Spring on the Vineyard

 

Leigh and the Swiss School

Amazingly, Leigh has so enjoyed learning Italian by going to an Italian school for 2 years that now she has her sights set on starting high school at a German-speaking school! We found the Swiss School of Rome, and discovered that it is bi-lingual, Italian and German. We contacted them and they are interested in Leigh, so we set up a day for her to visit the school. 

Friday was the big day. Leigh and I had been working through a German grammar book every night for weeks but we laughed on the metro on the way to the school--she does not know even basic expressions like "Nice to meet you!" She and I have laughed all the way through this experience because it is all so gutsy and absurd. But it is her real desire! 

On Friday, she lost her sense of humor as she met the administrator in front of the school and he led her into the building. I stood there in awe with butterflies in my stomach. 

At 3:30 I was sitting at a coffee bar ready to pick her up at 4pm. It was raining and I had time to reflect. What an amazing experience we are having here in Italy. What an amazing talent and intellect Leigh has. What an abundance of satisfaction and amazement I have in being her mother and participating in a little but mostly watching the flowering of this young woman.

How did it go, you are wondering? She LOVED it and wants to go there starting in the fall! It will require her to study German intensively all summer, but that is something she is excited about! Go, Leigh!!

I love being a mother

I am so blessed to be a mother, and especially the mother of my six kids! They are my dream come true! 

Annie's 11th Birthday

 Here is a glimpse into Annie's wonderful day!

https://youtu.be/clMIY8kptFc

Movies to Recommend

 I have more movies to recommend! The first is on Netflix, and it is called Holiday in the Wild, with Rob Lowe. It is something of a chic flick. It is fairly appropriate for all ages. 

Another one is Risen. It is about the right hand man of Pontus Pilate, and imagines the Roman perspective on the resurrection of Christ. I highly recommend it! 

The Lost Husband is not terrible, but not great. It is a nice help if you are sick, quarantined, on an airplane,  or home bound! 

Lastly, not a movie but a TV series, When Calls the Heart was a big favorite. I just loved it. Not the highest quality, and a but saccharine, but a portrayal of virtue and what makes life worth living. It has a strong feminist streak which is a nice comfort. 

I want to be like her when I grow up

 I've had such a great week with Leigh. 14 and wiser than most adults, I am hoping to be just like her when I grow up. 

   Highlights include: 

1) Leigh was my party co-host when I finished the very last edit to my book. That book that took me ten years to write. When I sent in the very last proofreading edit (the last one was a page # for a footnote), we popped open a bottle of chianti and celebrated (of course she only had a few sips). She spent half an hour asking me about the book, its target audience, what the process of writing was like for me. . . in short, she was as thoughtful as any other human being has ever been about this project. And she helped me celebrate the final moment of writing. Thank you, Leigh! 

2) Leigh is also interested in enrolling in a Swiss school in Rome next year. It is bi-lingual, German and Italian. . . but mostly German! She is so unbelievably smart that she wants to start over with a whole new language, 2 in three years! She is a rockstar. The school said they are interested in her (they contacted us only last week!). I am helping her discern whether it is a good fit for her, and she and I are blazing through a German text book. Go Leigh! She is gifted with languages and just think of the IQ of someone who wants to start another language (in the sense of taking high school biology and history in this new language) in such short order! I feel the Goethe Institute is in her future. Walking alongside her in this journey is one of the high points of being a mother (and I'm getting a nice refresh on my German). I am in awe of this amazing human  being!

 

Being a Little Christ

The daily trials are so intense. 

Standing in line at an Italian government agency, an old lady shouts on and on at an official and he just looks away and ignores her. Losing days to Covid, to tax concerns, to quarantine. Separated from loved ones. Relegated to Italian internet which just does not work. Relegated to Italy's mis-handling of the pandemic, the vaccine rollout, and unrealistic regulations. 

How do I handle it? The temptation to anger, sadness, and living in constant self-protection and defensiveness is palpably real. 

Then I ask myself, what gift is lying hidden for me, ready to open and enjoy, in my faith? God’s gift for me today is captured in this quote: 

"Christ is present in us. All that the Son of God did and taught is not for us simply a matter of history. Here and now we experience his power at work. It is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and spirit, in everything we do." (adapted from a passage by Leo the Great)

Being a living sacrifice; being a little Christ; being filled with the Spirit of God so that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). 

How does this happen? First through passionate love for God and his Son; also through my baptism and the Eucharist; then through daily offering up our trials, moments of affliction, frustrations, limitations, failures, sorrows and weaknesses to be united with Christ on the cross. But then always back to passionate love for Jesus, in all that he is, says and does. How could I survive without daily prayer, daily conversation with the One who loves me so personally, so faithfully, so fervently? Becoming a little Christ. Oh the mystery.  

Sebastian Learns to Ride a Bike!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-cqBLkKuqLET99QWWHiq7bZ7hj7dGHd_/view?usp=sharing

Audio Retreat

Every mother needs time to herself: time to reset, refocus, recharge. The mothers' ministry, Mighty Is Her Call, has always offered in-person retreats. But now it is launching it's first-ever self-guided retreat. All it takes is downloading the retreat, finding 1.5 hours to be by yourself in a quiet chapel, park, or room, and pressing "play." You will be amazed at how fortified and renewed your spirit will be. 

Give this gift to yourself or to the mothers in your life. They will be so grateful! 

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/WhctKJWQlrGVHtNqDHSKlRrfVhRpSSkxvnfhkZSPjDsWfWwWSwDzcFQRGtxFDzsLtnPVbgg

Jesus and Mary

If a Protestant asked me, "Why do you love and honor Mary? Isn't that taking away from your love for Jesus?" I would say, "Don't you believe in having a personal relationship with Jesus? How better to improve upon accepting a Christian ideology to developing a person-to-person love for him?" Drawing close to Mary is the most perfect way to draw close to Jesus. Who loves him more? No one--no one-loved Jesus as much as Mary did. Being in her company is the most delightful and sure path to an intimate love for her Son. 

What about the complicated dogmas such as Mary being ever-virgin, being immaculately conceived, or assumed into heaven? Why do we pray to her? 

Excellent explanations for these are in the book, Fundamentalism and Catholicism by Carl Keating. The essence of the answer is that while Mary needed saving (like all of us do), God saw fit to save her at the moment of her conception and preserve her from sin. He did this so that she could be the Ark of the Covenant, a proper vessel to house the Son of God himself. He preserved her from sin so that Jesus would have a mother who did not pass sin onto him. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is all about Jesus. It is not to elevate her as competition with Jesus, but to say, Jesus needed a mother who have been saved before the rest of us are. This has dramatic implications for how important mothers are and how much their spiritual state impacts their children. 

The dogma of the Assumption is the corollary: if sin results in death, and Mary was preserved from sin, then did she die? The Church does not say one way or another, but says she may have been assumed into heaven, body and soul, without having undergone a death like all of ours. 

We pray to Mary, not to suggest that she may be worshipped or confused with God. No, she is a creature and not at all part of the Godhead. But "pray" just means "talk to" when it involves someone in heaven. The Book of Hebrews talks about the "cloud of witnesses" cheering us on. That means everyday women and men who love Jesus and are in heaven can see us, pray for us, and encourage us. Why could we not pray back to them? I ask my close Christian friends to pray for me. I also remind them how much I love them, see Jesus in them, and appreciate them. It is on this same logic that I reach out to Mary, asking for her help and prayers, and honor her as bearing the mark of Christ so beautifully. 

Motherhood: The Call is Mighty

Here is my post from Holy Saturday published on the blog of the mother's ministry I love so much, Mighty Is Her Call. If you are a mother, I hope it speaks to you. If you are not, I pray it helps you better understand and appreciate the mothers in your life. 

This beautiful ministry has a retreat in Wichita Kansas in May and ones soon thereafter in Dallas and Covington, LA. We are on a mission to elevate motherhood across the country and beyond! If you are not already receiving our daily posts, I hope you will sign up for them. The writers--over 40 women each with a different perspective and story--inspire me in my vocation every day. 

https://mightyishercall.com/the-call-is-mighty/

Easter Movie

      As part of my goal of discovering 52 new movies in 2021, I have found a good one that is suitable for Easter season! It is called Son of God. While it is not theologically perfect, it does capture well who Jesus of Nazareth was and the beauty of his gift to us. For those who are isolated this Easter, this could be a good way to celebrate. The crucifixion is violent and not suitable for children, but on the whole, most of it is appropriate for middle schoolers and up.