN DO THESE THINGS TO DISCIPLE MY FAMILY IN JOY…”


FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT: LOVE
THE KEY TO LOVE IS SELF-SACRIFICE AND PATIENT ENDURANCE THROUGH TRIALS
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.



- We are a people of Love, as seen on Christmas day when we celebrate Love come down to earth to be among us.
- Love is best expressed in a family through the marital relationship and the openness of the couple to new life (children.)

1. Read “What my father says about marriage.”
2. DISCUSS: WHAT TYPES OF TRIALS DO MANY MARRIAGES NOT OVERCOME? WHAT SAFEGUARDS CAN WE PUT IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT OUR MARRIAGES REFLECT GOD’S LOVE? WHAT DO OUR CHILDREN LEARN ABOUT LOVE FROM OBSERVING MARRIAGE IN ACTION?
BRAINSTORM AND THEN PREPARE FOR US THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION:
“THIS FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT, WHEN THE FOCUS IS ON LOVE, I CAN DO THESE THINGS TO DISCIPLE MY FAMILY IN LOVE…”

Close with Prayer:

We praise You God, for You are Holy and there is none like You.
We confess that we have been so busy looking outwards that we have failed to see the discipleship in our families that you have called us to. We confess pride and bitterness towards our family members and stubbornness that keeps us from loving them as You do.
We thank you for the pattern of discipleship in the Bible and the Church who has preserved this pattern in her traditions. We thank you for those individuals and families who have sacrificed so that You might be glorified in them.
And we ask that You would be with each woman here as they evaluate how to answer your call to disciple her family this Advent. We pray for an increase in Faith during this whole Year of Faith so that she might be aware of Your Presence and Your Will for her family.

1. Remember that it was JESUS who called his disciples and not the other way around. I encourage you to look for opportunities to disciple people in your family EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE NOT ASKED.

2. For some of you, starting a new tradition in your home, especially a prayerful one, is a daunting task. Don’t give up. Remember that faith is a journey!!

3. Please let Cherry or myself know if you need prayer or a little extra help in this area.