If we Kept God Above Us...We'd be OK

Day after day the news feed hits keep coming. Left, right, center it does not matter. They just keep coming. I just want my family to be safe and one day reach heaven. I actually day dream of my greatest wish and request of God from time to time in these times of stress. I want to be so blessed that one day my children and grandchildren are circled around me in heaven signing Hosanna before any altar in heaven. I just know our eternal souls will be ok if we keep God on the cross above of us. Yet this is the world’s challenge is it not?

I pray you and yours keep your eyes on God, and help us do the same. We’ll do our best to return the favors as we all march through these turbulent times.

-ehw

Spring Sprung a bit in Georgia

    One thing I love about spring in our home in Georgia is the ever unfolding reminder of the march of time.  All through the summer the blooming bushes and flowers will rotate with a beauty to remind me of how much greater His Glory will be in heaven.  If you can find a loveliness like this here in a fallen world; imagine what beauty will await where perfection, justice and holiness prevails everywhere.

    Happy Sunday!  Enjoy some time with God today!

-ehw

Divine Mercy Memory

    Today my wife and I had a Sunday afternoon date...to complete our Divine Mercy Novena and Sunday at our church.  While I am still processing all the lessons from the last ten days, I rarely allow myself to miss a nice moment or two with the capture of a frame of electrons, ones and zeros.  The image on the program matches the beauty of the Holy Hour... so I just had to share.

    Jesus I Trust in You!

-ehw

Carry Your Cross

     Carry your cross today.  The Saints remind us, the only way to heaven is through the cross.  We must suffer, and learn to rejoice in that suffering.  This is such a hard concept if we are of this world and not Christ's.  (I struggle with this debate daily myself!)  So let us not be like the masses and flee our Lord in his time of need.  Let us take up our personal cross, and follow Christ in his way of the Cross.

PS  Please pray for the boys...we start carrying our cross today at 1155, St Brigid to Regina Caeli, Academy.

-ehw

Place of Refuge

   Amidst the hustle bustle of Northern Virginia sits little St John the Beloved Catholic Church.  From the outside it appears to be a typical 1950's design of a church, lacking the traditional calling cards.  Walking inside was a surprise.  During adoration Gregorian chants filled the church, the altar was made the centerpiece, and based on the appearance of the cushions all around the sanctuary it it had an altar rail in use at mass for communion.  It was wonderful, and adoration was full of people coming, praying and heading back out into the world.  On my way out I found a wonderful board filled with men and women entering religious life, heading the call of the Lord.  What a way to go forth.

    Sometimes the wrapper just does not tell you what you are really looking at!   Thank you St. John the Beloved.

-ehw

Lessons From the Road to Josiah Anthony

    Yesterday we welcomed our newest family member, Josiah Anthony to the family.  He is a wonderful little boy, and the family gallery moments are full of rich loving emotion.  People viewing these photos would think we live in a wonderful version of wonderful TVLand where all is right in the world.  In reality though, the photos reflect a grace filled moment resulting from a gutwrenching year of enrichment leading to it.

    Over the last year as a family we faced many challenges.  Our adventures extended not far from the house.  Daddy led only minimalist excursions, Momma struggled with health issue after issue, kids got sick, we faced challenges at school, in discipline, and we all lost our marbles from a problem or issue more than once.  NONE of those moments were the type of Rockwell images I relish to build in either my personal or photographic life.  I certainly never captured those moments outside of own cranium. 

    Friends can't come over, Daddy is at work, and Momma is too sick to drive?  Hope for tomorrow and play with your siblings.  Tired of groundhog Saturdays with no adventure...shut up and finish a job you had not finished in the house.  Tired of having to do more and more chores, lacking Mom's presence in your life because she is perineally sick, or the thought you now have bigger bills to pay?  Pray on why your giving into vices, and hit confession to seek forgiveness. 

   In the valleys of life we always have a choice to help ourselves go lower, hold the course or begin to climb to the ridgeline again.  I know the only way we reached this glorious moment yesterday though, was because of our collective responses to those low points.  We only occasionally failed to stay at or gain altitude, and never went into a terminal decent.  The key to our family response was our collective final decision always kept hope alive through acts of faith and charity.  We also paid up lots of pennace to each other for our internal transgressions.

   We had a moment in some glorious graces, and now we are back to reality.  A huge tree fell in the yard, feedings every three hours around the clock, littles now need to re-establish the household order, health needs restoration, there will be more chores to do, and needs to meet.  The reward though will be more lessons leading us to greater heights of love, and good photographic moments.

  So off to work we go! 

-ehw

Living Memories of a Good Priest

    God blesses us from time to time with people in our lives who call us out and inspire us to new heights of growth.  My son, and family, were blessed to know Father Austin Fogarty at St. Thomas Aquinas Church from 2012 until his death.  My Kevin would never allow Father Austin to leave the church without a high five during the procession.  In 2016, two years after Father passed, my son went to cry some more at his graveside.

   It was therefore a great deal of happiness yesterday, we were able to enjoy a good bit of Father Austin's handiwork at St. George Parish in Newnan, Georgia.  Based on what Father did at St. Thomas Aquinas to repair and beautify the sanctuary, we could feel his handiwork all over the church.  We even found notes to the parish sacristan with reminders for care of chalices with his name on it.

    It made me ponder how our material works can still help the living after our passing.  I realize we cannot take anything material with us beyond the grave.  However, if what we build with our hands and hearts is rooted in God's Law we can leave a living memorial capable of inspiration far beyond our death to generations beyond.  I know this was true here, because my Kevin shed no tears yesterday.  He instead marveled at the works of this fatherly priest, and how he urged him to live a life for Christ.

   So today we will pray for our beloved friend and priest, Father Austin Fogarty.  I pray he finds himself wrapped in the love of Jesus, at rest from his pains endured here on earth.  While we miss you, we will not let that selfishness keep us from living as you asked us to here on earth with the people of God.

Vocations Prayers Please!

    This weekend the 9AM needed a volunteer family to take home an older chalice, called the Elijah Cup, and put it in a prominent place in the home.  Every time we see it, we should be praying for an increase in responses to vocation calls from Christ. 

   Well the kids asked and jumped into the isle...as another family further up and on the side also went up.  To make it even more interesting a family up front, good friends of ours, also started to leap up and then stopped.  We did not see the Deacon motion to the family to our right so we kept charging down the isle...so the six of us kept walking to the delight and laughter of the parish on collision course with the other family!

   As we saw the other family come into view ahead of us, we sheepishly turned about.  We were headed back to our pew for the dismissal rite when we heard a booming voice...."Wait we have another one!"  from Father John Bosco Tri.  So we went on up and accepted the cup he held!

   I don't think Father Tri was going to let us go.  See Father Tri and my John Paul already had a little talk.  Father Tri offered John Paul use of his vestments two weeks ago....he seems pretty sure my JP will join him soon.  (JP is only 22 months old right now so they are a little big on him.)

   The serious side of all this is however, we need everyone to respond deeply to their vocation call.  God does not stop issuing vocation calls.  The problem is we just don't respond as we should primarily due to fear. Fear of giving ourselves away totally to God's design, fear of the reaction to our family, fear of the ridicule the world will put on us for being "old fashioned", or even fear of not knowing a safe place to begin the journey.

   The result is a horrible vacuum.  One priest for thousands of families, and the loss of nuns to build social networks of schools and services all mean the Body of Christ does not get the care it needs.  A loss of religious vocations means families suffer as well, because trained religious are not there to nourish with sacraments, knowledge of sacramentals, and caring hands.  The carnage does not end there though with the failure to heed our vocations. 

    How many fathers are afraid to lead their domestic church towards God? How many mothers are not bringing the heart of Christ into the daily routines of family life with courage?  Without true fatherhood and maternal care, the fires of vocation will merely smolder in our souls.  Never will the vocation fire burn bright for either task God could give us.  All this leads to greater pain for the body of Christ as marriages suffer, sacraments go under offered and utilized, and churches close. 

    Recently I read how Mother Teresa understood her spiritual darkness to be her participation in the pain Christ has when we reject his cry of thirst to add our soul to his.  Imagine how we could soothe Jesus suffering if we all began to encourage children to become religious if they receive the call?  On their journey to discernment, we parents would need to grow in our faith as well since we are their first teachers.  A testament to this growth of faith, would be the rejection of the contraceptive movement, and the growth of larger families once again in Catholic households.   From larger families historically come greater the number of vocations.  This occurs since boys and girls do not feel the subconscious need to ensure there is an heir for the family name, or someone to care for parents in old age.

   So pray for a great response to the vocations God sends us at any time in our lives! 

Here is a short prayer for vocations I found:

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of wisdom and divine love, impart Your knowledge, understanding, and counsel to youth that they may know the vocation wherein they can best serve God. Give them courage and strength to follow God's holy will. Guide their uncertain steps, strengthen their resolutions, shield their chastity, fashion their minds, conquer their hearts, and lead them to the vineyards where they will labor in God's holy service.
Amen.

From EWTN: Click here to see the original

Imagine the Love of God if...

    My daughter just finished a very special trip with her grandparents.  Ten days visiting Washington, D.C.; seeing godparents; enjoying some new clothes; but most of all enjoying a different vision of the world she lives in.  She learned a great deal about where she comes from on my side of the family.  My daughter lives a very virtuous life, and is a role model for me her Dad.  Her selflessness for living God's law is impressive.  While she was gone though, her absence let me think about how God's relationship with each of us in the story of the Prodigal Son.  This story is always about the tale of the two sons, but it also gives us a deep insight into the love of God for each of us.  

    In the previous excursions of my children with grandparents I never had a child who was at the age to explore life away from the family.  This time though, my daughter took a trek to the outstanding Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia.  There she met one possible destiny.  She saw shelves and shelves of great books.  She sat in classes where she had more of the Shakespeare memorization complete then the students (recent homework at Regina Caeli), and also experienced a class knowing she was not yet ready for it.  When she was done she found a great college, and felt it could be a home away from home for her.

   My young lady left, and seriously contemplated the next phase of her life.  Thankfully for me, her description of why included the statement "They really try to live out our Catholic faith there dad."  In the story of the Prodigal son, however, the boy wanting to live in man's world chooses to live by his own rules.  He leaves the father, and the father knows he may never come home.   This faithful father also realizes the son may also forfeit a home in heaven for his soul, and this fate would trouble the father even more than a failure to return to the family home. 

    When the father sees his son coming home repenting of his sins, he rejoices. He hugs and adorns his child with all he can.  While the physical return home is good, the father knows a repentant son will be with him forever in the paradise of heaven.  Since tradition teaches us the father is symbolizing God the Father, we know the human joy and love we see pales to the love God has for us.

    So when my daughter returned I rejoiced in having my faithful and true daughter in my care once again.  I also thought of the Father in the Prodigal Son.  Here a son, who was dead to him, returned home.  The son showed repentance, and demonstrated his embrace of the Lord's ways.  If my joy was immense, I could only imagine the joy and love God poured forth into the moment when sinners come home.

    What an awesome God to believe in, and see reflected in natural law throughout history.

-ehw

Spunky

    At then end of a long day, when you just came inside from playing in the dirt with your brothers you just get SPUNKY!

    I love my kids....this is just all part of loving the moments on the high ground of life.

-ehw

Prayers are Good

Holy Spirit Catholic Church Doraville, GA

    Prayer is good.  The saints say we are made to pray.  Heaven is all prayer all the time.  Thank God we still have places we can go and be in his presence for just 15 minutes!

    Last year I embarked on a year with a prayer intention book.  I am so happy for the many good returns, the strength delivered for continued toil, and friendships made stronger by unity in prayer.  It is now a habit, and I will begin it again. It was fitting to start my second year on my knees before the Blessed Sacrament with a rosary on St. Dominic's feast day.

    Prayer is made to bring us to God.  To help us atone, nourish, and increase in our spiritual lives.  There are tough patches, great patches and smooth sailing patches.  Each has a purpose and they are worthy experiences for all to encounter.

-ehw

Points of Grace and Wisdom

    If we believe the Bible, God's Grace and Wisdom abound on this earth.  We also know God pronounced humanity good at our creation.  So what keeps us from finding these two tools needed to help us navigate the world in harmony with the Father's will if our nature is inherently good?  We all know it is the noise of the world preventing us from finding God in the silence of our own hearts and lives.

    Noise comes in many forms.  Lack of sleep, too much TV, too much Facebook, illness, threats to our livelihood and our families just to name a few.  The challenge to quiet the noise requires solutions unique to our individual identities.  For introverts prayer will come easy.  For sanguine temperaments simply standing still long enough for grace and wisdom settle in your life may be the challenge of a lifetime.  For melancholics not falling into despair when challenges smack your life may be the constantly renewed roadblock of a lifetime.    

   For each person there is a solution though.  It just takes the time and dedication to find it.  The examples of saintly and holy lives abound in history, and even in modern times.  We just have to look for them.  Then when found we have to take the next step and act to apply the lessons in our own lives.

   In the quiet of quite a few vacation timed desert morning walks, I was able to quiet my mind enough to get to church on a weekday for mass and confession.  It was wonderful.  The grace and wisdom revealed saved me once again from wrongheaded paths.  I know I will need to seek yet more grace and wisdom for many a coming storm, but it was reassuring as always a minor miracle appeared when needed.

   I hope you find your path to points of grace and wisdom today as well.

-ehw

I found Dad's Golden Toy Mine!

Mission Control this is John Paul.

JP - MC go ahead.

MC I have the toys in sight.  They are magnificent.  Two Fujifilm cameras, loads of lenses, batteries and HOLY BIRTHDAY CAKE the 56mm is here!  

JP you have permission to acquire the toys.

MC I have a problem...oh my it is a rigged flash...I'm on film...he caught me red handed.

JP Break Off! Break Off!  Go to ground!

MC will play baby no worries.  I'll get another chance...I know where the toy mine is now.

MC-JP Out

-ehw

Generation to Generation Toys

    If you ever get a chance to look at a list of the top ten toys history ever created...you will not find last year's Christmas craze on them.   You will instead find toy cars, soldiers, trains and digging supplies for boys.  For girls I am sure you will find dolls, stuffies and all their accessories.  I know there are exceptions out there, but the reality is you will not find many!  This is what kids play with!

    So here we have Uncle Micheal's trucks out back one more time.  At home we have the matchbox and airplane toys from both myself and my brother...and even my uncle (or my kids Great Uncle).  These toy trucks and planes are universal hits.   When built American tough, like a child, they will last generations.

    It got me to wondering...if toys go from generation to generation why don't we look closer at lessons from the past.  I'm sure what God said 5,000 years ago or 2000 years ago really still has some staying power.  It might help us in our present circumstances!

-ehw

Happiness is a Good Book

    Well we were not in Lake Havasu for more than a day when Grandma loaded up the two big kids and took them to someplace they find better than Disney World...a Library.  Out they went, and back they came with one and three books respectfully.  When not engaged with board games and outdoor fun their noses are buried deep in their books.  

    Simple things we need to remember are all part of Capturing His Glory in our daily lives.  I'm glad I get to see it!

-ehw    

Believe in the Unicorn

         With the news from Dallas and Tennessee today, one could rightly believe the world is up in flames.  The world is changing and there would appear to be no hope....but this is what Uncle Screwtape would have us all believe.  There is hope...more hope than we can imagine if we still believe unicorns can walk amongst us!

    I am being  a bit silly, but it is true.  Amongst all the terrors of the world, we have plenty of signs of natural law bringing joy and hope to people.  How can I say this?  Do you love your child?  Do you sacrifice your personal conveniences to help your spouse when they have a bad day?  Do you pray and give alms to the poor in some way?  Does any one of these items fail to let grace and mercy through you to others?  

   Amongst pain we see now, and know that is coming, we can still bring Christ's gospel through us in word and deed to the world.  It is this grace, flowing through us to others, which will provide the world the renewed church.  One which will conquer the evil at some point, and let God's plan unfold in ways new and unexpected to us mere mortal men.

   Oh..and the Unicorn water cannon my daughter has in her hand packs a heavy stream pounding. It made me believe in its power a few times in our water wars last night!

-ehw

Earned not Given: Lesson for the 4th

    This year the capstone challenge of my boys Blue Knight year was the annual board of review at Regina Caeli Academy.  (The full story of the event itself is here BOARD OF REVIEW) For the weeks leading up to the board I reinforced to the boys and their parents their awards were earned not given by saying:"When your friends ask about your awards you will be able to tell them in Blue Knights everything is earned not given."

    This is a hard task we all must learn, and one fathers must teach repeatedly.  In my case I had one boy who was able to discuss each question for five minutes each in great detail.  The other son took a pretest in the kitchen as we cleaned up from dinner, and smugly thought his 80% was enough to stop studying....ah not in my house.  After a very serious discussion on how the name Wojtkun was the only thing I would ever give him, and how he was not going to drag it into the gutter he go serious.  So he was on cloud nine when he scored a 100% at the review, and earned the rank of Sergeant for next year the next week.

    So what does this have to do with the 4th of July?  Well everything.

    In 1776 our Continental Army was in the field for over a year, dying for American Independence. The men in Philadelphia used the words of Thomas Jefferson to define what we stood for as a nation, knowing by doing so they signed their own death warrant.  After years of fighting (remember the war went on past Yorktown in 1781) the Founders created a document forming a government which used checks and balances to keep the worst human failings in check.  

    Despite all the Founders did did generations ago, Benjamin Franklin responded prophetically to the question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got-a Republic or a Monarchy?" with "A Republic if you can keep it."  Dr. Franklin knew human nature, and knew the lessons in his generation could not be passed on through our DNA.  A republic could only be passed on through teaching each generation the cold hard facts of our history, human nature, and the balancing grace of applying natural law.  Even with lessons learned, each generation must still earn a republic through application of those lessons to the events of their times.

    In today's world we have a tendency to throw away the ideas of the past, thinking modern science can solve all problems.  The news reports today show the natural tendency for people to crave the warm security blanket of authoritarian rulers (if they agree with us).  These trends are disturbing, for they show people discarding the philosophical lessons (probably never learned and many times purposefully corrupted) of the founders.

   So today we must again decide if we want to continue earning our Republic, or throw it away and again come under authoritarian rule...from inside or outside our nation.  The threat is real, and only the willfully ignorant can't see it.  

   Time to go pray for our nation and its people...that the light of freedom ignite in our souls once more.

-ehw 

Capturing the Glory of our Spiritual Dawn

    When I saw this windmill I could see the outline, but not the details.  The vast contrast between the bright rising sun and the shadow side of the windmill also deprived my eyes of fine color detail.  My brain knew what was before me, but my senses could not grasp all the details as the wind gently started moving the blades and changing the scene.  

    I looked into the scene and then began to think of our spiritual lives.  We first know the world as it exists around us with natural light and law.  When God's light falls on the land the contrast between the right and wrong becomes distinct.  What we thought before of our environment will radically change if we embrace God's law as our spiritual dawn arises.

    This is the key moment in the transition between dawn to day in our spiritual lives.  If we accept God's law over us, the light will continue to grow into full day.  If we decide to follow man's law alone, we'll need to wait for the street lamps to come on to make sense of the world.  Street lamps are no substitute for God's light.

    Even with embracing God's Law bringing on our spiritual day, our earthly minds will never see the world as clearly as God sees it.  We will, however, be gifted with the knowledge and graces needed to avoid pitfalls if we ask for them with heart, mind and soul.  If we grasp the offered graces, sacraments, and penance we have a better chance to stay on the path to heaven.  

    If we obtain the prize of heaven through the gift of God's mercy, we will one day see as God sees.  The outlines will suddenly become full of detail, the high contrast will yield brilliant color, and the slightest breeze will be noticed and appreciated.  

   Sounds good to me...

-ehw

Photo Essay: Connecting to the Christ Child's Heart

    At the center of the plaza in front of the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament is the statue of the Child Jesus extending his Sacred Heart towards us.  The heart of a child, broken of it's innate narcism, recognizes the blessings Christ brings to us in some moment of silence.  For most of us, those childhood moments form the closest and purest connections to God we will ever have.  it is the closest we will ever come to touching the Sacred Heart of our Lord.  

    The reason is once we leave the narcism free window of youth, our lives get busy.  Our lives fill with noise and competition needed survive in the adult world.  The moments of peace needed to connect to God in the manger, at the Sermon on the Mount, on his cross, or arising from the dead in his glorious triumph over death get crowded out on the clock.  The devil uses our fallen world to challenge your attempts at connection to Christ using trials to us at work, his mocking us when our children go astray, or physical ailments used fogging our mind and blocking reception of God's treasures bestowed on us.

    We should not lament on this spiritual torment.  We must accept it, and revel in the few moments of childlike joy we do get when our hearts open to the Lord.  We must treasure those moments as a triumph over the forces of Satan, and know this constant spiritual battle is the one the Lord encourages us to have.  A heart constantly striving for the Lord is one which never leaves faith or hope aside, and provides a path where charity can flower.

    See the striving heart, the one cutting through the distractions of the world, is a mature heart seeking Jesus Sacred Heart.  The striving heart completes the circle of spiritual life for those blessed with a childhood connection to the Lord.  See if charity flows through your heart to others, you again stripped yourself of narcism like you did as a child.  In the charitable acts you will build not just a moment of joy, but the potential for an eternity of heavenly joy with Christ.

-ehw

P.S. Thanks to Mom for the inspiration for this blog post!

Photo Essay: Will You Pray for Me?

        Contrary to most descriptions, a Roman scourging was a vicious affair.  It usually killed a person at forty lashes or greater because of blood loss from exposed internal organs.  The entire purpose of a public lashing is to scare away people from either supporting the victim's cause or preventing certain crimes.   It should come as no surprise there were very few of Jesus public supporters and apostles at the foot of his cross when he died.    That was the entire idea behind a cruxifixction.

    So approaching the Shrine, on the southern portico we have this cross at the end.  With a single kneeler just begging you to come and pray with and for our Lord in his suffering.  A suffering which continues today in this world.  Jesus' persecution continues today with attacks on the people of his church around the world.  Jesus' church on this earth needs our prayers as much now as ever!

    So the lonely kneeler begs the question from Jesus: Will you pray for me?

-ehw