From Papa

"God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenceless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him."

~ Midnight Mass Homily of Holy Father Benedict XVI

HT: Danielle Bean

Behold! He Comes!

“Long lay the world
In sin and error pining…
‘Till He appeared
And the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope
The weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees!”

Traditional Christmas Carol

~ ~ ~

During this beautiful season, may each and every soul may feel its worth, and come to gaze with wonder upon this living mystery of God become man. For He has come! Wisdom...Saving Lord...Root of Jesse...Key of David...Radiant Dawn...King of Nations...Wonderful Counselor...Mighty God...Everlasting Father...Prince of Peace...

EMMANUEL.

Awed by the thrill of hope, captured by His gaze of love, may we fall on our knees…rejoicing!

O Emmanuel...

"O Emmanuel,

God with us,

King and lawgiver,

Desire of the nations,

Savior of all people,

Come and set us free,

Lord our God!"

Isaiah 7:14 ~ "The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him... Emmanuel."

Danielle Does it Again

Danielle Bean (or Mrs. Bean, as I usually refer to her myself) has, in her wonderfully-gifted way, given another hit-to-the-heart wake-up call. I'm sure I'm not the only one who needed it. Be sure you take a trip over to Danielle Daily to read her brilliant article Keeping Christmas!

O Rex Gentium...

“O King of all the nations,

the only joy of every human heart;

O Cornerstone that makes us one:

Come, deliver man,

whom You formed out of the dust of the earth."

Isaiah 9:5 ~ “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 2:4 ~ “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

What are the O Antiphons? Read Special Christmas Countdown.

O Oriens...

O Rising Dawn,

Radiance of the Light eternal and Sun of Justice;

come and enlighten those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death!

Isaiah 9:1 ~ “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.”

What are the O Antiphons? Read Special Christmas Countdown.

Special Christmas Countdown...The "O Antiphons"

The seven O Antiphons (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from the Liturgy of the Hours, or the special universal prayers that all Catholic priests and religious offer each day. They are offered during the Octave before Christmas Eve (December 17-23), a time which is called the "Golden Nights." Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaias and Micheas (Micah). They speak of man's desire and longing for God, a longing which has existed throughout the history of God's people from the beginning of time through Abraham, Moses and David, fulfilled on the night when Emmanuel (God with us) was born.

If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, "Tomorrow, I will come." Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, "Tomorrow, I will come." So the O Antiphons not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

- As explained on CatholicEducation.org, FishEaters.com, and Domestic-Church.com

The O Antiphons are a magnificent example of what priceless teaching and poignant reflection can be given us, the lay faithful, by glimpsing into the Liturgy of the Hours devotions. Their depth instills anew the wonder and beauty of our Catholic Liturgical Year.

December 17th began the Antiphons with O Sapientia (O Wisdom), followed by O Adonai (O Lord of Israel) on the 18th and O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse) yesterday.

And now, today we pray:

O CLAVIS DAVID [Key of David],
and Sceptre of the House of Israel,
You open and no man closes;
You close and no man opens.
Come and deliver him from the chains of prison
who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death!

~ ~ ~

Isaias 22:22 ~ And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Isaias 9:6 ~ For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.

I can't take the credit

for having written this, but it did bring me a good chuckle today! Enjoy!

The Fourteen Days of Homeschooling

Compliments of Cecelia Harkins

Sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

On the first day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"Can you homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"Are they socialized?

Can you homeschool legally?

On the third day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"Do you give them tests?

Are they socialized?

Can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"What about P.E.?

Do you give them tests?
Are they socialized?
Can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"YOU ARE SO STRANGE!

What about P.E.?
Do you give them tests?

Are they socialized?

Can you homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"How long will you homeschool?

YOU ARE SO STRANGE!

What about P.E.?

Do you give them tests?
Are they socialized?
Can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"Look at what they're missing!

How long will you homeschool?

YOU ARE SO STRANGE!

What about P.E.,

Do you give them tests,

Are they socialized,

Do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool
my neighbor said to me,
"Why do you do this?
Look at what they're missing!
How long will you homeschool?
YOU ARE SO STRANGE!
What about P.E.,
do you give them tests,
are they socialized,
do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"They'll miss the prom...

Why do you do this?

Look at what they're missing!

How long will you homeschool?

YOU ARE SO STRANGE!

What about P.E.,

do you give them tests,

are they socialized,

do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"What about graduation?

They'll miss the prom...
Why do you do this?
Look at what they're missing!
How long will you homeschool?
YOU ARE SO STRANGE!
What about P.E.?
Do you give them tests?
Are they socialized?
Do you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"I could never do that.

What about graduation?
They'll miss the prom...

Why do you do this?

Look at what they're missing!

How long will you homeschool?

YOU ARE SO STRANGE!

What about P.E.?

Do you give them tests?

Are they socialized?

Do you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"Can they go to college?

I could never do that.
What about graduation?

They'll miss the prom...
Why do you do this?
Look at what they're missing!
How long will you homeschool?
YOU ARE SO STRANGE!
What about P.E.?
Do you give them tests?
Are they socialized?
Do you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool

I thoughtfully replied:

"They can go to college,

yes, you can do this,

they can have graduation,

we don't like the prom,

we do it cuz we like it,

they are missing nothing,

we'll homeschool forever...

WE ARE NOT STRANGE!

We give them P.E.,

and we give them tests,

they are socialized,

AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool

my neighbor said to me,

"How can I get started?

Why didn't you tell me?

Where do I buy curriculum?

When is the next conference?

WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE?

I think we can do this,

if you'll help us,

we will join a sports team...

and we'll homeschool legally!"

A bit of follow-up...

Little did I know that my post about voting for SpunkyHomeschool versus Michael Bérubé in the the Weblog Awards would end up being quoted on his blog, sending me the highest traffic that day that I've ever experienced. A surprise, to say the least! Which also made for some interesting developments -- making it necessary for me to bring here some clarifications that Mr. Bérubé kindly made for us on his and IvyGate's (another leading contestant for the Weblog Best Educational Blog Award) comments during the race.

In his own words:

The point is this. We really were kidding. But in pretending to be people who take weblog awards way too seriously, we apparently crossed some people who take weblog awards way too seriously. I have nothing against Ms. Braun [Spunky] or her family, and wish them the very best.

Apparently, this whole incident is a good example of the mis-communication that our modern snazzy methods of communications can bring upon us sometimes. :) We homeschoolers are all-too-familiar with warring attitudes towards us…and the truth is there are many folks on the web who make remarks such as his and are serious. For those of us unfamiliar with Mr. Bérubé's style of irony, it was only natural we would take his remarks literally. It was a welcome development to learn that it was all not quite as heavy as we thought. :)

One a positive ending note, it was heartening to read very cordial comments by both SpunkyHomeschool and Mr. Bérubé on each other's blogs. The closing graciousness shown by each was an appreciated outcome to all this!

Drum Roll...

"Join other Christian young men and women in TheRebelution.com’s new and exciting project: The Modesty Survey. The Modesty Survey allows any girl to submit anonymous, modesty-related questions to Christian guys and to receive (multiple) anonymous replies. It’s the discussion you’ve always wanted to have."

Read the rest and find out how both gentlemen and ladies can participate by clicking here or on the above logo! But girls, you'll need to act fast, because the deadline for submitting your questions is tomorrow (December 15th).

I can't wait to see the results of this! As a young woman active in the modesty movement, I quickly learned that there is nothing so powerful and so moving for us girls seeking true modesty and real beauty, and nothing with such effectiveness at reaching those girls’ hearts who may even not be seeking modesty, as the testimonies and humble, honest pleas of Godly young men. I think sometimes it can take just one Godly man to drive home with sure force the message that scores of girls could have been trying to share with another girl. Sadly, it’s far too rare that young men (or fathers!) do speak up about this topic…but when they do, feminine ears perk up!

Please join me in prayer that this project will truly bear wonderful fruit for God's Kingdom!

Homeschoolers Unite!

Even though the 2006 Weblog Awards voting ends tomorrow, we can still affect the results!

In short, the two top blogs competing (very closely, I might add!) for the Best Educational Blog award are... liberal Michael Bérubé and SpunkyHomeschool, a dedicated, witty, and devout Christan homeschool mom.

This has really and truly come down to a battle of Christian ideals versus Secular ideals, Godly values versus Godless values. As reported on the ever-fantastic blog The Rebelution, "Michael Bérubé recently commented... 'The important thing is that...I crush the homeschoolers.' "

To get the whole scoop, click here.

To help SpunkyHomeschool win, you can vote once per day per computer by clicking here. Get your friends to vote too! But HURRY: voting ends tomorrow (December 15th)!

Today's Encouragement

"Girls are like apples on trees.

The best ones are at the top of the tree.

Boys don't want to reach for the good apples

because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead they get the rotten apples from the ground

that aren't as good, but easy.

So the apples at the top think

there is something wrong with them,

when in fact they are amazing.

They just have to wait for the right boy,

the one who will risk everything,

who's brave enough to climb

all the way up to the top of the tree."

- Author Unknown

Glorious Words

"The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral -- a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation...What on God's good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?"

- Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty