Thankful

"Enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise, give thanks to Him and praise His name".

- Psalm 147:7

Beth's First Promises

Our friend (and my godmother) Elizabeth Scott, took her "First Promises" at Madonna House in Combermere Ontario, today.

Beth and her family
Beth with Fr. David May

Mary, Beth and Hannah

Mom, Scott and I were able to go

Congratulations Beth! We are so happy for you!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Roses Are Red...

Dad brought Mom and I home each a beautiful red rose for Valentine's day yesterday. Thank-you Daddy, it's lovely. I love the card too.

Valentine's day... is much more fun with a baby around!

New York Mission Post!!

April 27, 2010. New York, NY.

This year’s Holy Week missions had a strong Manhattan contingent, with 50 young women, 10 young men, and about a dozen families involved in various service projects around the Big Apple.

The mission, running from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning, was based out of Old St Patrick’s Cathedral in SoHo. During the mission, the youth reached out to the people of the district, inviting them to the church for the Easter liturgies. At the same time, they engaged in various corporal works of mercy in conjunction with some of New York’s charitable organizations.

Caroline and I

The service projects started on Friday morning with Meals on Wheels, as we youth teamed up to deliver meals to the elderly, staying to socialize and spend some time when they could.

Meanwhile, another group helped prepare and serve lunch at a center for the elderly.

A few of us- posing

Holy Thursday - washing of the feet

Talking to a lady on the streets

Preaching

In the evening, we participated in a Midnight Run from 10 pm to 1 am. A Midnight Run is an evening delivery of essential clothing and toiletries to homeless people throughout the city. The missionaries had been preparing in the months prior to the mission with a clothing and toiletries drive, collecting items as diverse as underwear, socks, rain ponchos, sweaters, jackets, pants, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, and more.

Before we started our deliveries, two former homeless people came and gave all the missionaries a talk to help them understand what they would be experiencing, sharing their own stories of how they came to be homeless.

One of them had graduated from college and worked for the Pentagon and the Air Force. He had a family, a wife, and a house in DC. But when his wife died, he mentally broke down. He forgot to pay his bills and go to work. Before too long, he found himself on the street. One of New York’s programs for homeless people helped him to start getting back on his feet again, although he still lives in a shelter.

The other speaker shared how his drug addiction had lost him his job and landed him on the street for 16 years. It took him a long time to recognize that he had an addiction and start detoxing, but he finally did it.

One of the co-workers that Caroline has worked with in the past year and her cousin who came down for the mission :)

Sleeping

The kitchen "crew" serving lunch at the center for the elderly

Walking down the streets in NY


Saturday in Harlem

On Saturday, the missionaries headed over to the Children’s Day Society in Harlem. There, they organized five stations of games for the kids: basketball, steal the bacon, Easter egg decoration, musical chairs, and dodge ball. The kids switched off from one station to the other until they had their fill of games.

The games were followed by a cookout and an Easter egg hunt. One missionary spent the whole day with the same three girls, bonding

“The kids really liked the personal attention from the missionaries,” observed Caroline, noting that the boys started shooting hoops and playing pickup basketball with the young men, while some of the young women found themselves surrounded by a small posse of little girls.

Friends

Easter Eggs!

Some of the things in this post is from a great newspaper article that was written about the mission.

It is hard to put into words what a blessing the mission was to me. I think many of us there saw God working miracles in the lives of those on the street and the people who were helping on the mission. It re-emphasized to me that the smallest gesture can make a change in someones life. In closing I want to share with you two quotes that help me summarize my experience in NY city.

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

-Mother Teresa

God bless you, Erin

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as 'St. Patrick's Breast-Plate,' is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text . . ."


I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.


I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.


I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.


I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.


I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.


I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.


Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.


Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.


I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.