Advent Pic - The Visitation

From Photobucket...

The Visitation is the visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Saint Elizabeth as recorded in the Gospel of Luke 1:39-56. It is also the term for a Christian feast day commemorating this visit, celebrated on 31 May in the West (2 July in calendars of the 1263-1969 period) and 30 March in the East. (Wikipedia)

I like the thought of Our Lady with Saint Elizabeth. Both were with child (Mary with Jesus and Elizabeth with John the Baptist). Because I am so close with my own family, I can relate to the bond between the two of them. I don't know if The Visitation is normally associated with Advent, but as a similar picture was on the cover of The Magnificat this month, I figure it's ok to use. Imagine the significance of that meeting. So much of their religious lives were concerned with the coming of the Messiah, and these two humble women were to play major roles in an epic turning point of all time! The sharing, waiting, and responsibility of the very moment in time that is The Visitation is remarkable...Advent. Praise the Triune God in his power and majesty regarding his work in these two astounding women - the work of his hands.

Peace

Advent 101

Why is Advent Important

Preparation for Christmas is an important theme for Advent, but more is involved. Advent gives us a vision of our lives as Christians and shows us the possibilities of life.

The vision of life that Advent gives us is twofold; it looks back to the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem, and it looks to the future when Christ will come again. In the interval between these two events we find meaning for our life as a Christian.

First we celebrate Christ-become-human. We view his life and experience his presence as a human being in our history. Christ came to show us what life can and should be. He gave us true and valid principles by which we can live true and valid lives. But Jesus knew that the human heart could not live in isolation. He formed the Church around the concept of a people held together by love. In that community we discover unlimited possibilities and meaning. Alone we can do nothing. Together we find real meaning.

When Christ left this earth, he did not abandon us. He remains with us in his Spirit, the Church, the sacraments, the Scriptures and each other. He lives in community with us and keeps his vision of life before us.

When Christ comes again, his presence will no longer be hidden behind the signs and symbols of the liturgy or the words of the Scriptures. His presence among us will be revealed in all its fullness, a presence that will never end, a presence that will perfect and complete our community.

This is the "greater significance" of Advent. In these few short weeks we take in the sweeping panorama of time - from Christ's birth to his Second Coming. The season of Advent brings us the magnificent vision of life and hope for the future given to us by Christ.

Advent is our time to become more involved, more caught up in the meaning and the possibilities of life as a Christian community. Thus we are preparing not only for Christmas but also for Christ's Second Coming. This means that when he comes again, we will be awake and watchful. He will not find us asleep.


© Liguori Publications Excerpt from Advent - A Quality Storecupboard The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

Advent is upon us!

Hey my good peeps! I've been away for a couple, three months because dial up was so slow. I have since learned to reduce the size of photos, making them load faster (They don't need to be ENORMOUS like I usually use). I have so much catching up to do.

Here's a pic taken by my cousin Philip's wife Mandy. It's my Christmas card photo!

Random Recent Happenings

Cousin Karen and I picked 9 lbs of scuppernongs at the Robinson-Floyd Vineyard outside of Chipley, Florida. Great fun.

For Mama Gladys' birthday on August 25th, cousin Karen hosted a dinner with her parents, Uncle Tom and Aunt Lorraine, and my parents. Knowing Mama Gladys would like noise and lights to celebrate, we tried to recreate it for our cameras. This pic is part of those efforts.

A tableau of a Navarre visit: Cheryl busy managing/organizing something, Matt on his computer, Mom drinking coffee, Joy exercising, (I would either be on my computer or drinking coffee while watching the news).

Mom fried some chicken at home using her new cast iron chicken fryer purchased at the propane store in Chipley (High Propane? Can't remember the name). The bread is a homemade angel biscuit, and of course the potatoes and gravy are homemade. Mom and Dad were laughing with one another about the cost of frying chicken at home vs. buying it from Walmart, grocery store, etc. Dad was trying to pin Mom down on how much the cost of the meal was and started the bidding at a ridiculously high price...I guess you had to be there...

Peace!

Hey Amy! We are long overdue for a phone convo, gal! Are you still thinking of coming for Thanksgiving? I think of calling you almost every day, and when I consult my watch, it's like 9 p.m. your time...

Puss Caterpillar

Cousin Karen's Bob was stung by a Puss Caterpillar last week. He and Karen were on the part of our property we call the Rassy (sp?) place. It's so named because a feller named Rassmussen (Rassy) Nelson used to live their a gagillion years ago. Bob was pruning some vines so they wouldn't scratch his truck when this tiny, dime sized creature fell on his neck and stung him. Karen was able to knock it off of him and into a container to figure out what it was. She put it in a jar with some oak stems and leaves and we were all able to enjoy this "science experiment" all week. It is now in the capable hands of the high school up in Allentown, PA where Karen and Bob live. Hopefully they can watch it cocoon and turn into a moth. I haven't gotten an update yet. After careful study (a google search) Karen was able to ascertain that this is the most poisenous caterpillar in the U.S. Oddly enough they are very common in the Southeast and from Texas to Maryland. My dad and Uncle Tom, his brother, in their 70's and 80's had never seen one in all their years on the place! Bob survived the sting but reported pain coming in waves and a general achy feeling. It can be very serious with symptoms of shock and a visit to the ER necessary. The pic is from the webmd website listed. There you will find a great "bad bugs" slideshow: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/slideshow-bad-bugs

Stuff I'm Reading - Flannery O'Connor

Joe McTyre/Atlanta Constitution, From "Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor"

Flannery O'Connor seated beneath her "Self-Portrait With Pheasant Cock" in the living room at Andalusia, June 1962.


Hello all! I worked my 3 days, rested yesterday (was utterly wiped out), and am feeling dandy this day.


Is allergy season upon us? I was really stuffed up yesterday to the point of thinking I had a cold but Zyrtec seems to have worked quite well. FYI: for me it seems to work better than Claritin...


Anyway, I'm currently reading one of two novels written by a fave, Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood. I've always been a sucker for Southern Gothic pieces (e.g. Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers). This one has all of the shady characters one hopes to find in Southern Gothic literature and is heavy on the symbolism. I love to try and decode them and always find things to relate to in them.
Here are the opening lines: Hazel Motes sat at a forward angle on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want to jump out of it, and the next down the aisle at the other end of the car. The train was racing through tree tops that fell away at intervals and showed the sun standing, very red, on the edge of the farthest woods. Nearer, the plowed fields curved and faded and the few hogs nosing in the furrows looked like large spotted stones. Mrs. Wally Bee Hitchcock, who was facing Motes in this section, said that she thought the early evening like this was the prettiest time of day and she asked him if he didn't think so, too. She was a fat woman with pink collars and cuffs and pear-shaped legs that slanted off the train seat and didn't reach the floor.

He looked at her a second and, without answering, leaned forward and stared down the length of the car again. She turned to see what was back there but all she saw was a child peering around one of the sections and, farther up at the end of the car, the porter opening the closet where the sheets were kept.

"I guess you're going home," she said, turning back to him again. He didn't look, to her, much over twenty, but he had a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap, a hat that an elderly country preacher would wear. His suit was a glaring blue and the price tag was still stapled on the sleeve of it.
I also just finished "Letters of a Woman Homesteader" by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. I finally got around to reading this book. I've known about it for about 10 years after taking a Wyoming History class at the University of Wyoming. This, a true story, is a collection of the letters written by a widow from Denver, Colorado. She and her daughter head to a community somewhat close to Green River, WY to be the housekeeper for a rancher. She quickly marries the rancher but is adamant in her desire to homestead a piece of property on her own. She has a fantastic wit and way with words. I was also struck by this community's love of neighbor and their way of providing for one another's needs.
Peace!