Recently in The Liturgical Year Category

Wow, today is simply packed with significance.

It's Patriot's Day.

Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's fifteen years since the OKC bombing:

It's the anniversary of Israel's re-birth:

 

 

And the "new" Pope marked the fifth anniversary since his election.

 

What a day filled with sadness and celebration!

"Here is the King of the Jews, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, JESUS" By S, December 2006

I'm home this Easter morning. A family member has come down again with the Spring Plague that is going around.  I'm home and there are so many other places I wish I was.

I wish I was in church. I wish we had a church. I wish I wasn't in constant pain. I wish I didn't have to take medicines that cloud my faculties. I wish I was not so impatient. I wish I didn't cry at the drop of a hat. I wish I could spend just one day healthy.

I wonder if Christ had wishes, that night in the garden, the night he sweated blood.

How much did he know about what was to come?

Did he know just how much he was going to suffer? Was it the pain of torture that hurt him so or the betrayals and abandonment? Which was worse: the nails or the broken heart?

I don't know, but I do know that when he exclaimed, "It is finished," on the cross that it wasn't. It was far from finished.

The story didn't end on the cross, in the darkness, in the midst of a coming storm. It looked like the end, but things are seldom as they appear.

And as much as we are persuaded that the story ends with sunrise services, with frilly dresses, with fancy brunches, with pastel eggs, with fluffy bunnies, that is not the end either.

The end has already been revealed; it is no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. The end is no more pain.

Today is not the end; it is the remembrance of things past, the celebration of things to come. Today is the reminder of Christ's promise to those who take up the cross and follow him.

Our story doesn't end alone in the dark; it ends with jubilee. 

 

• a clear glass compote
• a straw bunny
• silk daffodils
• green tissue paper cut into strips

There are no special instructions and you can vary the items you use according to what you have on hand, which makes this a free Easter centerpiece.

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

 ¹ Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."
⁴ All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
       ⁵ " Tell the daughter of Zion,

      ' Behold, your King is coming to you,
      Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
      A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:


      " Hosanna to the Son of David!

      ' Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
      Hosanna in the highest!"

¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"
¹¹ So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

When I was looking for a nice St. Patrick coloring page last week, I happened upon Catholic Icing and knew I had discovered a gem. Kid craft sites are a dime a dozen but few focus on the Liturgical Year and the many facets of our faith. While the site is Catholic, most posts are pertinent for all Christians.

To learn more about Catholic Icing, check out the About page or read about Lacy, the woman behind the blog.

I think you'll like:

the Last Supper craft,

the Lent Lapbook ideas,

the Pro-Life posts

If you, like dear @JacobiteRose on Twitter, are looking for a St. Patrick coloring page, here are a few links which might help:

One

Two

Three (PDF) - This is the one I like best.

Four (PDF)

For your St. Patrick's Day dinner, here are my favorite recipes for this day:

 

Colcannon

2 tsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. butter, divided
1 leek, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
8 red potatoes, baked
15oz. beef broth
salt and pepper
1 green cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut in 3/4 inch strips

1.  Heat oil & 1 tsp. butter on medium.
2.  Saute leek 7 onion until they start to brown.
3.  Add half the cabbage, stirring and turning until coated with oil and wilted.
4.  Continue adding cabbage and stirring one hand full at a time until wilted.
5.  Pour in half of broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until cabbage absorbs broth. Add remaining broth. Cook until cabbage is soft.
6.  Slice baked potatoes and add to cabbage.
7.  Add shredded or sliced corned beef.
8.  Salt and pepper. Add remaining butter.

 

Irish Soda Bread (from Martha Stewart)

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup whole-wheat graham flour
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 2/3 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, blend in butter until it resembles small peas. Add buttermilk all at once; stir with a fork until mixture holds together.
2. In the bowl, pat the dough into a domeshaped loaf about 7 inches in diameter. Lift out dough; transfer to lined sheet.
3. Lightly dust top of loaf with flour. Cut a 3/4-inch-deep cross in top, reaching almost all the way to edges. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

I had a bit of a bad time last week. Suffice it to say, I now believe that "moron" must be "doctor" spelled backwards. To take my mind off my troubles and better spend my time while on hold with doctors, I got the living room ready for St. Patrick's Day without buying a thing.

 

Green enough? I think so. If you click on the photo, you can read notes about what you see there on my sideboard and shelves. Yes, I'm calling the dresser in my living room a sideboard. It makes me feel better.

 

Here's a peek at the tea tray. Click through for notes on the objects.

Best of all are the vintage St. Patrick's Day cards:

 

I say best of all because they're not really vintage. I printed them off the internet and pasted them onto dark green cardstock. That makes them nearly free. I like that price.

 

 

This "Erin Go Bragh" (Ireland Forever) flag was also nearly free. I had my daughter shorten and paint a wooden skewer. Then, I printed out the flag twice. I pasted each picture onto dark green cardstock and attached the two sides to the skewer and each other with poster tack. God bless the person who invented poster tack.

I may not feel better about my doctors, but at least I now enjoy my living room more.

Monday, February 1 - Brigid of Kildare (patron saint of Ireland)

Tuesday, February 2 - Groundhog Day (American folk holiday) & Candlemas (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord)

Wednesday, February 3 - St. Blaise (Armenian bishop & martyr)

Friday, Frebruary 5 - Agatha of Sicily (3rd Century martyr)

Saturday, February 6 - Nagasaki Martyrs (Japanese martyrs)

Monday, February 8 - Josephine Bakhita (African nun)

Wednesday, February 10 - St. Scholastica (twin sister of St. Benedict)

Sunday, February 14 - Valentine's Day 

Monday, February 15 - Presidents Day (US holiday for Lincoln & Washington)

Tuesday, February 16 - Fat Tuesday (day before Ash Wednesday)

Wednesday, February 17 - Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent)

Sunday, February 21 - First Sunday of Lent

Tuesday, February 23 - Polycarp of Smyrna (disciple of John the Evangelist)

Sunday, February 28 - Second Sunday of Lent