Dec. 6 - Feast of St. Nicholas

Why today is such an important day for our family... 

 We tried to have Rose baptized at our new parish when we moved away but when we inquired about baptism they told us we would have to be parishioners for three months for Rose to receive the sacrament of baptism there. Granted we were inquiring about this three months after she was born and we didn't want to wait any longer to have her baptized. Since this new parish had over 7,000 parishioners and we didn't personally know the priests we decided it best that we come back home to have her baptized. By the time we made arrangements for her baptism, Rose's Godmother, Sally, was traveling outside the country and when she arrived home our beloved priest, Fr. Bud, was traveling outside of the country as well. We had to wait a few more months until all the details came together all the while thinking Rose will be fine until we get her baptized but still having a sense of urgency to push forward with making this happen. 

We finally settled on the date, Dec. 6th, the Feast of St. Nicholas for her baptism. 

Rose's baptism was a most beautiful occasion. Our favorite faithful friends came to pray and celebrate with us. Rose was only baptized 30 days before her unexpected death. How I thanked and praised God for the gift of her baptism. 

I know there are people who do not believe in infant baptism and do not understand the sense of urgency some Christians have to baptize a child. I don't want to start a discussion on infant baptism but the bible is full of scripture verses referring to and asking the children and infants to come to Jesus. I once knew a priest who said, "Don't worry too much about getting the babies baptized right away. They are fine and if it is too stressful when they are newborns wait until things calm down." This priest eventually left the priesthood but if I saw him again I would tell him he was wrong with his approach on waiting to baptize infants as we never know when death will come upon any of us so why would we delay anyone's baptism? 

We know a beautiful and faithful family that lost their newborn daughter during what was supposed to be a normal and safe surgical procedure for her medical condition. Thankfully there was a priest at the hospital with them but their story is another difficult example of how we never know what is really going to happen from one moment to the next. 

Sadly we just think if we try hard enough to control our lives we will somehow be able to. We've had to learn the hard way that control is only an illusion and control is the opposite of love. Now I have to wake up everyday and ask for the strength to let go of my controlling tendencies.

And today I now understand that the need to control our own lives and the lives of our family and friends, no matter how well meaning it is, is out of fear of having no control at all. And what would happen if we knew deep down knew we had no real control in our lives (which all of us will eventually know one day - losing a loved one, having an accident, losing our health, the break up of a marriage, things not going in accordance to what the vision of lives originally was, and ultimately losing our own lives...) we would have to rely upon God 100% and this would be the most scary thing of all...for us to give up total control of our lives and completely surrender to the will of the Father. 

But people do this and become saints in heaven and become beacons of light for us to learn to let go... 

In our home we don’t always remember baptismal days. My children were lucky if we recognized the month in which they were baptized. But with one child I mistakenly had the wrong month of her baptism on the calendar. 

I thought our daughter Therese was baptized in October (I “misplaced” her baptismal certificate) and this past spring I was given a copy from the church where she was baptized as she needed it for her First Communion. I wept with tears of joy when I saw that her baptismal date was actually today, the same date as her sweet sister, Rose. What if we had actually known Therese's baptismal date? I probably would have said, "Oh, no we will need to change Rose's baptismal date so they can celebrate different baptismal days." What if I would have pushed off Rose's baptismal date? But thankfully in my confusion I did not know the correct date and because of my ignorance, my daughter Therese has a very special connection with her sister, Rose who is now a saint in heaven. And for us, this is just another sign that He is present among us, continually revealing Himself by taking care of all the details, big and small...

11-11-11

All ones...

This is a fun and silly story for me to share because I do not have an ounce of superstition in me. I am overly practical and to the point. I don't need to "see" big, flashy physical signs or miracles in the world to believe because God has always revealed Himself to me in very subtle ways...

Part 1:

Before I met my husband there was another person I was spending time with that once told me he always would notice all ones...on clocks, signs, computers, etc. He was feeling a little lonely in life and decided all the ones he saw, meant he would be all alone. Now this was terribly depressing to hear and although I am not the biggest optimist I knew this was even off for me. Then out of the blue, I start noticing all ones! And I began to get really mad about this because I know I am not "all alone" in the world. I didn't want to take on this bleak aspect! So I thought all the ones did not mean "all alone" and I began looking for a new message for the all ones I started to now see everywhere!

Part 2:

So the night I met my husband (a fun story to share another time) I had found my new take on all ones! By the end of the evening my husband had written his information in my address book I carried with me (yes, this was before smart phones when we walked around with paper address books for our contacts.) When I got home I saw that one of his phone numbers was (***)***-1111. Although I had no idea how smitten I was with this man a smile came across my face and I thought, "Well, look there...these all ones seem to not be such a bad thing!" I soon realized that my husband was the love of my life and the man I was called to marriage with and I started to rejoice when I saw all ones because it didn't stand for all alone...all the ones meant yeah! first place!

So now, when I glance down at my phone and the time says 11:11 I try to very quickly text my husband before it gets to 11:12 and tell him it's 11:11 because this is now our reminder of our days together.

I told you it was a silly story but today is 11-11-11 which is another way to tell my husband he's the "one" for me!

Why October Rocks

October is the month of celebrating the rosary!

October is Pro-Life month!

October has some of our most beloved saints!

We love October!!!

1

Saint Therese of Lisieux

4

St. Francis of Assisi

5

St. Faustina Kowalska

15

St. Teresa of Avila

16

St. Gerard Majella

17

St. Ignatius of Antioch

18

Saint Luke

19

Sts. Isaac Jogues and Rene Goupil

22

Bl. Pope John Paul II

28

St. Jude Thaddaeus

St. Therese of Lisieux Oct. 1

(Therese Marie and St. Therese)

Happy Feast Day
St. Therese of Lisieux!
(yesterday, Oct. 1)

"There is one only thing to do here below: to love Jesus,

to win souls for Him so that He may be loved.

Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self sacrifice.

Let us refuse Him nothing - He does so want our love!"

-VI letter to her sister Celine

Our Lady of La Leche

A PRAYER FOR MOTHERHOOD:

Lovely Lady of La Leche,

most loving mother of the Child Jesus, and my mother,

listen to my humble prayer.

Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need.

To you only,

His spotless Virgin Mother,

has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul.

Yours was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior.

Intercede with Him now, my loving Mother,

that, in accordance with His will,

I may become the mother of other children of our heavenly Father.

This I ask, O Lady of La Leche,

in the Name of your Divine Son,

My Lord and Redeemer. Amen.

http://www.missionandshrine.org/la_leche.htm

For people who are never around children...

This post is fueled by a recent trip to the hair salon...We recently moved out from the city so I am now further from my hair stylist. I got a sitter to watch my children and it took me 40 minutes to get to my hair salon with traffic. I know I have a 15 minute window to arrive late. I called the salon at 18 minutes past my appointment and said I was at the light, about to turn into the parking lot. The woman on the phone said it was too late for me to come in. I really needed a break here so I asked her to ask my hair stylist if I could come in. She briefly put me on hold and quickly came back with a no and said I could reschedule for the next evening. I thought for a moment and then said, "Sure, you can put me on the schedule for the same time tomorrow" knowing full well I would not have access to a sitter. So I showed up the next evening with five kids in tow (including our toddler) and asked the children to wait up front quietly while mom got her hair cut. The look on everyone's face was of surprise like did she really bring all her kids in here? Then it was a look of disgust that prompted me to write this post (I know many of these single people in the salon do not have children and I hear about many of their adult outings so I know there are fewer opportunities to spend time with little ones.) And by the way by kids had really great behavior for waiting for their mom to get her hair cut as it was during their normal dinner time and everyone was hungry...

If you are never around children please work on finding opportunities to hang around other people's children so you don't freak out when you are forced to have them in your presence!

If your nieces and nephews are not close by make sure you visit other families in your area!

Once you find some children to hang out with, let them...

Climb on you,

Slobber on you,

Talk or yell loudly in your ear,

Sneeze on you,

Chase you,

Wrestle with you,

Laugh at you,

Etc...

And if you want to go the extra mile to ensure you are growing in tolerance of children help them...

Blow their noses,

Wipe their bums,

Etc...

(I originally said clean up their vomit or change their poopy diaper but even I know this is too extreme :)

Just please for the love of God every once in awhile do things that make you squirm and make you uncomfortable with children,
so you don't have that terrible look of disgust on your face when children come through your door...

Regardless of your state of life, it is not normal to never be around children so please find a way to somehow make this happen for you
(and for me as well...)

St. Rose of Lima August 23

Saint Rose of Lima
Virgin
(1586-1617)


St. Rose of Lima is the patroness of Latin America and the Philippines. This South American Saint's real name was Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that she was called Rose, and that name remained. As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and one day, her mother put a wreath of flowers on her head to show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose had no desire to be admired, for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put a long pin into that wreath and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard time getting the wreath off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her beauty might be a temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes off her. Therefore, she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and blistered.

St. Rose worked hard to support her poor parents and she humbly obeyed them, except when they tried to get her to marry. That she would not do. Her love of Jesus was so great that when she talked about Him, her face glowed and her eyes sparkled.

Rose had many temptations from the devil, and there were also many times when she had to suffer a feeling of terrible loneliness and sadness, for God seemed far away. Yet she cheerfully offered all these troubles to Him. In fact, in her last long, painful sickness, this heroic young woman use to pray: "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart."

Many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Clement IX, in 1667, and canonized in 1671 by Clement X, the first American to be so honoured. Her feast is celebrated 23 of August. She is represented wearing a crown of roses.

St. Rose of Lima,

Pray for us...

On Contraception...

I have not had the energy needed to write about all the things on my heart recently.

They are my heavy and deep thoughts that people who want to avoid controversy and pain don't want to read.

My blog started as a way to share with and educate people on being open to children in their marriage, hence the name, "Leslie on Life."

I truly believe contracepting in our marriages has a most damaging effect. I believe the lie of contraception is the root of the abortion industry as well.

Contraception contradicts what our marriages are supposed to be...a total giving of oneself in love to our spouse...

And Lord knows we need all the help we can get with being more loving to our spouses and shifting the focus off of ourselves and on to others...

Living a life without contraception in marriage is the definition of freedom to me. I desire for others to know of this freedom as well...

We know the roots of all our faiths are open to life. We know it was the invention of birth control that started to change our morals regarding life in the early 1900's.

Today 96% of American Catholics contracept in their marriages.

American Catholics are not receiving the truth or are simply rejecting it. And we know it has to do with both. Regardless of why there is an enormous problem in the Catholic Church regarding this life giving aspect of church teaching.

In our Protestant churches, people do a great job of abstaining from sex before marriage but many do not see a problem with contraception once they are married. What do Protestant preachers believe and teach on contraception? Are Protestant preachers practicing contraception in their own marriages? If so, how do they counsel their church members on family life within marriage?

What about our brothers and sisters outside of Christianity? What do their religious leaders teach regarding contraception?

And what do we do if we have a medical condition that endangers mamas from having more children? Are our husbands automatically sterilized or do we learn how to chart our fertility to postpone babies and trust that the Lord will take care of us and our families?

I constantly meet people who say to me, "I would love another child but my spouse is not open to another child." This would break my heart the day I would hear my husband say, "I'm sorry you desire another child but I'm not going to give you one."

So many thoughts to think of and to address...

So I will continue to work on the original intent of my blog...

Leslie on Life...

Prayer to Our Lady of America

http://www.ourladyofamerica.org/explanation.php

Prayer to Our Lady of America, Patroness of our Land

Written at the behest of Our Lady, October 5, 1956 by Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil)


Oh Immaculate Mother, Queen of our country, open our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus, your Divine Son.
With Him, reign over us, O heavenly Lady, so pure and so bright with the radiance of Gods light shining in and about you.
Be our leader against the powers of evil set upon wresting the world of souls, redeemed at such a great cost by the sufferings of your Son and of yourself, in union with Him, from that same Savior, Who loves us with infinite charity.

We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved Land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care.

We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our Land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us.

We ask no special sign of you, sweet Mother, for we believe in your great love for us, and we place in you our entire confidence.
We promise to honor you by faith, love, and the purity of our lives according to your desire.

Reign over us, then, O Virgin Immaculate, with your Son Jesus Christ. May His Divine Heart and your most chaste Heart be ever enthroned and glorified among us.
Use us, your children of America, as your instruments of peace among men and nations.
Work your miracle of grace in us, so that we may be a glory to the Blessed Trinity, Who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.

May your valiant spouse, St. Joseph, with the holy Angels and Saints, assist you and us in "renewing the face of the earth."
Then when our work is over, come, Holy Immaculate Mother, and as our Victorious Queen, lead us to the eternal kingdom, where your Son reigns forever as King.

Amen

(200 days)
Nihil Obstat: Daniel Pilarczyk, S.T.D.
Imprimatur: +Paul F. Leibold, V.G.
Cincinnati, Jan. 25, 1963

In Texas, we eat popsicles year round!

(This picture was taken in April...)

A Mother's Prayer...

Lord of all pots and pans and things,
since I've not time to be

A saint by doing lovely things
or watching late with Thee

Or dreaming in the dawn light
or storming Heaven's gates -

Make me a saint by getting out the meals
and washing up the plates.

Although I must have Martha's hands,
I have a Mary mind -

And when I pick up boots and shoes,
Thy sandals, Lord, I find.

I think of how they trod the earth,
whenever I scrub the floor.

Accept this meditation, Lord,
I haven't time for more.

Warm all the kitchen with Thy love,
and light it with Thy peace.

Forgive me all my worrying
and make my grumbling cease.

Thou who loved to give men food,
in room or by the sea -

Accept this service that I do,
I do it unto Thee.

-author unknown

Thanks Cathy H. for this...

Sunrise...Texas Style...

Happy Birthday Blessed Pope John Paul II...

May 18, 1920

Blessed John Paul II,

We love you!!!

A Prayer for Today...

Dear Lord,

Please keep your arm around my shoulder,

and your hand over my mouth!

-unknown

A Reflection for Holy Week

Stepping into Holy Week

by Bill Donaghy

TOB writer and speaker

http://www.tobinstitute.org/

We all know that time flies, and that there are moments we wish we could recapture or really savor, having brushed past them so quickly before. Well, the Week of Weeks is approaching, the week we call HOLY. It is unique and it is extraordinary, for it's the sequence of these days that led to the unthinkable... the death of God in the flesh and the rebirth of all creation. This is the time when we were ransomed, rescued, and redeemed by God Himself. Let's not let this week slip past without some serious reflection.

The events of Palm Sunday leading up to Easter Sunday hold within their precious hours all of the seeds of all of the greatest stories. There is faith and there is doubt, trust and betrayal, courage and cowardice... amazing love and blinding hatred. There is the shocking horror of an innocent man's death and the unexpected brilliance of Him coming back to life. And what is most beautiful about this story and the events of this week is the fact that they are true. Christianity is the hope that's rooted in real history, the fairy tale that is factual. The blossoming of all the sacred art and music and poetry and people and prayers that have stretched up and into the sky over these 2000 years all trace their roots back to these days of Holy Week, and into the turbulent soil of southern Palestine.

So let's sit still for some time this week. Sit back and crack open the Gospel of John. Take the scriptures to a quiet, out of the way place and get into this story; in a chapel before the Blessed Sacrament, on an old farm road as the sun is setting, in the backyard as the spring wind comes whistling through the trees. Let's take and read like Augustine's tolle et lege, as if for the first time, this ancient story. And let's see in it our own story. Let's make His Passion our passion.

Happy Birthday
Sweet Rose!

http://web.me.com/babyrose

Abandonment

So I am trying to understand why we are being called to make some big changes in our lives as we finally seem settled and content
and this is the passage I was led to most recently from Abandonment to Divine Providence.

In the introduction John Beevers describes the similar thoughts of spiritual views
between Jean-Pierre de Caussade (author) and St. Francis de Sales...

"...Caussade says "abandonment,"
St. Francis generally uses the word "indifference,"
but this is merely a matter of vocabulary.
St. Francis tells us to "ask for nothing and refuse nothing," and declares that
"the indifferent heart is like a lump of wax in God's hands, readily receiving every impression of His will."
He describes as a sure sign that we are truly and perfectly indifferent if we stop in the middle of some meritorious work if God wills it
and turn back halfway toward a worthy goal if He says we should.
Another word used by St. Francis is "detached":
"The detached soul does not care if it is serving God by meditating,
or serving Him by looking after a neighbor.
What matters is what God wants the soul to do at this particular time."

So my prayer today is,
"Lord, mold me as you wish
and make sure I don't get in the way of Your plans!"

Malachi 3:3

Malachi 3:3

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.
She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.
He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire
where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says:
"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver,
but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.
If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith,
"How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered,
"Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

-Author Unknown

Remember, if you are feeling the heat from the fire and feel you can't take much more,
remember God is carefully tending to you in the heat and keeping watch over you until
He sees His image in you...

Thanks Liz G...

Paddy Kelly: Rock Star to Rock Monk!

PRAY

By Paddy Kelly

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0J00JNNU

The world is like a river

of which we drink

but our sins pollute the water

and now the river is flooded

so we must build an ark of faith

and trust in divine providence

Was in a room of darkness

it wasn't enough to open the window for air

I had to unlock the door

I searched for the key

and what I found was our Lady of Medugorje saying to…

Pray, pray pray pray,

pray pray pray, for a happier day,

Oh come on and pray, pray pray pray,

pray pray pray, the Lord will show you the way

Me and my brothers and sisters

we were struggling between heaven and hell

we found it hard to understand

how we got sunk into a spiral of negative and demonic spells

so we went on a pilgrimage searching for healing at the heavenly wells

we came across a wise man telling us children it's very simple,

conversation, mass,the sacraments and…

Pray, pray pray pray,

pray pray pray for a happier day

Oh come on and pray pray pray pray

Pray pray pray the Lord will show you the way

Oh we’ve got to pray, pray pray pray

Pray pray pray for a happier day

Need a childlike faith to enter into heaven

'till the harvesters come don't be afraid

We all have our crosses to carry

if we carry them humbly there's no need to worry

if we forgive we'll be forgiven then our purified hearts will feel the presence

of God's eternal love burn inside

I ain't no religious expert

but I don't have to be to know thet God ain't an illusion

I'm testifying what I witness 'cause a faith without acts is a dead faith

that's why I wrote this song so we can…

Pray, pray pray pray,

pray pray pray for her to show you the way

Pray pray pray pray

Pray pray pray for a happier day

…Pray pray pray for a happier day

got to pray for a better day

…Pray pray pray for a happier day

got to pray for a better day

…Pray pray pray for a happier day

got to pray for a better day

…Pray pray pray prayfor a happier day

got to pray for a better day

Pray pray pray for a happier day…

Kickers

Everybody needs a pair...

Snow in Texas

Yes...sometimes it even snows in Central Texas...

Sanctity and Suffering...

“Sanctity consists in suffering
and suffering everything.”

-St. Therese of Lisieux

2010

The Life of a Little Saint

Rose Marie, we miss you

sweet, sweet girl!


Thank you dear Sally for the beautiful roses to remind us of her...


http://web.me.com/babyrose