This lovely young couple...asks for your prayers as the date of their wedding approaches. Sts. Joachim and Anne, St. Patrick, pray for us! St. Michael, defend us!

Looking for "a good house where God wants us to live"

That's Meghan's prayer, and we're working on it.

We have met with our credit union and a realtor. We have toured a few houses. We have missed seeing a few houses before contracts were signed on them.

30-day novena to St. Joseph begins today, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Want to join us?

EWTN has the words of the prayer here.

Thank you (in advance) for your prayers!

Prayers for our students, please

Please keep Tommy, Tara, and Patrick in your prayers as they go through final exams this week.

Patrick is midway through his drawing final as I write this, and he has a 10-page paper due in theology tomorrow morning, psychology exam on Thursday, calculus and physics both on Friday, just so you will know what to pray for. I'm sure he has lit a candle in The Grotto by now, so we can join our prayers with his. :)

Tommy and Tara, as you know are undergoing their first final exams since Anabel's birth, so keep all three of them ever in your prayers, please.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for them and for all students taking exams this week. May the questions on the tests be the ones they know the answers to!

Praying for Anabel

A couple of years ago, a friend sent me a candle from Lourdes. I think today is a good day to light it.

Infant Jesus of Prague, pray for her!

Sick day

Say a prayer for Meghan today. She caught Matthew's stomach bug.

While you're praying, please pray that the rest of us are spared.

The price of freedom

A few days ago, we received the following email from our former pastor, who is deployed with the U.S. military.

Tonight, the bodies of the soldiers arrived on C-130 in the metal caskets, iced down, draped with the US Flag. I entered the aircraft with another chaplain along with several young military troops to show honor to the fallen warriors. Prayer was offered and a priestly blessing bestowed upon the bodies. Afterward, the caskets were carried by the pall bearers in formation to a holding area until they are transferred to another aircraft for the final flight/travel home to Dover AFB, Delaware and to their families. There will be many more soldiers to come who will pass before my eyes with priestly blessings bestowed upon their bodies during my military tour of duty in the Middle East . Pray that my spiritual strength be strong.

In sorrow,

Fr. Christopher

Please keep all of our military chaplains and deployed military members and their families in your prayers.

October

At the end of the Morning Offering we pray,"and in particular for the intentions recommended by our holy father this month." So I thought it would be good to start to make note of the Holy Father's intentions. So we'd know exactly what we are praying for.

Why I didn't think of this back (about 10 years ago) when we started praying the Morning Offering daily I'll never know.

BENEDICT XVI’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR OCTOBER

VATICAN CITY, 30 SEP 2009 (VIS) – Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for October is: "That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist".

His mission intention is: "That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity".

Irony

It's the Feast of Corpus Christi, a Solemnity, but there's no priest at Misawa AB right now. So there was a Liturgy of the Word service, but no Mass. Therefore, no Holy Communion. On Corpus Christi.

It has been a sad and rather empty-feeling Sunday. Joseph commented this evening at dinner that it didn't feel like Sunday at all. We miss our Jesus.

Please pray for vocations to the priesthood, especially to the Military Archdiocese.

Drawing in the dirt

A friend and her family have been suffering a crisis this year, and their tragedy has been very much on my heart these last weeks of Lent. It is never easy to raise a family, especially in the modern world. Even when we try our best to protect our children from the evils of the world, they creep in, and we may not always recognize the signs until it is too late.

To add to the suffering, some around this family withdraw just when they are most needed for support and comfort. As I consider my own reaction and the reactions of others, I cannot help thinking of the readings we hear at this time of year. Even within Christ's own family of apostles, there were those who betrayed and denied Him. Those among his closest companions who ate and drank and lived with him in the closest communion for three years, yet turned away, falling prey to the temptations and evils of the world. Judas, who betrayed Him. Peter, who denied Him.

Even in the best of families, bad things happen. All of us have failed our own families in one way or another. All of us have failed as parents in some way. If we are honest enough, we all admit there are or have been situations of sin and worldliness within our immediate or extended families. The world is too much with us. It is even so with solid, faithful families. If we have been spared of falling so far in our lives, we must be grateful only to God. For it is no achievement of our own. Only by His grace and through His protection have we been spared.

Whether or not we have been spared has no bearing on Christ's call to us to love our sister in Christ and her family. We must find some way to try to understand, to reach out, to help bring healing. We must not abandon those who need their Christian community now more than ever.

"...Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone..." John 8:7

Please pray for this very good family, that they may find comfort and healing, that their deep faith will give them strength, that as for Peter, there will be forgiveness in God's good time, and that when all seems too overwhelming our dear Mother in heaven will wrap them in her mantle and carry them to rest within the Sacred Heart of her dearest, only Son.

St. Nicholas, patron of children, pray for us! St. Joseph, patron of families, pray for us!

Prayer request

For John, who is planning a conference here. It begins on Monday and the last minute details are getting a bit hairy. Please pray that he will be able to stay calm, think clearly, find solutions to last minute problems (one of them pretty major), and keep his perspective.

And for me, so I remember not to burden him with all the little woes around the house for the next week or so. He has enough to worry about.

Thanks!

An election prayer

Election Prayer

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people [in] America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.

Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992
Published by Eternal Life in 1992


Thanks to Fr. Z, who posted this yesterday.

Prayers, please

I knew it was coming up, but I missed the first day. Prayer and fasting for life began on September 24th.

Appropriate, as these are the autumn Ember Days (September 24, 26 and 27), traditionally days of fasting in preparation for a feast--in this case, Michaelmas, the Feast of the Archangels on Sept. 29th--and also to mark the change of the seasons. An enlightening article is quoted on Fr. Z's blog.

Is there a location near you? If not, you can get it started...or if you can't do that, you can still pray...and fast. I can't believe it but I'm giving up chocolate. Argh...that 40 days covers Hallowe'en!!

Please consider doing something during this time to give voice to the vulnerable and voiceless.

Here's today's prayer.

Good news

Thank you everyone for your prayers and kind words of encouragement. Matthew is okay, Meghan is okay, Joseph is okay, the bala shark is okay. Details below....

Matthew is feeling much, much better. He came into my room this morning already dressed and asking for breakfast. Thanks be to God for antibiotics!! He finishes the steroids tomorrow and also changes to only 3 times a day for albuterol. (Hooray! no more 4 a.m. "breathing medicine.")

Meghan had a rough night last night. She was extremely congested and hadn't nursed well all day because of it. This meant she was a bit dehydrated. When I put her down to sleep at 10, she slept, but her breathing was very ragged. I dozed off beside her and awoke at 11:30 or so to a gagging, choking sound. She was really struggling. I picked her up thinking getting her vertical would help. It did; she started crying, which helped her clear her airway. Phew! But she kept trying to breathe through her nose and couldn't, would panic, cry again, and be able to breathe. Because when she cries, she breathes through her mouth. She couldn't breathe through her nose at all.

So there I was, alone at midnight, trying to decide just how sick she was. She kept gasping for breath. Finally, I decided that if I didn't make sure her lungs were okay, neither she nor I would be able to sleep all night because she would keep gagging, I would keep panicking every time she gagged, waking her up and starting the crying again. So I woke Patrick and we took her to the doctor. Again.

After we were there awhile, her nasal passages finally cleared and could breathe normally and fell asleep. They were very concerned about how dehydrated she was, but thankfully, did not insist on an IV when I said I would wake her every two hours to nurse if they would let us do that instead. They sent us home with saline to try to clear her sinuses and strict instructions to bring her back if she wasn't better today. I propped myself up in bed with her and we slept and nursed all night. And she was better today. Phew!! She's asleep right now in her car seat. It keeps her head elevated ;-)

Joseph was looking much better today: less pale and the deep circles under his eyes are fading. Until Matthew, feeling unreasonably energetic, sat on him. Hard. And knocked the wind out of him. Poor Joseph, with pale face and sore side, went back to bed for an hour after that. But he got up for lunch and was in better spirits this afternoon.

Until the bala shark jumped out of the fish tank and Joseph was the only one in the room.

Patrick and I were about to leave for the base to see if he had cross country practice, but Patrick had come back into the house for something. Joseph was crying and called for Patrick, who came and found Katie peeking around the corner, but not helping and the shark on the floor under the computer chair. He grabbed the net and returned the shark to the tank. Then he put a couple of cookie sheets over the top of the tank. We're still awaiting the arrival of the new cover and light.

Now we need to do some research about bala sharks and see what's making him want to jump out. He and the catfish have been fighting over the floor of the tank a bit lately so maybe it's a territorial issue, or maybe he's sick? Joseph didn't see what happened, just heard a couple of bumps and a splash then saw the shark land on the floor.

Incidentally, my case of pinkeye is improving.

Prayer request

Joseph, Matthew, and Meghan are sick. And, of course, John is away. He's with Tommy at orientation and then on his way to a quick visit at home.

Joseph has a serious cold, but is getting better, although he is still very worn out from fighting it. He has taken an afternoon nap every day this week.

Matthew has pneumonia. He started with Joseph's cold and it only got worse so that by Thursday afternoon he had a fever of 101: lower than Joseph's 103, but enough to convince me to take him home and put him in bed. He slept through dinner and when I went to check on him as I was going to bed, he was having a hard time breathing. He asked for dinner then, so I fed him, we brushed teeth, and I put him back in bed. His breathing was rapid and shallow, so I kept an eye on him After he fell asleep, his breathing didn't slow down at all. When I checked on him before I went to bed, he was taking 60 breaths a minute. Way too many. So I woke him up, told him we were going to see the doctor and drove with him and Meghan to the hospital.

We spent Thursday night and all day Friday in the hospital on base with him. They released him to home care with amoxicillan, steriods, and albuterol Friday night. I spent the night on the floor next to his bed so I could give him albuterol immediately if he should need it at a time not on the every 6 hours schedule. Thankfully, he didn't need it any extra times and we both slept a lot better than we had in the hospital.

Saturday, he was much, much better, playing normally, singing as he does about everything, and cheerfully eating his yogurt and bananas. Because of course, the amoxicillan gave him diarhhea. The doctor saw him for a follow-up on Saturday evening after we went to Mass (we had to go to base anyway for the doctor's appointment, so we hid in the back of the auditorium and slipped out right away when Mass was over). I needed that Communion so much!

The doctor said Matthew is doing very well, but still has the wheeze in his right lung and congestion in the left. So we need a follow-up with the pediatrician early next week. Matthew has been amazing through all of it. I'll have to write more about the hospital experience later because he was such a trooper.

Meghan now has a congested cold and is draining and sneezing but not coughing much. She was with me at the follow-up so the doctor took a listen to her lungs and told me it sounds like she has the same cold as Matthew, but it isn't pneumonia, just a cold. So I put a pillow under the head of her mattress, and as I type, I'm listening to her breathe. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep much tonight either.

Praise God, Matthew and Joseph are both sleeping peacefully and breathing regularly at the moment.

But if you have time for a few prayers, we could sure use them.

Feast of the Assumption

Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven.

We celebrated with an afternoon tea party with the other Catholic home schooling family in town and dinner out with our family. At tea we ate fresh peaches and homemade shortbread with our Constant Comment tea. I like that one for Marian feasts because of the Bible verse about Mary as the "sweet spice of heaven."

But we couldn't go to Mass. There wasn't a Mass anywhere in Misawa. Our pastor is away on official travel (TDY). And for some reason, this isn't a holy day of obligation in Japan, so there wasn't a Mass at the local parish either. We have a dispensation from our archbishop because of the extenuating circumstances, but it really doesn't feel right not to celebrate this day at Mass.

Thankfully, we will have Sunday celebrations even though our pastor is away. The pastor of the local parish will come and say Saturday night Masses for us for the next several weeks. We are very blessed that he is able to do this. He is elderly and is already covering two parishes--one in Misawa and one in Towada--because the pastor of the Towada parish passed away and their bishop (Diocese of Sendai) doesn't have anyone to send.

You can be sure we are offering our rosary tonight for an increase in vocations to the priesthood in both Japan and the United States. Will you please join us in that prayer?

Requiescat In Pace

For Edwina Froehlich, co-founder of La Leche League. She passed away on June 8, but I just saw a note about her on Danielle Bean's blog, as well as this link to information about her life.

Without women like Edwina Froehlich, and women like my mom (and John's mom, too) who nursed babies in the 60s despite cultural discouragement, who knows whether our six would have had that advantage in their lives. Thanks to Mom's example, I always felt nursing was the best way to feed my babies. Thankfully, because of his mother's example, John was also supportive of the breastfeeding decision from the very beginning.

When Tommy was born, I did a lot of reading, especially The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, which helped me articulate a thoughtful explanation for professors, employers, and friends.

There have been some awkward moments...I think of the time I was nursing Tommy at the Wright Brothers museum in Kitty Hawk. I was sitting on a bench in a hallway with a blanket over my shoulder. He was only a month or two old at the time, and I was new to public nursing.

Shockingly, as a ranger program let out, a man walking by jerked the blanket off my shoulder and said, "Is that a baby under there?" I don't know if he knew I was nursing or not, but he got the surprise of his life if he didn't. ;-) Thankfully, I was pretty well covered even without the blanket, and I felt annoyed instead of embarrassed.

"How dare he!" I thought.

Without Mom's example to raise my overall comfort level and without the women who worked for so many years to make breastfeeding accepted in the U.S., I would probably have melted into the bench right then and there. Instead, I felt HE was the one who should be embarrassed for his unenlightened, uncharitable behavior.

So please join me in prayer for the repose of the soul of Edwina Froehlich:

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
And may your perpetual light shine upon her;
May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God,
Rest in Peace.

Happy Father's Day

To my Dad and to John and all my brothers and brothers-in-law whose children bring such joy to our family. May God continue to bless all of you with good health, wisdom, and understanding.

To Dad, especially, thank you for your love and support throughout my life. I love you!

Here's a prayer for all of you from the back of the holy card distributed at Mass this morning.

Father's Prayer

Most loving Father, you are the
perfect example of fatherhood.
Through the intercession of St.
Joseph, patron of fathers, teach me
what to give and what to withhold.
Show me when to reprove and when
to praise. Make me gentle and
considerate, yet firm and watchful.
Keep me from weak indulgence and
from great severity. Give me the
courage to be disliked sometimes by
my children when I must do
necessary things which are
displeasing in their eyes. Give me the
imagination to enter into their world in
order to understand and guide them.
Give me all the virtues I need to lead
them by word and example in the
path of righteousness. Amen.

Shake a little

We're fine. The earthquake this morning was stronger and longer in duration than our usual little ones, but Misawa did not have any damage that we know of, and we never lost power.

I was at home nursing Meghan when it hit, and I have to admit that when it didn't tremble and go away quickly, I got a little nervous. But just as I was thinking, "Wow, this is bigger than usual, I wonder if I should get up and move somewhere safer," the tremors slowed and stopped. Although I did feel a wavy motion for several minutes after the shaking stopped.

John, Katie, Joseph, and Matthew were on their way to soccer games and didn't feel the tremors at all.

Thanks be to God for our safety, and please keep the families of the 3 victims and all those affected in Iwate Prefecture in your prayers.

Patrick's summer

He's off to Boy Scout camp today. He's on the staff at the BSA Far East Council summer camp this coming week. Scout camp here lasts only a week, and all the American scout troops in Japan come at the same time. They're at Atsugi Naval Air Facility this year, and it sounds like they're going to have a great time. Tommy is wishing he didn't have to work because he'd like to go to camp, too. I seem to remember some years when Patrick wished he could go, but was too young. Guess it all evens out in the end...

When he gets back, Patrick will start his summer job working at the base chapel. He works part time, weekday mornings from 7:30-11:30.

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, he has cross country summer training.

Sometime each day, he will spend on his summer school work: finishing up Latin II and Chemistry w/ lab.

In his free time, he has lots of social plans with the friends who are still here. But this morning was a tough morning for him. He spent some time on the phone before it was time to leave because his closest friends will be gone by the time he gets back from camp. And it was tough to say good-bye.

Sometimes this military lifestyle can really get you down. Please say a little prayer for him and for his friends if you get a chance. We all know, and they know, too, that they'll get through it fine, but it doesn't make the separation much easier.

Labor

Well, sort of.

I started with real contractions last night around dinner time. John and I got a pretty good night's sleep, considering, and the contractions are still going, but only about every 20 minutes or so. This is typical for me. I tend to have long, slow labors. In the meantime, I can get the last couple of loads of laundry folded ;-)

John had to go into work to distribute some duties this morning, but he's back home again. Neither of us expected this baby to arrive on his or her due date! It might take until tomorrow, though.

Laboring at home is so much more peaceful than at the hospital. We will head over there eventually, maybe this afternoon if things progress. It's a little hard for me to predict.

Please keep us in your prayers. We hope to have baby news for you in the next day or so.

Hooray!!