1) I just finished listening to Father Michael Gaitley's Lighthouse Catholic Media talk entitled "The Second Greatest Story Ever Told", and I was deeply moved. He weaves a riveting and majestic story about the connection between Pope Saint John Paul the Great, Saint Faustina, Poland, the suppression of Communism, Mary's sweet love for us, Jesus's deep longing for us, and God's incredible mercy. Within this tale, he shares how all of these things affected and worked within his own life. He's a gifted story teller, and I know your life will be blessed by listening to it.
2) Do you belong to a moms' group or a women's group? I am especially interested in ideas for Catholic varieties of said groups. I am helping start one at my parish, and while searching for ideas online, surprisingly, I found slim information on the subject. In the past, I have been blessed by the support and camaraderie moms' groups offered me. These days, a lot of people live far from their families and could really benefit from the assistance of a "second family." I am hoping that I can eventually share my experiences with starting this moms' group and, in turn, help other Catholic moms who want to start something similar in their parish. If you have ideas about your moms' group you wouldn't mind sharing, please tell me here. Thank you so much!
3) I have started to think about Lent a little, as I guess I should, because Ash Wednesday is just around the corner on February 18th. A couple of my favorite devotionals or meditational books for the Lenten season are The Little Way of Lent by Father Gary Castor and Pausing to Pray: Lenten Meditations for Busy People by the Marians.
4) For the little ones, I am thinking about participating in the Holy Heroes' Lenten Adventure again. We usually try to do at least some of it. The boys love watching the videos. They're engaging, fun, and informative. Also, they do a great job of showing how you can make sacrifices throughout Lent.
5) Instead of using the Holy Heroes' Lenten "roadmap" to count down the days of Lent, though, we might simplify things this year and use Lacy's Lenten Calendar (at Catholic Icing), because then we won't have to search for the clues with the Holy Heroes one.
6) Speaking of Lacy, I also LOVE this idea of having a Lenten Cross (similar to an Advent wreath).
7) Have you seen this video on evangelization from LifeTeen? It's amusing! It makes me think back to times when I was pretty lame and missed opportunities to share my faith and other times when I have been a little heavy-handed in doing so. It's worth the 4 minutes to watch.
Thanks for hosting, Kelly! For more Quick Takes, visit www.thisaintthelyceum.org !
