Friday Giveaway: Sacred Heart Earrings

Good morning! It's the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; God is Love.  From Loreto Rosaries, comes this beautiful pair of earrings to celebrate June, traditionally the month devoted to the Sacred heart of Jesus. The earwire is 14Kt gold filled, 15mm flat fishhook. They are available in many different color crystals, pearls or gemstones. The 1/2 inch long Sacred Heart Medals are solid bronze and are hand cast from antique pieces.

Sacred heart earrings

Pop by Loreto Rosaries and see what's new and then come back here and tell me what caught your eye. You'll be entered to win these earrings. Winner to be announced next Friday.

needle & thREAD

needle and thREAD

Katie has a new sundress. Almost;-). It's pinned where the buttons should be. She said she wants snaps instead of buttons and I don't yet know how to do snaps. So, today, I'll look to YouTube for snap tutorials.

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Katie's dress is made of California Girl by Joanna Figuera. I love this line. I originally bought the fabric for myself, but I'm quilting with it, too, and I didn't want to have a blouse that looked like my quilt. On the other hand, Katie did a darling job choosing her fabric combination. And, well, I might just do a blouse yet.

I have taken a page from Charlotte Mason's book these days, or from Karen Andreola's wisdom on Charlotte, "I always keep three books going that are just for me - a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel or one of poetry. I always take up the one I feel fit for. That is the secret: always have something 'going' to grow by." 

I'm still reading The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After and highlighting carefully so I can better share it with my teenaged daughter. I think I may have inadvertantly mislead some of you last week. It's not a guide to Jane Austen books. Rather, it's a guide to finding love, in the style of the best Jane Austen heroines. It's an exceptionally good commentary on current culture. It probably deserves a post all its own.

I've just begun to read What Happened to Sophie Wilder? This one was written by Alice Teti's brother. I'm taking a chance here, because I go into it with the full knowledge that there is cancer in the story. And I don't do cancer. However, this review really drew me in and I think I can do this. Maybe. As Alice reminded me, "Sometimes I am not up for an emotional journey with a book in the midst of the emotional journey that is actual life, but often I am better for it." Here's hoping.

Finally, I'm listening to Reasons to Believe when I sew. I like to have an audio book  in the sewing room; it helps me not to grow restless.

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What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr
       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

 

This Prayer Could Change the World

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O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.

I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings. Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy — if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer — if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.

O Lord Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things. 

~from the truly wonderful Divine Mercy app.

More thoughts on mercy here.

More prayers and devotions here.

Summer Monday Moment

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I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

It's hot. Ricidulously hot and humid. And I'm officially declaring that impatiens in the front bed are a disaster. The ones across the street look great. Mine? Not so much. I'm starting to think I really need to amend that soil; it seems like the front flowers are never what I envision. Now what do I plant?

::listening to 

Sarah, Karoline and Katie playing in the tub.

 

::clothing myself in 

Shorts and a white blouse. One can never have enough white blouses. Love them.

 

::talking with my children about these books

Since I'm going to share my own reading on Thursdays at needle and thREAD, I thought I'd share some reading from our family's choices. 

Patrick is reading Walking with God: A Journey through the Bible.

Mary Beth is reading Joy in the Ordinary.

Stephen is reading The Hobbit.

Katie is reading An Ordinary Princess.

Nicholas is reading Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major.

And the little girls and I are gathering all our seashore picture books...

 

::thinking and thinking

about grace and mercy. And friendship. What a blessing when one has all three. What a sorrow when one doesn't.

::giving thanks for

summer days, green smoothies, bright pink toenails, that sunscreen smell...

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::pondering prayerfully

Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent. ~St. John of the Cross

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Mike has started walking with me in the morning. This is a significant rhythm-changer. Early mornings have long been my quiet time. I get out of bed easily in order to grab those moments of golden silence. Now, we're out in the day together. The tradeoff is that I get time to talk with him, away from the house, away from interruptions. And he is over a foot taller than I am so his stride is much longer than mine. I'm nearly jogging just to keep up with him!

In other news, two of my children crashed two different cars last Monday. (In case you're counting, this is the second time this year that we've had two car crashes on the same day). There has been significant impact on my rhythm. And my stress level. Ahem.


::creating by hand

Katie's sundress is all cut and ready to sew. Needle & thRead has been good for me. I'm much less likely to procrastinate.

 

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(A note from Karoline to Hilary telling her what a great job she did on her solo. Kari wrote it 6 hours before the recital began. She has great faith in Hilary's dancing!)

::learning lessons in

setting aside my plans, trying to see God's will in the "revised" plan.

 

::encouraging learning 

I'm happy with our summer learning plans. Just enough to keep us going, not so much we can't soak up the sunshine.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

for Elizabeth DeHority, who will watch her eldest graduate today. Praise God for the miracle of time. This is a day that every doctor told her she'd never live to see.

 

:keeping house

Nothing of note here. Just the regular. Sometimes, regular is a welcome relief, no?

 

::crafting in the kitchen 

I made our first caprese salad last week--tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, good olive oil--only the basil was from our garden, but I do see green tomatoes out there. It won't be long now!

 

::loving the moments

when I see glimpses of the past and the future. These two little girls have been friends since they were infants. One early spring day, I saw a bunch of kids playing on the playground near soccer practice. There was only one woman at the playground; she was sitting on the bench with a baby. I pondered the big van parked next to my big van. And I worked up what is a whole lot of courage for me. I went over to her and said, "I never thought I'd utter these words, but are all these children yours?" She said they were and I rushed into explain that I had nine and people ask me that all the time. She "only" had seven at the time. We sat and chatted and learned we knew lots of people in common. And we delighted in a common faith. That was this first of many park dates and countless hours on soccer sidelines together. These two little girls--babies back then-- have been friends forever, literally. I like the chances that they will be friends forever.

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::living the liturgy

Ordinary Time. Lent, Easter, the Trio of Feasts...all have come to a close. We settle into Ordinary Time. Our days are ordered. Order is good. Very good.

 

::planning for the week ahead

Car repairs. Sundress sewing. And, hopefully, a fair amount of writing. Please, God?

Soccer season will finally end. For at least a week or two...

And Father's Day! We definitely have some Father's Day plans brewing.

::about the pictures

I thought I'd have lots and lots of dance recital pictures. I don't. Mary Beth was too tired after her show to pose with flowers, or even to pose at all...So, you can see her costume in the trunk of my car and the flowers after the recital. And that's all; not even close to representative of time spent. 

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Lord, Hear Our Prayer

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The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-fulled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

 

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Gospel

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
Jesus' disciples said to him,
"Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
"Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"'
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there."
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, gave it to them, and said,
"Take it; this is my body."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

Think

If I can give you advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist... We must pray to Jesus to give us that tenderness of the Eucharist.
-~Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Pray

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed Your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my soul recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration.

My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire. Here, Your light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of graces flow down upon my heart. Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature.

O Christ, let my greatest delight be to see You loved and Your praise and glory proclaimed, especially the honor of Your mercy. O Christ, let me glorify Your goodness and mercy to the last moment of my life, with every drop of my blood and every beat of my heart. Would that I be transformed into a hymn of adoration of You. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn glorifying Your unfathomable mercy. Amen. ~St. Faustina

Act

Take good care of yourself this week. Right now, schedule time and find a way to go to Adoration. Give yourself the gift of one hour in silence in the chapel. Just go. You'll be so glad you did.