First Day of Lent

Today, those ashes from the burned palms will be placed on my forehead. Every year, Ash Wednesday is filled with good intentions of what I will sacrifice. Fasting, doing more good, being more helpful and daily mass are a few of the things that I would like to do. Maybe this year I will accomplish my eager intentions.

Growing up, I would give up chocolate and Easter Sunday was a chocolate gorging day! As I think about what I love that I could give up, one thought comes to mind. I do love to blog. I wonder if I can go forty days without blogging?  If my blog is silent for awhile, it is because I have decided to leave my blogging until Easter Sunday!

At mass this morning, the ashes were ready to be placed, in the shape of a cross, on everyone's forehead.

Father in Heaven,

protect us in our 

struggle against evil.

As we begin the

discipline of Lent,

make this season

holy by our self-denial.

Grant through our

Lord, Jesus Christ 

who reigns with you 

and the Holy Spirit,

one God forever and ever.

Amen.

Honoring the Presidents Luncheon

The decorations at the luncheon were impressive and the food was delicious. Both were under the supervision of one super-like woman. Under her direction the tables had red,white and blue figures, American flags, and from the ceiling, large cardboard banners with pictures of the presidents, were hanging.

In the kitchen, she had watched over the making of the Kraut burgers and with the help of many volunteers presented Young at Heart with an attractive plate of good food. My plate had the Kraut burger, a mound of potato salad, a green lettuce leaf nestling a red jello square. The popular dessert tables were filled with pies, cookies, and cakes brought by members of the club.


The club's past president led everyone in saying a prayer before eating. The luncheon seemed to be enjoyed by everyone and I could hear a lot of chatter and laughter as I walked around photographing some of the people. The entertainment arrived; four men in turquoise jackets and mellow voices. The barber shop quartet is known as The Grace Notes and not only could they sing but they entertained us by their comical and clever jokes. I found out that the men are retired and have been together for about thirteen years. 

 Below are some of the YAH members enjoying the day!

 

Readers United

I belong to a book club. We meet every third Tuesday of the month. In discussing a book we have read we realize there are many subjects that can be discussed, not just the book or story. After reading the same book, our different views are interesting, informative and sometimes entertaining as we discuss the book.

Today it was The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. An excellent story about a modern young girl who transcribes a diary written by another young girl, of the 1600's, who is accused of being a witch. What I found interesting was that there seemed to be three stories, running side by side, as the author writes about Lauren (a college student hired to transcribe the diary), Abigail (an 83 year old woman and owner of the diary) and Mercy (the accused witch.) Each life is full of conflicts.

Opinions of the group were that choices played an important role, that quick judgement because of stereotyping can cause pain and embarrassment, how friendship can grow, and that some people are selfish and some people may have an evil streak, while others are willing to die for love.

When we found out that the author would accept comments and photos of our club, I pulled out my camera and we had our picture taken. The picture will be sent to the author since she wants to hear from different book clubs.

Three of the members of the book club had dreams of either working in a library or owning a small  bookstore. Almost all readers can not bear to part with books in their collection. I figure that readers are basically the same; turn them loose in a bookstore and they will buy a book or two or more! Last week I purchased five books for my Kindle and now I have to find the time to read them.

Our next meeting in March, will be on Molokai by Alan Brennert. Happy reading readers!

Last Minute Decision

Every month, except during Lent, a casino trip is planned for members of Spirit of Christ Catholic Community. This is a very popular trip and fills up right away as soon as it is announced. The trip planned for today to the Mardi Gras Casino was to be another fun trip and I had a full bus of fifty-five persons. I also had a waiting list of twelve persons in case there would be any cancellations.

Cancellations because of  babysitting, lunch dates, doctor's appointments and travel began to come in until the original list of  "gamblers," had completely changed. All of the persons on the waiting list made it to the main list and with the bus full, it would be another fun trip. Then, the weather poked its cold head into our plans.

From the fifty-persons on my list it began to dwindle until it reached forty-two. Weather forecasters were scaring everyone with the 2-8 inches of snow that was to fall Sunday night and into Monday. I got up around six in the morning and looked outside. There was snow covering the ground but it did not look bad. I got on the Internet to see about the weather in Blackhawk. Couldn't find out much other than snow was predicted for most of the day. I received two more cancellations and now it was forty hearty souls prepared to weather the storm!

Around seven I looked out again and the snow was coming down in earnest. Big flakes were landing and covering my driveway with about two inches of snow. I knew I had a decision to make. I called the person who handles our group in Blackhawk and she told me it was snowing in Blackhawk also and that the roads were passable but slow. She told me that it was my decision whether I wanted to cancel or not. At that point, I decided to cancel the casino trip. I let her know that our group would not be going to Blackhawk this morning.

I began calling those on the list who thought they were going to gamble. A few persons asked if they could help by calling some of the people on my list. Thank God for kind and helpful people. Between three of us we got everyone on the list called by eight o'clock. I may be wrong but I thought I heard a sigh of relief from many of the persons I informed about the cancellation.

Now, all I have to do is get ready for our next trip which will be sometime in April. Surely, by then we will have nice spring weather!

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

 

The saying that too many cooks spoil the broth is not true. On Sunday, about twenty persons gathered in the kitchen of Spirit of Christ Catholic Community to prepare food for the Young At Heart luncheon. Some cracked hard boiled eggs and cut them into small pieces, some chopped onions and celery, some made jello. I saw fruit being poured into the jello and potatoes being boiled for a potato salad. Many were involved in preparing the filling for the main dish of Kraut Burgers.

There were many hands crumbling seven pounds of ground beef, chopping ten pounds of cabbage, and cutting up onion to go into a large pan. Everything was fried together in the pan and this would become the filling for the Kraut Burgers.

Yeast dough was prepared and allowed to rise. When the dough had doubled in size, it was separated into two halves. Two tables had floured white cloths where the dough would be rolled into a large,thin rectangle. The rolled dough covered half of the long table. Once the dough was rolled it was cut into 4x4 squares.

Once the cabbage mixture was cool, a glob of the mixture would be put into the square and a pocket made.
The 250 pockets would be baked and ready for the luncheon. I had never seen so many hands working in a synchronized manner to prepare the food. Each person seemed to know their part whether it was peeling, cutting, mixing or rolling. The kitchen smelled good except for the hard boiled eggs!

I could not stay to see the finished product that the cooks would complete, but I will see every one's hard work and enjoy a delicious luncheon on Tuesday, February 17, 2015.

Burning of the Palms

Today, after the 12:15 mass, old palm fronds were burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday. Ashes are used to make a cross on my forehead on Ash Wednesday and I had no idea it was from old and dried out blessed palms. I have a bag full of old palms but because I know they are blessed I keep them. Sometimes I think about throwing them out, but I can not bring myself to do it. Now, I know what I will do with my palms. For the past few weeks, our priest asked people to bring in the palms they received on Palm Sunday and they would be burned to make ashes for this year.

I liked that the statue of St. Francis of Assisi looked over the shoulder of the deacon as he prayed over the palms before setting them on fire. The Christian Formation director read a passage from the Bible as the dry palms burned. A few persons gathered around the fire to see the burning of the palms.

 

"Remember that you are dust

and to dust you shall return."

Genesis 3:19

A Single Yellow Flower

Yesterday, as I was leaving the house, I spotted a yellow bloom. In the corner of  what used to be a flower patch, I saw the small yellow crocus popping out of the dry ground. Seeing the one flower gave me a good feeling that spring would soon follow.

"Where flowers bloom, 

so does hope"  

Lady Bird Johnson

There was a time when the whole flower bed would be filled with different flowers and colors, but now it is a dry patch with dead leaves, twigs, and dirt. Yet, in all that dryness there is a solitary bloom. The dictionary describes Crocuses as:  Any of the small, bulbous plants of the genus Crocus, of the Iris family,
cultivated for their showy, solitary flowers, which are among the first to bloom in the spring"

 

"If we could see the miracle

of a single flower clearly, 

our whole life would change."

Buddha