7 Quick Takes Friday

  1.  Catholicism, the series 

If you haven't watched the PBS special hosted by Fr. Robert Baron, I will tell you, it is a treat not to be missed, a true pleasure.   I've been a longtime fan of his Word on Fire but this is like a two hour feast for the ears, eyes and heart once a week. 

2. All the Signs to Stop

Yesterday, I'd prepared to do a marathon of stuff for the Fall Festival, but my 8 month old decided otherwise.  She decided the only place she would sleep, was in my arms.  So everything else got tabled and today, I've got loads to do, but it was a nice moment to go back to in my mind as a refresher before starting in on the day's demands.  A good friend said, "Listen to your daughter."  and my daughter was saying, "Stop." The stuff still got done, and I got in good snuggle time.

3. Speak Your Heart's Desire

Back in the summer, on a lark I entered a contest for a print. The options were Blessed Mother Theresa or Pope John Paul the Great.  I wanted the one of Blessed Mother Theresa. I won the portrait of Pope John Paul.  When the print arrived, it was beautiful, and I was blown away by the expression and beauty conveyed in his face.  I also got a note from the artist apologizing for the lateness of delivery along with an additional print, the one one of Blessed Mother Theresa. Both are lovely works of art. But it's funny to me that what I hoped, came.  I've always maintained that we should speak our heart's desire and then allow ourselves to be surprised by the number of times our beloved God answers us with lavish abandon. It seems daring to say such things, but I know it to be true.

4.  What I'm Praying For

Well, you can't say something like I did there without admitting that I have a laundry list of things that I ask about, and yet as I type this, I realize, I have not asked about.  So I'm asking, for my son to pass his driver's test, for my children to do well in school, for the economy to brighten up and the wrathful nature of our political discourse to become less about who's winning, and more about what's right. I'm praying for things to get easier for family and friends, and for good health for those who miss it.  I'll ask God to help me find my charger for the phone, get rid of the clutter in my home, and help us find a way to get 8 hours or more of sleep a night and get healthier.  I have a long list. But I know that God has all of eternity, so what seems long to me is small to Him, and that it does not hurt our relationship for me to admit, I need to ask more and be willing to ask more. 

5.  What I'm Reading

I'm still enjoying Bird by Bird, mostly because I'm allowing myself to enjoy each chapter rather than run through it at a sprint.  I can't recommend it enough for anyone who wants to write or teach writing.

6. This Week's Don Quixote Type Adventure 

The University of Notre Dame  President, Fr. Jenkins, spoke up against the plan by the HHS to demand that all organizations and individuals who provide insurance, pay for contraceptives and sterilization and the RU-486ing babies pill or some variant, without exception, without acknowledging that this policy does not allow people of faith to adhere to their faith in their businesses, in their purchases, with their money.  Bravo Fr. Jenkins!  Today was the last day for public comment.  I sent a letter. 

7.  One More Day

This weekend is the Fall Festival. We're almost there.  I'm hoping for good weather, for a good turn out and for smooth sailing.  I promise I'll be napping all next week. 



Why I Took On the Fall Festival

"Sherry, you're nuts but in a nice kind of way." a friend said who agreed to provide baked goodies for tomorrow. I get that a lot.

So I thought, given that the event will happen and things have finally slowed down a bit, I'd explain how it is that a mother of nine took on planning a festival for 400 or hopefully, a lot more.

In 2008, I learned I was pregnant with our ninth child and honestly sat for a month and a half asking God why again, rather than giving thanks. It wasn't my proudest moment as a human being, let alone a mother.

Then we found out our youngest had Down’s Syndrome and nine children seemed suddenly like a walk in the park by comparison with facing an unknown "permanent" as one woman called it, handicapping condition. We were offered unbearable options. Then we learned our son in addition to everything else, had a heart condition that would need a major operation to correct some time after birth. Suddenly Down’s Syndrome seemed a cakewalk to staring down open heart surgery on a newborn. As I said at the time, any sentence containing the words "needs open heart surgery" in it, was a bad sentence.

So we progressed through the pregnancy but it was hard. There was a quiet in my mind that wasn't a happy quiet or a peaceful one. I knew I needed to reenter the world. The principal of our school talked of needing a chair for the Fall Festival and I felt as if a rope had been tossed with which to pull myself out of my dark heart full of feelings so I grabbed on tight.

Last year, the Fall Festival was wonderful and amazing and funny. The only person who used the first aid was me, and that was to lie down and rest, being ten days post-partum. This year, approaching it without the aid of Percocet or compulsory naps, it's a bit more daunting but that same rope has kept me discovering new people and pushed me to be more open to the community that demands all of us be cracked open, the Church.

To set this feast for all who attend the school and all who use the parish is a great privilege and to know all the men and women who have put in the hours to help bring it to being is also a great honor. I only hope it succeeds enough to further the cause of the school and secure a spot as a tradition that will grow and grow until it becomes a generational experience of being part of Saint Martin's.

The Fall Festival is a rare opportunity for the families of this school and Parish to come together to play. I hope it is a time when all of the faculty, staff, parents, children and parishioners can forget themselves in the timelessness of simple games and good food in good company and next year, I hope we can expand it so it goes until 4. Then we could all clean up and close with a bilingual mass.

Because all of these people are united beyond the barriers of school/parish, immigrant/citizen, English speaking and other, in our stewardship of our families and by our love of what the whole Parish is about, the Eucharist, our Faith, our Church.

So that's why. And yes, I also love it so I'm a bit crazy, but in a good sort of way.