What My Priest Said...

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Things I love about Easter Mass:

-Shoulder to shoulder seating. Hearing the Usher announce "could you please scoot in to the middle of your pew so we can make room for everyone?" This morning I finally met the neighbor to the left of me even though I've seen this family at the 9am Mass since we've been going to this church. When you are shoulder to shoulder it's only natural to introduce yourself! Matt met the lovely couple next to him as well.

-Easter Finery! I love seeing all of the little girls in their pretty little Easter dresses and all of the little boys decked out in suits and bow ties. I love seeing color-coordinated families in pretty pastel shades. Matt and I color-coordinated pink outfits although he will tell you that men don't wear outfits. His neighbor to the left of him gushed over how nice he looked in his new clothes, black sport coat, grey pin-striped dress shirt and pink tie. I think I saw my husband preen.

Here is Matt and I in our color-coordinated Easter finery at brunch after Mass

-Alleluia! Don't you just miss the Alleluia during Lent? I love that we get to put Alleluia all over the Mass on Easter Sunday.

-The Sequence that is sung right after the first reading and before the Gospel Acclamation. This morning, we all sang the Sequence in English. As I was singing I thought about an Easter Mass we went to four years ago and we listened to a new lady in the choir singing in the Latin. It was so beautiful and so pure and so operatic. Katie leaned over to me and said "I want to sing like that." I told her she should ask the lady if she gives voice lessons. After Mass, Katie hightailed it over to meet this lady and that meeting changed the course of Katie's life and after high school choices.

-Renewing our Baptismal vows as a community. On Easter Sunday instead of reciting the Nicene Creed together we get to respond to our priest asking the creed "Do you believe in God the Father?" "We do". And then the priests will walk around and sprinkle the assembly with Holy Water as a symbol of the renewal of our Baptismal promises. But today was a first for Matt and I and a delightful surprise. At the end of the baptismal promises Father Gregory said "Well, since everyone said We do ..." with what I could only describe as an air of mischievousness about him. The lady next to me leaned over and asked "were you here for Easter last year? He uses a Swiffer type thing for the water". And then Father and the Deacon started up and down the aisles sprinkling the assembly with these extra large, Swiffer-duster-looking Aspergillums. However, it was not a sprinkling but a dousing, a soaking if you will. Those brushes reached far into the pews and everyone was doused with Holy Water several times. Every one around us had large droplets of water on their clothes and I had to wipe off my glasses. And since Mass was especially crowded today, it took awhile for Father to reach the whole community. He even went into the cry room and doused those families as well! And the whole entire parish was giggling and laughing and joyful. Our priest delights and surprises us on a regular basis and this morning the only word I can think of for this whole experience was "Joy". I told Matt that I felt like I had truly renewed my baptismal promises today!

-Easter Season! Easter isn't over today! It's an entire season and lasts fifty days until Pentecost Sunday. I love that during the Easter liturgical season we get to listen to a New Testament reading and a reading from the Acts of the Apostles as well as a Gospel reading. And we also get to keep singing the Alleluia all through Mass. Keep doing Easter things, my friends!


I hope that you had a joyful Easter Sunday. I hope you remember your baptismal promises today and everyday. God's many blessings to you over the Easter season.

Alleluia!
Alleluia!

What's Your Word for the Year?

I've discovered the Sirius XM Catholic Channel and I spent all day yesterday listening to Catholic talk radio as I drove the six hours from Kentucky to Alabama.

And what does that have to do with "Word"? Well, here it is almost March, and almost time for Lent to begin and I did not really make a New Year's resolution so I've been really mulling over some good Lenten sacrifice ideas the last couple of weeks. And then I happened upon radio talk show host and blogger Jennifer Fulwiler's show. Yesterday was a repeat show from January and I really enjoyed listening to Jennifer Fulwiler interviewing a lady named Katherine Whitaker about Instagram videos of cleaning her home, Catholic schools week and their Word for the Year.

Word for the Year. What does that mean? Over the last few years I had a couple of Facebook friends talk about their word for the year. I never really paid attention but the premise is that instead of making a long list of New Year's resolutions of behaviors you want to change about yourself, define your year with one word. A theme word, if you will.

This conversation really spoke to me as I've been very preoccupied with what I'm going to do for Lent as I haven't really taken it very seriously for the last few years. Both Jennifer Fulwiler and Katherine Whitaker shared their "word" for 2017 and also shared words from past years. Jennifer's word for 2017 is "listen" and she defined it as taking time to listen more to her family, to others and to God this year. Katherine's word for the year is "flourish".

How do you choose or decide on your "word for the year". This morning I took to google to learn more what other people had to say about the word for the year. Here is a piece from over at Huffington Post about how to choose your word.

You can research your word like Katherine Whitaker did or you can let your word just come to you naturally like Jennifer Fulwiler does.

So, after all of that, do I have a word? Yes. As I was driving and listening one word came to me. "Bloom".

"Bloom" is so perfect. Our family moved from Hawaii to Alabama this past summer. In the past whenever we move, I jump into volunteer activities and trying to meet new friends right away. I had a pretty turbulent last year in Hawaii which made me very skittish about stepping up to any extra-curricular activities. So, I've been hiding for the last 8 months or so. I've chosen to not take any risks or go out of my way to be overly social. No church activities, no Girl Scout volunteering, no big projects. The only thing I allowed myself was to go to the spouses club luncheons and help out where needed, definitely not being in charge of anything big!

On top of that, Alabama hasn't been my favorite duty station so far. Y'all, it is so freaking hot here. After living in vacation resort areas for the last twenty-one years, my body does not know how to take this heat. Even in the winter, it is hot. I could list a few other things that don't make me too happy, like being 90 minutes away from the nearest interstate, being even further away from an airport, a lack of cultural activities, and so on. I really have been counting down to how soon can we leave. And then the husband? He loves it here and wants to stay forever!

So, "Bloom". How does that define me for 2017? I'm here, in Alabama, for the time being. I can't stay hidden forever. I might as well "bloom" while I'm here. It's time to join more church activities. It's time to be a little more social. It may be time to go back for some schooling. It's just time to bloom.

It is February 22nd today, here in lower Alabama. The temperature outside is in the 70's which is normal for this area. And these flowers are blooming on the bushes in the front of my house.

Will you choose a word for the year?
How will you let your word define you and encourage you through Lent and the rest of 2017?

The March for Life 2017: Why We March, Part Four

After Vice-President Pence's motorcade left it was time to start lining up for the actual march. The rally ran long and many marchers had already made their way to the street to line up.

Mariana and I grabbed our ropes and positioned ourselves on the left side of the opening marchers. Students from Mary University in North Dakota were the opening marchers to carry the banners. Next up were the VIP marchers which included many of the rally speakers and Jeanne Mancini, the president of March for Life.

Here we are at the front waiting for everyone to get in place. Since the march was late starting, many marchers had already positioned themselves in the streets. The DC police had to clear out the intersection so the official start of the march could begin. While we were waiting, this lovely lady walked by in her hand-crocheted hat. If you remember, there was another march the week before and a pattern was offered on the website for those marchers to make in advance. I love what this pro-life marcher did with her hat!

In the middle of that crowd of people are the very important peeps. I wish I could name them all for you but I can assure you that Mariana knew who almost all of them were. Right in the middle is Jeanne Mancini herself. We were told Kelly Anne Conway was marching and would be in this group but she had a very busy schedule that day and couldn't make the march.

And how cute is this guy? A lady with a strong north eastern accent came up to me and started asking questions about the parade route and I was explaining that this was the beginning of the march. We looked over toward the students and she said "hey, that's my Cardinal!". Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley of the Boston archdiocese was posing in front of the opening banners with Mary University students.

And then I did some fangirling myself. Standing and marching right beside me was Father Frank Pavone, head of the pro-life Priests for Life group. I know he has been quite controversial lately but there he was! Next to me. I later went to his Facebook page and he had shared live video from the beginning of the march and I caught myself and Mariana in it quite a few times!

Marching in this parade was incredibly overwhelming. Because I was holding a rope I wasn't able to get many pictures during the march itself but I suppose this kept me grounded in my reasons for marching.

There were many sights along the way that brought me to tears.

The youth. So many young people from all over the United States. This is our future. The experience of travelling by bus for thousands of miles and marching in this peaceful expression of solidarity to "save the babies" will most definitely leave a mark on these kids and on our culture for decades to come. We may not win the war on abortion now but I saw the future on this day.

A middle-aged priest standing in an intersection with tears running down his face as he watched the marchers.

Another very excited man standing on the sidewalk in a large group when he sees the banner and all of the flags: "there have already been hundreds of thousands of marchers before you."

A group of women and children standing on the sidewalk with pink signs that said "Mother by rape, I love my life". "Born of rape, I love my life".

Another sidewalk group of women with signs that read "I regret my abortion".

A group of women holding signs that said "Trigger warning ahead." "Disturbing images ahead". Thank you, ladies, for warning us.

The section of the march where there were no bystanders at all. Only an overwhelmingly giant banner symbolizing the murder of babies as an offering to satan. And a speaker blaring a baby screaming and crying over and over again. I felt this was an unnecessary part for the march and was most likely not organized by the March for Life committee. The students we were marching next to were very animated during the march with catchy chants and songs but during this section they were very quiet as we passed. It was incredibly unsettling.

Passing the Supreme Court steps where people were already kneeling in prayer and women were giving testimonies about regretting their abortions. Silent No More.

Finally ending in front of Congress and standing and watching for another hour and a half as more and more groups marched by. Mariana and I stood and talked with a group of young seminarians who told us that hundreds of thousands of people had already marched by. They couldn't believe that we were the beginning! I think that at the beginning when the police were trying to clear the intersection so we could begin those groups that had already staged themselves just started marching!

It was all amazing and overwhelming. I came away knowing that I was supposed to be there on this day. I also know that next year I will be back but not as a volunteer marcher but with a group from the Wiregrass area of Alabama. And we will travel by bus, spending one or two nights sleeping in our seats. And next year, I will get to attend the youth events the night before and the rally as a spectator.

Stay tuned, you guys! My March for Life did not end on January 27th, 2017!! It has only just begun!

The March for Life 2017: Why We March, Part Three

Total Fan Girl.

Yep, that's what I did when I realized where I was and what I was doing in this March for Life.

We were steps away from the VIP area behind the Rally stage where all of the speakers, media, performers and Very Important Peeps were going to be. Some Knights of Columbus volunteers were designated to stand guard in front of the stage during the music and the speeches. And did I mention that Vice-President Mike Pence was coming to give a speech? I was not one of stage volunteers but how awesome for those guys!

Mariana and I decided we needed to go to the bathroom and that meant we needed to go through the security tent to get into the VIP area. Really, we just wanted to snoop around backstage.

This was the VIP security tent

While standing in line to be screened the members of TransformDJs were rushed through because they were about to go on stage.

And look who was behind us in line: Yep, Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Mariana was a total fan-girl.

And once we got through security, we stalked Cardinal Dolan and got a selfie with him!

Over to the side was the media tent where reporters were interviewing some of the speakers. Mariana recognized several EWTN reporters. And oh, look! There's Teresa Tomeo!

After we made our porta-potty stop, we wandered up to the front of the stage and took a few photos of the crowd and the stage while TransformDJs performed.

After heading back to wait at the RV, we were told that the area was being cleared before Vice-President Pence was due to arrive. The RV left and we were moved past the barricades behind dump trucks. We did not get to hear any of the speeches or see Vice-President Pence but Mariana and I watched the Facebook live feed of the rally.
Oh, here's my photo of VP Pence's motorcade.

And then it was time to line up for the March!
Next blog, part four!

The March for Life: Why We March, Part Two

Friday morning found me attending Mass at 7am at Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City, Va. I knew immediately who my host was when I walked through the doors even though we hadn't met and her Facebook profile was a picture of a flag. I sat several rows behind Mariana and her husband and could see her looking over her shoulder trying to find me.

But let me back up. Mass! I knew it was important that I needed to attend Mass before heading to the March for Life. To have this as part of my arrangements with my host was so much part of the details that God had already planned for me. How amazing was it that I was staying in Manassas and that my Army wife friend connected me to another friend who also lived in Manassas? Truly, all part of the plan.

After Mass, I met Mariana and her husband Dom and we walked out to the RV she had mentioned before. Turns out the RV was for the Knights of Columbus of Virginia and it's purpose was to provide donuts, hot coffee and lunch for the knights who were volunteering at the March as well as giving a ride downtown to the members from Holy Family. There were 14 of us all together and we filled every available seat and the bed in the back. At this point it still wasn't clear to me what my role was going to be in the march. I was just very happy for the ride and was expecting to be dropped off somewhere to join in with the masses of people.

After pleasant conversation during the 40 minute drive to DC, we pulled into a street behind Washington Monument. You guys! The street was blocked off and they waved us through the barricade! And a DC K9 police officer walked around the RV and then told us we could go. The RV pulled up directly behind the Washington Monument and we all tumbled out. We were in a restricted area, right behind the monument and the March for Life Rally stage. It was almost 9am and you could begin to hear music and see people starting to arrive. And I was just standing there soaking in this experience, along for the ride!

Another vehicle pulled up shortly after us and the organizer of the Virginia Knights of Columbus was with them. They began to pass out hats and white windbreaker jackets to the men and somebody told me I needed to get a hat and windbreaker. And then it occurred to me.
I was a volunteer.
I wasn't just coming to the march to be a part of something huge, to share my voice with more 500,000 other people with the same voice.
God had provided a specific role for me and it was to volunteer.
I found out a bit later that we would be holding a rope that cordoned off the start of the march from they street bystanders.
Y'all. I was a volunteer AND I would be marching at the start of the march.
I can't begin to explain how overwhelmed I was. Throughout the few days that I was preparing to come to the March, I had trusted completely that God would work out every detail. And He did. And He did it in such a big way that just about brought me to my knees.

Part three, I'll tell you about the VIP back stage area, totally fan-girling with Mariana, and the March.

The March for Life 2017: Why We March, Part One

Have you ever known there was something you were supposed to do? Have you ever felt so strongly that you needed to be somewhere doing something specific and there could only be one reason why?
On Saturday evening, January 21st, I felt so strongly that I needed to go to the DC March for Life scheduled for January 27th. Over the next few blogs I would like to share with you a pretty incredulous journey of just trusting God with the details.

Saturday: I posted on facebook to ask if any of my friends in the DC area were planning to march. The only ones who responded were also coming from out of town on buses. I looked through various airfare websites to see if I could get lucky with cheap airfare. I told my friends at dinner on Saturday evening that I really, really wanted to go to the March for Life this year.

Sunday: We went to mass on Sunday morning and all day as I read through my Facebook about women's experiences at another march just recently held in DC, I felt this urging and desire growing stronger. I know I must have mentioned it several times throughout the day to my husband.

Monday: In the morning, I called my parish to see if we had a group going and if there just might be a cancellation or last minute opening, just in case. I was told that we had two people from our parish going and they were tagging along with the Mobile Archdiocese group which is three hours away. There were no openings on the bus from Mobile, plus I would need Archdiocese youth clearance. I spoke to the one adult going and again told her that I really needed to go to this march. I felt that I was being called and at that point I was just going to have faith that something was going to work out.

Monday night: I'm again searching through airfare sites and tried Priceline and boom, an airfare that we could afford popped up from Pensacola to Ronald Reagan National so my husband said "just do it." Ticket was purchased and I again made another post on Facebook asking for a place to stay and a group to march with. I am a military spouse and we military spouses have a network of friends all over the world. Two of my friends tagged me in Facebook posts helping me in my hunt for lodging and a march group. Three military spouse friends offered me a place to stay, a few friends offered me rides if I needed them and one friend connected me with other wives who were trying to help me figure out the Metro, the commuter bus, and catching a ride on a bus with another parish. I took my dear friend of 29 years, Becky up on her offer to stay with her in Manassas and I was just going to figure out the rest of the details the next day because at this point, I knew God had the details.

Tuesday: I called the parish that was three blocks from my host's home, Sacred Hearts in Manassas. Whoever answered the phone seemed pretty incredulous and wasn't understanding that I was flying in from Alabama at the spur of the moment and didn't know anybody and do you have room on your bus? She transferred me to a voice mail so I left the same message for the second person. In the meantime, I went shopping with a friend because I needed a coat! It was going to be cold in DC and I'm not used to the cold anymore. And I just wasn't worried about how I was going to march. I had a plane ticket, I had a place to stay, and my friend Becky could teach me about the metro.

Later Tuesday: Another military spouse friend, Anni started a group chat with a DC friend named Mariana asking if she could help me out. Turns out Mariana attends a different parish also in Manassas and was going to the March with her husband. They were planning to ride an RV from her church down to DC. She had rsvp'd for 3 people but her friend who was supposed to go with her but had gotten sick and cancelled. She wasn't sure of all of the details but we made a tentative plan that I would meet her at the church at 7am for mass, and then depending on how many people were trying to cram into the RV we would either ride in the RV or I could tag along with her for the commuter bus.

Tuesday night: All of my plans seemed to be in place. I had a plane ticket, a place to stay, a somewhat solid plan for transportation to the march and someone to march with.

Wednesday: I spent Wednesday doing laundry, tidying up the house, downloading the Uber app and the Life360 app (so my husband could keep track of me) and packing my small carry on and purse.

I was so excited for my trip. And calm, so peacefully calm. And thankful that in the details, God had arranged for me to meet a new friend who said yes to letting a complete stranger tag along on their March for Life.

Stay tuned for the rest of my journey to the March!

Social Media: Blessing or Bane?

Social Media has been such a blessing to the many groups and organizations I have volunteered with over the years. With social media, specifically Facebook, we have been able to create group pages to help our members stay informed and connected with each other. In the past, we would send out multiple mass emails and hope that those who needed to get the information actually read their emails! Now, we can post in Facebook and we can create an event and invite our members.

These are the blessings of Social Media:

1. As mentioned above, creating an event to remind our members about upcoming activities. And the great thing about Facebook and an event is that the member will receive updates and reminders the day before and the day of.

2. You have a last minute announcement? No problem, post it in your Facebook group and you can be sure that a majority of your members will see it.

3. In our military world, those on their way to our location can now search through Facebook and find groups they are interested in learning more about and connecting with folks in the new location.



Are there really banes when using social media? Yes, a couple.

1. Not everyone is on Facebook or social media. Be sure to have a back up communication method for those who don't "do Facebook". Do you have an email list for your group? Are you sending courtesy emails to those who you know are not on Facebook? Hurt feelings can occur when folks miss out on an event or announcement.

2. Friending everyone in your Facebook group. Think about it. Why did you first join a particular social group or women's group? For most of us it is because we are looking to make new friends and connect with other people with a similar interest. Here is where the downfall occurs. You join a group and really like the folks at the meetings you go to. You then start to send friend requests to the people in this group. You think you are friends! And then you start to see these same friends are actually getting together socially outside of the group. Without you. This, in particular, is where you need to be careful about what you post on Facebook. This is where feelings get hurt and people leave your group because of the exclusion that they see. Be careful.

So use your social media groups in a mature and business-like way.