Happy Thanksgiving

Reposting a picture from our pilgrimage to St. Augustine, FL where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated Sept. 8, 1565 with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our pastor wrote, "The Catholic origins of Thanksgiving don't stop there. Squanto, the beloved hero of Thanksgiving, was the Native American man who mediated between the Puritan pilgrims and the Native Americans. Squanto had been enslaved by the English, but he was freed by the Spanish Franciscans. Squanto thus received baptism, and became a Catholic. So, it was a baptized Catholic Native American who orchestrated what became known as Thanksgiving." 

I am so thankful to God for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He will do. I especially grateful for my family, friends, and the road to better health. This is the last year it will just be the Bodachs four...I'll post a picture tomorrow. Right now I have the house to myself because the menfolk have gone for bourbon and cigars and Dagny is out with Ian and their friends. Introvert heaven! The kitties are enjoying the quiet too.

Michael has done such an outstanding job in the garden. New this year: sweet potatoes, kohlrabi, turnips, ginger and turmeric. We have an abundance of greens so we eat a lot of salad. I've also taken to making vegetable broth as well from all the stems; might as well extract every ounce of goodness from them before putting them into the compost. We also harvested honey from the top bar--life is sweet! I pray you all have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. 

Keeper of the Bees

We're learning so much since Michael started keeping bees. We now have two hives--a top bar and the more traditional box. This should ensure lots of honey and wax and bees for the garden. Such wonderful creatures. Life is sweet with bees! In fact, we'd all starve without bees. People don't realize that 75% of the plants we eat need pollinators. All the pesticides used in industrial farming are killing the bees. I'm so thankful we have many local farmers who practice regenerative farming and who are happy to share what they know. 

Our first batch of bees arrived in the mail about a month ago--they went into the top bar and they're doing well, building comb and filling it with brood. The new bees are hatching.

We picked up the second batch from R&R Acres and it's a fully functioning hive--almost ready to swarm--in fact, while we were at the farm, there was a callout to collect a swarm. Here, Michael is adding empty frames in-between the fully-formed ones so that the bees have room to grow. It's so nice to have bees humming and buzzing in the backyard again. Welcome, new bees! 

Some fun pictures from R&R family farm. We visited the store and I bought some soap and a face-toner (smells divine with rose and hibiscus and honey) and the chocolate covered honey was absolutely delicious! The striped bird in the cage is a young emu. The older ones were delightful to watch too. What a beautiful place to raise a family. It can look idyllic but it's a lot of work! I know I don't have the energy but it is such a joy to see young families succeed at building and sustaining a family farm.

Gaudete!

There is so much to celebrate right now! The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Gaudete Sunday--actually all of it falls in the octave of the Immaculate Conception. And truly, our country needs the prayers of our Lady, our Mother Mary to draw us near the Christ-Child. Oh, that He would make His home in our poor hearts. Dec. 8th was a very special night for us at Sacred Heart Catholic Church where we had a High Mass. Fr. West has been introducing his parish to the Latin Mass and we're grateful to be able to help build it up. Later we stopped at a brewery to sample their wares. 

Our Advent is low-key but busy with music preparation and sending out Christmas cards but I love how the focus is on preparation. Our pastor always reminds us of the wisdom of Holy Church to not try to celebrate Christmas until the Midnight Mass. He is near, and nearer still to the people who suffer. Take heart. Rejoice!

Some photos of our Advent: Bees too are preparing--they huddle and shiver and keep the hive warm. They have their honey stores for winter, though when it's warm in the afternoon I see them flying out to collect pollen and nectar. My shoulder is healing well and physical therapy is helping tremendously. I've stopped using the brace unless I need it. My orthopedic surgeon gave me the green light to start using those atrophied muscles. Michael jokes, "what muscles?" 

I bought this Catholic weekly planner from Angelus Press and love how well it's designed with liturgical feasts listed, some saints highlighted, space for daily, weekly, monthly notes. Perfect for my needs. And I already started using it because it begins on Dec. 1st. I'm reading a lot more too, but I won't post pictures of the books because...they're gifts for my family :) Do you have any to recommend?   

 

Movies and More

My new look! It's been headache central over here so I'm no longer disappointed that I'm not in Calcutta at the moment. It's much easier to massage Biofreeze into my head without it getting into my eyes when the hair is short. Dagny gave me the haircut--she doesn't hesitate, lol. This is the shortest my hair has ever been. It reminded me of the Passion of Joan of Arc. It's the best version I've seen--pretty much follows the transcript of the trial. It's a silent film and shot in such a way, with closeups of the actress' expressive face and those of her interrogators. You can really feel St. Joan's fear and confusion with all these churchmen threatening her, berating her. Ah, but she's a saint and nobody even remembers the names of those high and learned church officials. It's been so great to watch these movies with Max. He's taking an online class on Film in History and he shares the lecture with us before watching so we're getting a free education. The first one was Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew. Wow! I loved the look of the movie and the young and manly Jesus! Interestingly, the young man who plays Jesus was an atheist and remained an atheist after this movie. Sometimes I wonder how it's possible because the Gospels are transformative, but then I remember that even Jesus couldn't get everybody to follow Him. Many followers lefts Him because they did not like the Truth. He said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I love what St. John says: the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. Indeed, no matter how dark the world gets, the Holy Spirit will illuminate Truth. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Next on the list: Spartacus and Gladiator.        

That's my hair you see--2 inches of curls--that will line the nests of birds. We also have our first honey! Michael was removing the bars where the combs were going across and it was so honey-laden. Isn't the comb beautiful? A marvel of engineering when you consider how heavy the comb gets when it's filled with honey (or brood or pollen). I want to make a skin cream--mix the comb with coconut oil and lavender. Or a candle! So great to have bees! God's gift to make life sweet and beautiful. 

The Longest Lent--Using Our Gifts

The Monday of Holy Week always has the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus and drying them with her long hair (John 12:1-10):

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.

You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

I have pondered this verse much and wrote a reflection for CatholicMom a few years ago, about counting the cost. What I love about Scripture is how it's the living, breathing Word of God--yes, that's God talking to us!--and how the Holy Spirit illuminates our minds, pointing to whatever we need to pay attention to in our lives. One thing struck me reading this passage today is to make sure we are using our gifts for the greater glory of God. See, Judas was keeper of the money, probably because he was good in math and money management, but he uses his gift in the wrong way. He betrays Jesus with 30 pieces of silver. He doesn't recognize Mary's worship.  

Over the past few years, I question myself whenever I get excited about a writing project--Is this pleasing to God? Will this help build His Kingdom? Is this going to bring people closer to Him? If I can answer "Yes!" I proceed confidently and in peace. There is so much joy in this writing life but I have to guard myself against the temptation to seek worldly success. Oh, the pride of life! I've taken to praying the Litany of Humility on a weekly basis--it's helping me develop a healthy detachment from the things of this world. Alas, I was thinking how far I've come because there was a time, not too long ago, that I couldn't even get through this prayer, and so you see how pride rears its head. So yeah, en garde! I feel that my role is to keep writing faithfully and letting God take care of the rest. Our bees give me much to contemplate. 

I leave you with a beautiful song, Alabaster Box, sung by Julie Meyer, which I first heard sung by Donna Earnhardt, now our Carolinas RA for SCBWI. Let us be like Mary of Bethany, giving our best to Jesus! Oh Mary, pray for us that we repent and return to Him with our whole hearts.