The Lamp, Lenten Feasts, and Admiration

We've had such a beautiful time with our church family for Laetare Sunday and the Feast of St. Joseph. We've entered Passiontide but as our pastor reminds us, Lent is 40 days but Eastertide is 50.  Might I suggest Ten Easter Eggs for the little ones in your family? I'm so delighted it's still in print. I wonder if total sales have exceeded 100,000. They were close to 90,000 in 2019 and I've not received a statement since.

Below is Michael's cousin--there's definitely a family resemblance though Michael cannot grow such an impressive beard (his brother can). I can't wait to see Max et. al. during Easter break and have a celebratory reading of his letter to the editor published in its entirety in The Lamp. I might be asking him for advice on publishing in Catholic magazines next. So proud of him. And he's so proud of his father, looking very cool posing next to his Alfa Romeo. Ah, those were the days of fast cars and our guardian angels working overtime. Deo gratias! 

It's definitely spring here with pollen everywhere. I took this picture from the porch where I was hanging out the wash and looking in to see Jules cuddling up to Michael. Such a sweetie. 

And today--Happy Feast of the Annunciation and the Feast of the Good Thief Dismas! Legend tells us that Good Friday occurred on Mar. 25th and I love its circularity (I wrote about it when it did happen in 2016) and this is what Ap. Fulton Sheen said about St. Dismas in Life of Christ: 

“A dying man asked a dying man for eternal life; a man without possessions asked a poor man for a Kingdom; a thief at the door of death asked to die like a thief and steal Paradise. One would have thought a saint would have been the first soul purchased over the counter of Calvary by the red coins of Redemption, but in the Divine plan it was a thief who was the escort of the King of kings into Paradise. If Our Lord had come merely as a teacher, the thief would never have asked for forgiveness. But since the thief's request touched the reason of His coming to earth, namely, to save souls, the thief heard the immediate answer: 'I promise thee, this day thou shalt be With Me in Paradise' (Luke 23:43) It was the thief's last prayer, perhaps even his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything, and found everything. When even the disciples were doubting and only one was present at the Cross, the thief owned and acknowledged Him as Saviour.”