This morning I trotted out my “French Press” coffee maker for a change of pace. Well… not so much of a change of pace, since at the rectory in England this is how we had coffee everyday. I think this must be a very common way of making coffee in England. If you use one of these, however, when you have added your hot water, be sure to stir the coffee up from the bottom and mix it well with the water and then let it rest and steep for a few minutes before pressing it down.
This morning I have the Dark Roast from Mystic Monk!
Try it for the first time, get some as a gift, refresh your supply!
They have Jingle Bell Java right now.
So, after Mass and office the rest of the morning begins with strong coffee and a muffin with strawberry jam. I am at the moment not cold, not hungry and my cough is fading. That in itself is good news.
What is your good news?
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Just found out baby number 3 is on the way! Praise God!!
Even though it is Advent and even though the Hallelujah chorus wasn’t meant for Christmas, I think it is great news that this “flash mob” video in a food court is getting over 1 million hits daily right now. It is one of the most uplifting things I’ve seen in a long time (not to be confused with a flash mob “Hallelujah” video by 650 choristers at a Macy’s store last month).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
This was not a true flash mob. This was clearly planned, well choreographed, and recorded professionally it seems. Great singers. Great public witness.
Can you imagine that while it is considered “art” to smear feces on a crucifix and put it in a museum using tax dollars, it is impermissible under the banner of “art” for most kids to learn this classic piece in public school choir, or to sing it in public settings in malls. This took place in Canada.
cblanch – congrats and prayers!
Good news. My French Press is just like Father Z’s. I feel my status has gone up this morning….
GMTA
My son is happy and healthy and thriving in his school. Though he has had his struggles, he is emerging as something of a leader and I am now able to trust that with God’s help and with a little “enrichment” at home he will be able to resist a lot of what is being thrown at young people from the dominant culture and even that, in an unlikely place, his faith will flourish.
Also a local priest has begun a wonderful initiative, reaching out to faithful Catholic families for monthly Mass, lunch, discussion/activities for little ones and Benediction. There is a real need for this beyond what seems typically offered in the parishes and the families appreciate the support. The parents have agreed that we are looking to raise children who are healthy and happy and authentic Catholics capable of engaging the culture and discerning what is good, healthy and worth pursuing, and, what is not. This priest has pointed the way toward excellent resources for this and has brought us all together in a spirit of joy, even in struggle. These families are feeling quite up to the challenge to keep kids close to the Lord even in strange times.
Have completed first semester teaching RE to a dozen 2nd graders. They are wiggly, chatty, a challenge; yet I have been amazed at the many ways God speaks through them. What a blessing they are :-)
PS alas, the handle is different, but as it is 19 degrees F outside, I am enjoying my pressed coffee. Good news, my son sees his vocation director on St. Nicholas Day.
The weekend is coming! Just 8 more hours of work, then I’m free. :-P
There is an all-night vigil tonight, with Mass at 8pm and 3am (I normally just make it to the 8pm Mass) with adoration in-between…beautiful!
Sunday our polyphony choir will sing the lovely polyphonic Alma Redemptoris Mater – my favorite! I’ve been waiting all year to sing it. :)
Enjoying a hot cup of Mystic Monk Breakfast Blend coffee, sitting at my desk at a successful business in a tough economy, six healthy kids, lovely wife. A lot to be grateful about.
My kids declared this the best thanksgiving ever…family, friends, and great food. At grace, we all offered God what we were grateful for. Sis-in-law said: “I’m thankful because baby number six on the way.” My husband: “And I’m thankful that Grandpa is still standing after that announcement!”
Nothing so wonderful as a new baby. Congrats!!! I’m just glad I have a job and it’s Friday payday.
A scholarly article that I’ve been researching and working on for several years is finally almost finished. It is about the duty of civil governments towards Christ and the Catholic Church, a favorite topic of mine. Hope I can get it published. Please pray for me, friends.
I gave up coffee for Advent; this picture is killing me.
We learned this morning at Mass that a parishioner who had an extremely aggressive form of cancer was miraculously cured last night. The doctors opened her up to perform surgery this morning and the found nothing. Praise be to God!
I am thankful that the mercy of God, through the glorious intercession of St. Therese, has resulted in the reversal of a cancer diagnosis given to a young father. The surgeon said he would have staked his career on its malignancy, but the pathology on the tumor came back benign. I’m thankful to have been able to get to Mass and Adoration on this First Friday, and for the silent retreat I will go to tomorrow at the Carmelite Monastery. And finally, I thank God that the mayor of Philadelphia came to his senses about the Christmas Village at CityHall.
If it is not Italian expresso it is not really coffee!
Fr, Z, me likes that French Press coffee maker. Where may I purchase one?
Just had confirmation that I have been discharged completely from clinic following two heart operations earlier this year. I thank Our Lady especially for her intercession for me. Deo Gratias.
My boyfriend just found out he passed a history PhD comprehensive exam that his difficult profs had made him retake. It’s been a rough semester, and I’m happy for him that’s all over.
Also, my mom has found a new doctor who seems very determined to find ways to heal her from the severe chemical sensitivities that have been plaguing her for four years. We’re full of hope and praying for God to give him wisdom.
Well, beyond the marvelous news that a new grandchild will be arriving in late June (God granting health to the mother and child), I am receiving marvelous letter called Indulgence Hotline. Whenever the opportunity for an indulgence comes up, a letter arrives in my inbox telling me of it, and reminding me of the conditions necessary. This is put out by a young lady who I believe is in her senior year of high school and thinking of the convent. It is truly an inspiration every time it comes. Write her at Indulgence Hotline
It was a beautiful morning while driving to work today.
From her convent my daughter writes, “Fr McNeely told us of a trip he made to France, to a little tiny town of fewer than 200 inhabitants, virtually unknown to foreigners, but immensely popular as a tourist attraction among the French ( 350,000 visitors per year). It’s apparently exquisitely beautiful, and it also has some places of religious interest: relics and tombs of the saints. The parish priest has only thirty-three parishioners, but he is full of zeal. During the summer months, from May through September, he goes out during the day and just starts talking to the tourists, and he offers them a free tour, which most gladly accept. Then this priest gives them a magnificent tour, packed with history and stories, and extremely Catholic, taking them to the sites of the saints, and speaking the truth to them. And every day during these months, in the evening, he hears an average of three hours of confessions of those people who accepted to go on his tours. Isn’t that beautiful?”
BTW, the e-mail address for Indulgence Hotline referred to in the above post is indulgencehotline (at) gmail (dot) com
LMG posted at 9:42PST
Loose leaf Prince of Wales with PB&J.
My book The Boys Upstairs was published this week!!! I’ve had seven really good reviews so far and I’m so happy. :-)
Also, like you, we ended up with a new coffee maker this week. Our previous one had given up on brewing any coffee whatsoever, which kind of negated its claim on the job of being our coffee maker. :-)
Thanks to another thread that mentioned Christine Vollmer, I did some research and came upon the phone number of her JCL daughter, whom I haven’t seen since the Roman years. I called and we talked about 25 minutes. She just had her fourth child (her sister with the doctorate in philosophy now has 5) and is doing very well.
Found out a dear friend is entering the convent this summer. She has been struggling with her vocation for a while and she has come to a decision that will make her happy, which if you knew her you would know that when she is happy she goes around spreading her joy to everyone she meets. Plus I know her well enough to know she will be a wonderful nun!
Make sure you wash your hands before coming to the table to enjoy your Mystic Monks Coffee. May I recommend a particular soap?
http://nunsopsummit.org/shop/
(Gotta give some love for the nuns, too!)
2 items of wonderful new:
1) Our new Pastor issued instructions that everyone is to kneel for the Eucharist Prayer (after the Sanctus). No, we had not been. Long story. But – he implemented the change by simply saying “Please kneel” after the Sanctus, and caught everyone by such surprise that we were all on our knees before we knew what hit us. HURRAH!
2) On Christ the King Sunday we began using brand-new gold chalices for the “Common Cup” during Communion, formally retiring the crystal goblets in use until now. A donor gave us six of these chalices. And NO ONE COMPLAINED!!!! Hurrah!!!
Three items, Deo gratias!
1. Have a chance to offer some Scripture instruction to some very bright 8th graders in the spring; I’m thinking maybe Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
2. A friendship that ended very badly 7 yrs. ago has been restored after daily prayer all this time; every blessing I asked for this woman has been granted.
3. My baby started walking a couple of days ago–Zoom!!
It is good to read your good news! Thanks!
My good news today started yesterday, and it was truly beyond good! Yesterday capped a period of time where in I’d been experiencing… spiritual uncertainty. So, I emailed Fr Z about it, knowing there were no promises, (!) hoping anyway, and got a reply within a couple hours. That by itself was good news, but the guidance/advice inside and the reminder of the life of Blessed Mother Theresa was what sent it to the beyond good zone, which brings us to today: I will just say Yeehaw! and Thanks Fr Z!
Yesterday, December second, one of our daughters successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation at Catholic University of America and is now a Doctor of Theology. Her thesis is “Such Harmony Is in Immortal Souls: The Spirituality of Music Explored through the Life and Work of Ralph Vaughan Williams.” Her specialization is spirituality with an emphasis on theological aesthetics. We are all so-o-o proud of her accomplishment and wish her well in the teaching positions which have been offered to her for the spring semester and beyond.
I teach at a liberal arts college in Wisconsin and two Korean students with Buddhist backgrounds who had attended some protestant high schools in Korea have asked me to teach them the Catholic faith. We started our lessons this month and the students are fascinated and quite taken by what they are learning. One is reading the Gospels in addition to attending the study sessions and it appears as though they will be attending Mass with us this Wednesday. Please pray for them and for me.
Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has permitted the founding of a parish devoted to the traditional Latin liturgy in Cincinnati! The parish church is the gorgeous St. Mark’s, which was slated for closure.
http://richleonardi.blogspot.com/2010/12/it-really-is-getting-better.html
(On a personal note, it’s less than three miles from my home and a stone’s throw from Walnut Hills High School, where my two oldest are students.)
Since starting a diet/exercise program about 2 months ago, I have lost 10 pounds :-)
Also, I was just looking at some old credit card statements from a couple of years ago when I was seriously in debt. I’ve gotten one card’s outstanding balance down to less than half what it was then, and the other down to about 2/3 of what it was then! This has been a great relief as the minimum payments have gone way down.
I’ve survived my first semester of seminary :) (well, almost, finals are coming)
Great to hear, Joe! Keep plugging along!
I received my BAT diploma from Catholic Distance University in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Anticlimactic after all that work, but paper helps! Got if framed before the kids colored on it.
I have some part time work and substitute teaching on occasion. Better than nothing!
I’m praying the Office morning and evening and it’s finding its place in my daily routine. Life, in general, is stabilizing into a new normal. Deo gratias!
Be still my heart! …brick by brick…
A VERY SPECIAL MIDNIGHT MASS at St. Thomas the Apostle, Phoenix
In addition to traditional Christmas Hymns, we will be presenting the Missa Brevis of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
http://www.staphx.org/index.php
Dear Father:
My very first grandchild was born December 2. . . Evan Lee. The best news I could hope to hear. (And while I’m a confirmed tea drinker, the rest of the family who inexplicably prefer coffee will get Mystic Monk!)
On that note, would the monks ever consider adding tea to their offerings?