Family: Max, the mini

Our mini-schnauzer, Max, turn 4 months old on Friday!  Here's what he looked like at 7 weeks (just a week before we brought him home):

... and here he is at 4 months!

and for those of you who know my dh .... yes, he IS starting to like the little guy:

 dh distracted by LSU winning last night ....

 got a sloppy kiss from the little guy ...

and the kids thought it great that Dad was finally holding Max!

 

Review: The Secrets Beneath

Hmm ... this is one of those books that kind of left me ... cold, dissatisfied, hanging, ... what?  I don't know ... something is missing.

The basic plot of The Secrets Beneath is that a very inquisitive 13-year-old Amish girl, a fan of Nancy Drew stories, begins to notice odd goings-on next door -- a house that has long remained vacant is suddenly the scene of odd late-night visits by a couple of different men.  Further, Bekah (the protagonist) and her family play host to a cousin who comes to stay for the school-year with little explanation.  Poor Bekah ... it's killing her that she doesn't know what's going on and she MUST find out.  And therein lies the plot ... an inquisitive girl who gets into trouble and dangerous situations because of her curiousity.  The story is basically a long allegory for the adage: curiousity killed the cat.

But what is it about this book that I don't like?

First, it's purportedly written for tweens/teens but you don't really know that until you get into the story a bit.  The girl on the cover art is wistfully young, but otherwise much of the tone of the book doesn't ring true for a tween/teen read.  The dangers in the book are a bit too-threatening and scary especially since they're so very possible -- I don't know if I'd want my kids reading this scary side of new neighbors!  The coming-of-age portions are a bit over the top ... most girls mature before boys so having the boy interested in the girl without her realizing it just doesn't seem realistic and seems a bit forced. 

Further, for some reason, the author has set the novel in the fictional town of Middlefield, Ohio that hosts an Amish community but is also filled with "yankees".   But the "Amish-ness" of the book is really an unnecessary hook -- Bekah and her family could be any religion as the Amish aspect really has nothing to do with the story.  It's very odd.  In addition, the author takes the time to explain the differences between the Ohio Amish and the Pennsylvania Amish (from whence Bekah's cousin hales) but the characters just don't seem "Amish".  It's like an add-on to sell the book.

This is the second book in a series "The Mysteries of Middlefield".  Now, I haven't read the first one and I don't think I'd read others.  Maybe Kathleen Fuller, the author, needs to stick with writing adult novels and not try and tap the tween/teen market. 

Unfortunately, this was a very unsatisfying read that I could only recommend if a teen was desperate for something to read and it was this or something horrendous, like Goosebumps!

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Disclaimer:  I recieved this book as part of the Thomas Nelson review program, Book Sneeze.  The only requirement was that I read the book and post a review.  The above review is my honest reaction to this book.
 

Feast Day: St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the daughter of Alexander II of Hungary.  At the age of 4, she was sent to live in the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia since she was betrothed to his son.  At 13, she married Louis and they had three children.  In spite of her position at Court, she was dedicated to helping the poor, the homeless and others unjustly accused.  When her husband died in the Crusades, Elizabeth left the world and became a tertiary Franciscan, continuing to help the poor and destitute, building the Franciscan hospital at Marburg.  She died at the age of 24. 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, even though you had all the power and prestige of the world of your day, you renounced it all to take of God's poorest.  Help me to always help others with a willing spirit, punctually.  St. Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us!

FYI:  the image in the prayer card above is from a painting done by Marianne Stokes  (1855-1927).  Titled St. Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor, this picture not only shows St. Elizabeth's youth but her tireless working for the poor and destitute. 

Dinner tonight?  Red Bean and Rice Soup from Br. Victor-Antoine's Twelve Month of Monastery Soup (with a bit of a tweak ... adding leeks with one onion, mixed peppers in lieu of the carrots, but otherwise ... I'll do the recipe!) and kalacs (a Hungarian sweet bread) to eat with the soup.  Charlotte over at Waltzing Matilda led me to the recipe, but I'm tweaking that a bit too.  Here's my version:

KALACS (Hungarian Cinnamon Bread) with slight revisions from moi!


Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (+ scant 1/4 cup if dough too sticky)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tbls envelope active dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• melted butter for brushing
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

Directions:
1. Place flour, white sugar, salt, and yeast large bowl; stir to combine. Measure milk and butter into a microwavable bowl and heat till butter melts. Add egg and vanilla and stir till all combined. Pour liquid into the flour mixture. Stir until dough clings together. Continue to knead in the bowl until comes off the sides; add up to 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour if needed.
2. Place dough into a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Punch down dough, turn out onto a floured work surface, and divide into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 1/3 inch thick rectangle. Brush each square with melted butter. Mix together cinnamon, walnuts and brown sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the two rectangles.
4. Roll each firmly into a log, pinch the ends closed, and tuck them underneath. Place each into a greased loaf pan. Cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
6. Brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter, then bake in preheated oven until loaves are golden brown, and sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes.

mmm... the smells in the kitchen are amazing!


 

Feast Day: St. Margaret of Scotland

Today is the feast of St. Margaret of Scotland, one of String Bean's patron saints.  St. Margaret, born in Hungary to the exiled King of England, fled to Scotland to live under the protection of Malcolm.  They married and she brought sanctity, charity and love to the Scottish kingdom -- softening Malcolm and his court's ways and helping to reform the Catholic church in Scotland.  Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers, to correct the evil practices, and to have new churches built. She loved to make these churches beautiful for God's glory, and she embroidered the priest's vestments herself (I wonder if she knitted, too?). 

Malcolm and Margaret had six sons and two daughters, the youngest son is St. David.

St. Margaret, you knew trials and triumphs in your lifetime and yet never wavered from your faith in God.  Let my faith be as strong in good times, and especially in bad times.  St. Margaret of Scotland, pray for us all ... especially String Bean!


 

Feast Day: St. Albert the Great

Today is the feast of St. Albert the Great, a renowned Dominican philosopher, theologian and scientist who taught at the universities in Cologne and Paris.  It was at the University of Paris that St. Albert taught St. Thomas Aquinas, encouraging Thomas to write the Summa.  St. Albert's works included the compilation of an encyclopedia of the learning of his day. His study of the natural sciences was far ahead of his time .

St. Albert the Great, please pray for all our students and teachers today ... may we always seek the Truth!

 

Review: Why He is a Saint

I can still remember when Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. I was a senior in high school and my dad, who was justifiably proud of his Polish/Slavic heritage, was "over the moon" because a Polish cardinal was our newest pope.

Over the years, I became more and more fascinated by this occupant of Peter's Chair.  Outside high theological circles and his homeland, few had heard of Karol Wojtyla.  30 years later, John Paul the Great was a veritable "household name".  But who was he really and why would the Catholic Church start a canonization process for him so soon after his death?

I found answers to these questions (and many others) after reading Why He is a Saint: The Life and Faith of Pope John Paul II and the Case for Canonization by Slawomir Oder (translated by Antony Shugaar).  This is one of those books every Catholic should read to understand the man who was a saint in our own time.

Oder breaks the book into three parts: 

1. Karol Wojtyla, the Polish Catholic priest
2. Pope John Paul II, the leader of the Catholic Church in the latter part of the 20th century
3. Karol Wojtyla, the mystic and spiritually-endowed man

Oder contends (and I'd agree) that before one can understand JP2, one must understand that he is a product of his beginnings:  a devout Polish Catholic, born into a world fraught with sorrow and fears, whose faith rarely (if ever) wavered.  Wojtyla was proud of being born in 1920 -- the year of the Miracle at the Vistula when the Poles kept the Russians from a successful invasion, keeping the Poles' independent just a bit longer.  Wojtyla lost all his family before he was 21 -- but this made him more open to close-friendships with others, earning the pet-name "Uncle".  Wojtyla's world was turned upside down by the invasion by the Nazis before he was 21 -- Poland was no longer independent, but under the thumb of a despotic government.  Scary times ... fearful times ... sorrowful times for the man who would be pope.  At times like these, folks either cave-in or strengthen their faith -- Wojtyla chose the better road and entered the priesthood to help his fellow Poles.

The man who became Pope in October 1978 was very different from past popes, and not just because he was the first non-Italian in some 400 years.  John Paul II was young ... a product of his uncertain times ... a man who loved tradition but didn't let it own him.  From the first, the Vatican knew they had someone different in the Chair:  he bucked tradition by keeping his coat-of-arms from his archbishopric; he refused to wear the papal tiara at the coronation; he opted to visit a sick friend in the hospital the day after his election -- something very human and not, some considered, very papal.  But JP2 didn't let any of this bother him.  As long as he was doing the good, he didn't worry about what others thought or said. 

Another aspect of JP2's pontificate that shocked some, was his travels:  he was away from the Vatican 8.5% of his entire pontificate (not including official vacations at Castel Gandolfo or his hospital stays).  JP2 explained his travels by explaining that he was not just the successor to St. Peter, but also to St. Paul, who never stayed in one place very long.  JP2 explained, "I am traveling as a teacher of faith, but also as a disciple, to learn about the life of the local church."  In his travels, JP2 never allowed fear or uncertainty to stop him.  In 1983 he planned a trip to Nicaragua, during this country's great problems with Communism, Sandinistas and liberation theology issues.  "We must go, even though it will not be a great success.  This church needs to be reinforced now, when it is passing through a very critical moment."  The papal travels included trips to mend relations with other faiths -- not to assent to a "let's just all love one another" superficiality but rather to accelerate the process of communication between sister churches and begin to find common ground, to re-build the relationships necessary for unification.

Karol Wojtyla the mystic is the final portion of the book and is a bit harder to synthesize.  Oder explains that, in doing an analysis of Wojtyla's life, writings, speeches and actions, five key areas help to define this man of God:

1. man immersed in a relationship with God: every person has dignity and rights from conception to natural death
2. faith: the only way to read and comprehend the mystery of man and that with faith, all difficulties (no matter their size or destructiveness) are overcome
3. charity, the love for God and man: defines the meaning of life, a willingness to forgive, offers hope for the future, and destroys the barriers of prejudice and hatred
4. dialogue: open discussion with other humans striving to find Truth in all things
5. prayer: the loving conversation between man and God

Included throughout this book are anecdotes and events that portray JP2 in a human light with supernatural overtones.  Each anecdote is further proof of sanctity ... of a life led by following God's will and having faith in God's providence. 

Excellent for high school students and above to understand a bit more about this man many call "John Paul the Great"!

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Disclaimer:  This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Why He is a Saint - The Life and Faith of Pope John Paul II and the Case for Canonization and be sure to check out their great selection of baptism gifts while you are there.

Feast Day: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Today is the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first US citizen canonized.  Born the 13th child into a prosperous Italian farm family, Frances Xavier (whose patron, St. Francis Xavier, was the missionary she wanted to be) was asked to organize and run orphanages for Italian children.  Altho she would have prefered the life of a missionary to the far-east, she stayed in Italy and opened orphanages, schools and convents all over her country, using her newly founded Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to staff the facilities.

She was so successful within Italy, that Pope Leo XIII asked her to go to the United States and help the Italian immigrants who had left poverty in their homeland to travel to the distant western continent.  In 1889, she arrived in New York with seven other sisters and began her work of building and bettering the lives of not only the Italian immigrants, but of all immigrants.  Mother Cabrini now extended her activities to westward: Newark, Scranton, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, all became familiar territory. In Colorado she visited the mining camps, where the high rate of fatal accidents left an unusually large number of fatherless children to be cared for. Wherever she went men and women began to take constructive steps for the remedying of suffering and wrong, so powerful was the stimulus of her personality. Her warm desire to serve God by helping people, especially children, was a steady inspiration to others and the establishment of each school, orphanage or convent seemed touched by the miraculous, for the necessary funds generally materialized in some last-minute, unexpected fashion.

In 1909, at the age of 59, Mother Cabrini became a naturalized US citizen.  In 1917, coming back from a trip west, she stopped in Chicago.  Worn out by her never-ceasing work, Mother Cabrini succumbed to a recurrence of malaria and died.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, missionary in your homeland and missionary to your adopted country, you worked tirelessly for the poor and downtrodden, the sorrowful and lonely.  Watch over us all as we go about our days:  Help us to see Christ in the less fortunate as you so readily did.  Help us to love as you so readily did.  Help us to work till we drop, always willingly obeying God's wishes for us.  St. Frances Cabrini, pray for us!