An unexpected lesson in greatness....

            Saturday evening, we found ourselves at the 4 p.m. vigil Mass.  We don’t normally attend Mass on Saturday but one of the scheduled altar servers had fallen ill, so my son stepped up to take his place.  When we entered the church, we saw an invitation to all parishioners posted in the narthex.  

 “Please join us following the 4 p.m. Mass in the Parish Hall for a reception celebrating the 70^th anniversary of ordination for Fr. Basil,” it said.  

             Fr. Basil has been a retired priest at our parish for 26 years.  Being present at the Mass celebrating his 70 years of priestly service was just incredible.  He is nearly 97 years old and has lived an unbelievably extraordinary life…..  

Coming from the Byzantine rite, he was married before being ordained to the priesthood.  He and his wife were blessed with three children but seven months after the birth of their third child, his wife died.  As tragic as that was- it was only the beginning of his struggles.  

He lived in Romania at a time when Catholics were persecuted.  When he refused to deny allegiance to the Pope, he was jailed.  His still very young children were sent to an orphanage.  He was physically tortured.  Still, he held fast to his beliefs.  After many years, he was released and allowed to reclaim his children.  In time, he was able to come to America but his children were not.  He was forced to leave them for a second time.  

Amazingly, his middle child, Sergio, followed in his footsteps and became a priest.  Along with our pastor and associate pastor and, of course,  Fr. Basil, Fr. Sergio was one of the four priests celebrating the Mass.  I couldn’t help but think, there was so much meaning in those two men- father and son- standing next to each other celebrating Mass.  There was so much significance in the two of them, both as priests (Father and Father), sharing this celebration together after all the heartbreak they’ve both experienced in life. 

            On our way home after Mass, there was so much I wanted to say to my children.  I wanted to ask them….

What did you think of that Mass?  Did you see the beauty and the symbolism in the four holy priests con-celebrating together, all joined around the altar of the Lord?  Could you see heaven touching us here on earth as they prayed the words of Consecration together?  Did you realize that together those four holy men represented at least 150 years of consecrated service to Our Lord?  That we were truly in the presence of greatness and holiness- as we are at every Mass?

When our pastor gave his homily and shared the life story of Fr. Basil, did you find yourselves wondering- could I do what he did?  Could I stand strong in my faith and lay down my life so completely?  Could I go to jail and give up my comforts and even my own family rather than renounce my Catholic faith?   Would I undergo torture for my beliefs? 

Were you surprised to hear his life story and to learn of his strength, while seeing him sit there looking so safe and ordinary?  Were you inspired to greatness yourself by looking at that frail, humble man who has given so much to Our Lord?  

            I wanted to take the opportunity to drive home so many lessons but I decided to just let the experience, and Fr. Basil’s story, speak for itself….

A little plug for a fabulous short story.... "Convicted"

What if a man could go to jail for the rest of his life…..for murdering a dog?  That is the topic of the short story I wrote and entered into the Tuscany Press story contest.  My story is entitled “Convicted” and an excerpt of it is currently on the Tuscany Press blog.  If you are interested in reading the excerpt, please check it out here—and be sure to leave a comment at the site. 

The good people at Tuscany Press are sharing the excerpts of all the contest entries in an effort to create a little excitement about the stories before any final decisions are made and before the winning stories are published and available for purchase (sometime around Christmas 2013)….

FYI-- The comments will not affect the outcome of the contest- 

they will just serve to create a buzz about it all…..

 photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81952353@N08/7501604936/">Kitsadakron</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

My summer goal- a little mountain climbing

            We are three days into our summer break from home schooling.  I have encouraged the children to come up with some summer goals.  I am encouraging (read- requiring) them to enter at least one contest this summer.  I have heard about three so far- one is a writing contest for the local library, which I, myself, am planning to enter as well, the other two are home school contests- a photography one and another writing one.  Here are some links if you are interested… one, two, and three.

My own summer goals include, first and foremost, editing the novel I wrote back in November during NaNoWriMo 2012.  My 53,000+ word effort has been sitting untouched in my “my documents” folder for months and months.  This summer, I have no excuses- no schooling to keep up with, no more trips planned, no outside distractions pulling me away from my computer.  This is the time to tackle that monumental project that has been quietly calling me for months and making me feel overwhelmed and guilty all at once.

The problem with editing is that it requires a bit of distance-- an ability to be detached and unemotional and willing to cut.  I struggle with that.  I read my words, the words I so painstakingly chose and sculpted into a story (albeit a really rough slipshod one at this point) but I feel so attached to them.  Even the parts of my story that really aren’t working, I feel a strange sort of connection with.   

I scrutinize many of the sentences that I made and the paragraphs that I formed and even though they add nothing to the plot, I hate to cut them loose so cruelly.  I look at the story as a whole and it needs so much work and so much revision, but I look at each little sentence by itself and I sort of like what I see.  I just can’t seem to bring myself to reject those superfluous, gratuitous sentences and paragraphs, even though I know they really must go.  They are like an old acquaintance- I met them, I sort of liked them, and though I have not really spent any quality time with them, I feel like they might still have the chance to find a place in my life story.

I have a few other goals I’d like to accomplish but this one- this mountain of editing and revising that I must climb- will likely take up my every waking moment for the next 2 ½ months.  I will have to really work to let go of the bad parts of my story and really work to find something so much better to take their places or my 2^nd novel will be doomed to failure- forever remaining in the “my documents” folder unloved and unread.  It’s going to take a lot of tough love (and hopefully the gentle encouragement of an unemotional, outside source) but I WILL accomplish this- even if I accomplish absolutely nothing else…..

 photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/5206092531/">kevin dooley</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

"Are we going the right way?"

At 3 years old, my youngest daughter asks this question all the time.  Whenever we get in the car she questions both mine and Tim’s sense of direction and navigation skills by double checking- “Are we going the right way?’  

It is a little bit funny and a little bit ridiculous at the same time.  Tim and I, who are both competent drivers and both have pretty good track records of getting where we intend to go, have gotten used to hearing that little voice from the backseat asking, “Are you sure this is the right way?”

We have hardly ever been lost and never for any length of time.   And most of the time my little one asks the question while we are riding around our own town- going to places like the library or the grocery store.  As if I could get lost going to these places I go to all the time.  And yet there is a little part of my daughter that obviously doesn’t fully trust that her father and I are taking her the way she should be going.  

Do you know where I am going with this?  

Yes, my daughter (who looks quite a bit like me) is just as much like me on the inside as on the outside.  I can see so much of myself in her.  

How often do I look to my Father (my Heavenly Father, that is) and ask, “Are we going the right way?”  “Are you sure we are going the right way?”  As if I, with my little limited perspective, should ever be questioning His knowledge of the right path in this world.  As if I should ever doubt His sense of direction or His plans for my life.  And yet, I do.

My daughter, after questioning all along the way, when she finally spies something familiar (almost always when we are within a mile or two of returning to our home) will light up and exclaim with surprise, “Oh, we ARE going the right way!” Her faith in her parents is only restored by the prospect of being back in her comfort zone.

Am I the only one who learns SO many lessons in wisdom from my little children??!?!?

In Name Only- a book review

            I really enjoyed Ellen Gable’s third novel Stealing Jenny and, having found a true treasure in Gable’s writing, was optimistically eager to read her earlier works.  Going in backward order, I recently finished Gable’s second book, In Name Only.  The two stories are very different- one, a contemporary tale of a happily married couple anticipating the birth of their sixth child, the other, a historical fiction book about a young girl starting her life all over after the death of her beloved father.   Despite their obvious differences both books were very well-written and both held my attention from their first pages to their equally captivating endings.

            In Name Only, which is set in the late 1800’s, tells the tale of Caroline Martin.  It is a story of extremes, namely extreme joy and extreme sorrow.  As the story begins, Caroline is a young naïve girl in the grips of grief having just lost her beloved father.  She sets off to start anew in the home of her well-to-do uncle and his sweet, friendly daughter.  As she grows and matures, Caroline experiences many wonderful blessings and many difficult trials.  From the joy of her young marriage to the doting, dashing man of her dreams to the shock and devastation of his unexpected death.  From the beautiful, hope-filled moment of her daughter’s birth to the pain of a forced marriage of convenience to her womanizing, arrogant brother-in-law.  

Through the unfathomable struggles she faces, Caroline grows.  She becomes stronger, more confident, and more faith-filled.  Throughout it all, she is compassionate and selfless but it’s never easy.  She is continually tested by a life that, even in its blessings, is never easy and never predictable.

I think what I liked most about In Name Only were the varied characters.  Gable’s characters, both the good and bad, are complex and believable.  They have strengths and weaknesses and sometimes their strengths are their weaknesses and sometimes their weaknesses are their strengths.  

Caroline and all the people she loves, and struggles to love, experience life with its ups and downs.  They react in ways that are authentic and realistic.  They face their challenges and they revel in their successes all while being true to themselves and to the personalities Gable has bestowed upon them.   They’re easy to relate to and once you are drawn into their lives, you cannot help but root for them and hope for them.  

For my review of Stealing Jenny click here.