Tumble-curls!

Out in the open, we were visiting a pumpkin patch last year. Katherine is with her wind-swept look and this close-up helps to show family resemblances.

Gone fishing!

Reading aloud to the children and not having a TV has helped enormously in their being able to sit still for good periods of time. Now add fishing to the list of activities which require patience! I enjoyed the fountain very much, as I enjoy water, not having grown up with much around me.

Worms wiggle and are funny!

Steven is a fisherman and grew up fishing hours with his father, brothers, and relatives. This past year was the first year we went fishing as a family. I was told that part of being a fisherman was to hook one's own worm and didn't like that idea. Seemingly Katherine was going to be OK with that ;)

The Little Fisherman

Gone fishing to a local area in Peoria, mostly to cast, rather than to catch! Gregory had his new Tigger fishing pole and was so excited! It was July 2004 and I was making sure mostly that David Joseph did not head toward the water. Katherine and Gregory enjoyed the squirming worms in the container in the background and I had such fun just seeing them with their father. :-)

Beatrice, Humberto, Rachel

I love the stories my mother tells of the brother that was closest in age to her and was her playmate when small. Time passes quickly and it is hard to all stay in touch. This is a photo my father gave me, taken at my parents' house.

With President Lincoln of Ilinois fame

Going downtown Peoria as if we were tourists gave me a whole new perspective of our city! It was as if blinders had been taken off. Now I see how Charles, my brother, does it to take photos... he sees with those eyes of a photographer, capturing images that appeal, resonant, and tell a story.

Feast of Corpus Christi/bending the knee

Just scant days ago, at a nearby parish, at Communion time, I was told--with the Eucharistic Lord held from me--that I did not need to kneel before Him, "just do a bow of the head."

I am well aware that the norm is standing, yet this does not make kneeling an obsolete or bad option. After the "explanation," I was given our Lord (since my genuflection couldn't be undone, but what if I had been on my knees as I used to receive. Would He have been denied me until I got up...).

I am valuing Him much more after this.

Our whole body is called to worship Him, now and into eternity. Personally, I need practice and
a genuflection is a good reminder of "bending the knee before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are His people, the flock that He shepherds." I have too much pride and this has helped enormously to turn to Him, to stop and think of His sacrifice for a moment with a small one of my own. Our bodies are called to help us live out our faith and strengthen it. (Or, as we sadly know, they also help us live out our lack of faith.)

In a beautiful rendition of Fra Angelico's painting of the Magi, I see how those who came to adore the Christ Child did not just bend their head to acknowlege Him. There is kneeling down AND bowing the head. Some people reverence Our Lord so consciously that one is left in amazement...

This incident has made me reflect on how we treat Him...

At my parish church (not where I was reprimanded), on May 28th, after a Mass offered for a niece's 11th birthday, I took e-photos of the Stations of the Cross. (I'll use them to quiz my children on the Stations.) The Stations are in full relief; they pop-out at you.

In getting so close to them, I noticed that twice someone was raising the hand high to strike Jesus... I pray that we respond to Him who fell on His knees for us, by making reparations for offenses against Him, using our knees in bending to Him.

Why kneel? Haven't you heard all the arguments? You know, about not showing off, having uniformity, not slowing down the line or causing people to trip--how bowing is just as good as kneeling.

What will glorify God? That is the issue, not what is the minimum, the standard, what everyone does. Yes, we all should sit and kneel and stand together during the Mass where it says so in the missalette. In receiving the Son of God, there is no "you cannot kneel" in the book.

So, go ahead and reverence Him! This is about giving Him all that you are. This isn't a comfortable bread line with us all milling up there casually. This is a crucifixion where we accept to follow Christ all the way. He is equiping us to be courageous!

Children are edified by kneeling. Young children often don't "see" in abstract ways. Tell a child "Jesus is really there" and accompany it with true awe and reverence. Or just go out of habit, without a recent confession, and without thinking about opening up to Him more than you did yesterday. Children learn by example and body language. Show that He is the summit of your life :-) We are our children's teachers.

Kneeling and genuflecting are privileges. Are they being taken away?

Even priests can be edified by seeing kneeling. When I was at Cherry Creek Park in Denver for the World Youth Day Papal Mass on August 15, 1993, I knelt (as was my custom). The priest mentioned "Not many people kneel anymore. It is a good thing."

Let us worship the Lord our God!

Rejoice that He is with us until the end of time!
And we are with Him now... may it we rejoice in that this Feast of Corpus Christi!

Value Him much more after this :-)