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 :-)

Christ struck

Very striking when one sees the pop-up Stations of the Cross from St. Mark's (no pun intended). I mentioned them in the May 29th article on valuing Jesus more. When one does the Stations, one longs to do more for Him.

The Bread Tester!

After he had asked for some... and we went to go get ingredients, and I read up on how the machine worked, we had our first hot, fresh loaf of bread in an hour and a half, right before my father left...

 

Merry-go-round Abuelito

My father came to visit and we went to the one park I know which has a merry-go-round! Here Katherine is giving her Abuelito a ride on it :-)

Fr. Michael, Veronica, Beca

Rebeca graduated a year ago and I went up for the graduation. I hadn't thought I'd be able to make it, but then Steven encouraged me to go!

Here the three liberal arts graduates of the family were asked to pose. Rebeca was the one that carried that banner in for the ceremony!

The two brothers

We did quite a lot of waiting for Easter--and Spring, which is the embodiment of Easter, new life-- this year. I'd already heard how my parents in El Paso, TX were all sunny and warm while we wore sweaters and jackets still.

Finally, we rejoice in warmer weather. Here is a photo by the tree outside our parish church. In our transition from seasons, we noticed how that tree went from bare branches to little buds of green, to white blossoms, to a shower of white petals upon the ground and bright Spring green leaves on the branches!

Gregory went almost all winter with shorts (in was a mild winter), but here David Joseph is sporting shorts for the first time this year.

Here you can see the physical resemblances and differences of the two brothers! As a mother, I'm enjoying also getting to know their inner similarities and differences. :-) Motherhood--connecting with my "nuclear" family--has led me, as well, to want to connect with you.

Branches are in such plentiful green array now that I write to not forget what a marvel happened as Spring came... bit by bit, a coming alive because of Him!

With cornfield in background

David Joseph with the harvested cornfield of 2004 behind him shows a bit of Ilinois ambience. His hair is lighter than that of the other two, less curly, and he still has his baby chubbiness. He is very huggable and smiles a lot. Una bendicion muy grande!

Abuelita Mama with my three children

My mother has come to help after the births and we got a photo of a very young David Joseph here. David is now about the age of Gregory in this photo!

Lisa's baby Thomas

Thomas Kistler's amazement. Lisa sent us this photo of her first born. We were looking forward to seeing the Kistlers soon at the Baptism.

Easter joy!

I went to the Easter Vigil last night on my own since it began after the children's bedtime (thank you, Steven, for this gift!) What a different feel in the morning--yet bolstered by all the joy of new life and new Catholics who had entered the Church! I had been there to see it. A very joyful Easter indeed.

The Easter Tridiuum has become much more important year after year. Many thanks to my father for taking us to the Masses. And to my husband, who helped dozens of people enter the Church and was there on Easter Vigil.

Sing Choirs of Angels!

This was David Joseph's first Christmas and he was about six months old. About three months later, he was standing and moving with trembly steps. I was eight months pregnant with Katherine during the Christmas of 1999 and it was so memorable and amazing, to think of Our Lady also getting ready to give birth... or to think of the Conception Day! Come, let us adore Him!

Magnetism

Steven is helping David at the Lakeview Museum. Here there are magnets and the bolts stick together due to the magnetism. One can try to make a bridge of bolts from one large magnet to the next.

I'm amazed here how David fits up on the table! 

Art Center for Katherine's 5th birthday!

Another mother clued me in on how vital an art center would be for Katherine. Just in time for her birthday! 

Lisa and Steven

Lisa, Steven's youngest sister