The Time After Pentecost ~ The Sundays

The field has been prepared (pre-Lent), the seed has been sown (Lent), we experienced the glorious resurrection of the dead grain (Easter), we witnessed its growing, and at the “fullness of maturity” the Spirit of the Lord came to it in the fruitfulness of pollen, (Pentecost).

Now we are patiently waiting and watching for the growing and ripening of the fruit, for the great day of harvesting with Christ in his glory.

Mother Church’s colors are green, as the fields and the meadows, strewn with the white flowers of virginity and the red ones of martyrdom.

Like the land-man Mother Church keeps on praying for sunshine and rain, for the best for the souls and bodies of her children, that they may ripen full and fair, worthy to be gathered into the eternal barns.

Sunday after Sunday she leads her children to the fountain of eternal life, so that they may eat and drink their daily need of grace and divine help toward the final goal.

Each Sunday is a “Little Easter,” a re-enactment of the great mystery of resurrection from death, of new life out of the supreme sacrifice.

With our brothers from the early days of the church we must stress, concentrate on the one highfeast, celebrated over and over again on “the first day of the week,” we must make it the center of our religious life as well as of our recreation (re-creation!!) in the spiritual as well as the physical sense.

To give ourselves, our life and love, our sorrow and cares, our soul and body, our wishes and fears into the hands of the Father– “through Christ our Lord”–that is what we are expected to do and in return we will be filled with the abundance of Christ’s grace and love and perfection.

We will be transformed over and over again into “other Christs,” we will be united with him, who gloriously overcame suffering and death, who is awaiting us to give us part in his glory, after we share his suffering here on earth.

As we make each Sunday a “little Easter,” let us give to each Saturday something of the spirit of “Holy Saturday”; an atmosphere of happy preparedness and peaceful expectation of the coming day of the Lord. That is a real family task and worthwhile to work for.

Whenever I am lonesome for the home of my childhood, it is the “air” of the “Sunday Eve” I am longing for; the smell of soap and wax and fresh linen, of a simple one dish meal mixed with the promising odor of the cake for the morrow, the tip-toeing through the “best rooms,” locked for us children during the week.

“Moses take off your shoes, the place you are standing on is holy” my father used to say, often with a smile we did not see–to us it was just too true. It was as if the whole house was alive with the expectation of something great and beautiful– almost as wonderful as the Sunday itself!

Let us try to “steal” some hours from the approaching Sunday to make our minds and soul ready, to “tune in” as the church bells of my home town did, spreading peace and happiness over the roofs of the old city–as Mother Church does, when she anticipates Sunday with the Vespers on Saturday evening.

It is up to us to create a new “Sunday cult,” an atmosphere in which our children will grow up to a deeper, more religious understanding of the day of the Lord.

A nation can be no stronger than its families are, and they can be at their best in the country. And when to this natural strength we add the crowning glory of the Catholic Faith, when we strive to bring Christ to the countryside, and the land to Christ, we are certainly exercising a great apostolate. -An Australian Dominican Sister, 1950’s, Painting by Eugenio Zampighi

AUDIOBOOK!

HOW TO BE HAPPY HOW TO BE HOLY (by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan) AUDIO! This is an excellent book published in the 1950’s. You will pray as you have never prayed before. Father Paul O’Sullivan teaches Christians a) how to pray. b) how to derive immense benefits from prayer. c) how to enjoy the deep consolations of prayer.

Let this journal help you along the way, Mothers! The girls will have 30 days of checklists, beautiful thoughts to inspire them for the day, some fun things…like drawing their day and other things to keep them focused.

This next 30 days will be invaluable to them…to learn life skills, to have the satisfaction of checking off the activities they finish, to learn to be thankful for the good things God has given us, to offer up their day for someone in need, etc.

This journal is for girls 8 (with the help of Mom) to 16 years of age.

It is a beautiful journal, full of color and loveliness! Your girls will treasure it and be able to look back on it for inspiration and encouragement!

Available here.

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In this joyful and charming book, Maria Von Trapp (from The Sound of Music) unveils for you the year-round Christian traditions she loved traditions that created for her large family a warm and inviting Catholic home and will do the same for yours.

Mary Reed Newland wrote numerous beloved books for Catholic families, but The Year and Our Children is her undisputed masterpiece. Read it, cherish it, share it, put it into practice and give your kids the gift of a fully lived faith, every day and in every season.

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