Arthur and I attended the Catholic United Financial Regional Gathering at Queen of Peace in Rogers last Saturday. The keynote speaker was Kelly Wahlquist, founder of WINE, Women of the New Evangelization. Kelly's talk was inspiring. AND, she was selling books. Sucker that I am, I had to buy three of them. I'm always looking for things that may appeal to my granddaughters, or things that may help me in my own spiritual life. The three which I purchased were The Mother of Jesus is Wonderfully Real by Paul Murray, OP, Gaze Upon Jesus; Experiencing Christ's Childhood through the Eyes of Women, and Walk in Her Sandals. I could hardly wait to dig into them.
I read through Fr. Paul's book almost immediately. I have to say that I was disappointed. Was it bad? No. But I was not thrilled, either. Some of the water colors in the book were absolutely gorgeous. Particularly the first picture of Fr. Paul mailing a letter. But wait! He was living in Italy when he wrote the letter, and the mail box clearly had the USPS eagle logo and the blue mail box color. Husband had to point that out right away, too. I guess I can overlook it, but it was a detail that could have coordinated with the story better. Other wonderful pictures were of Isabelle surrounded by photographs, and a young Fr. Paul with his father, and with his teacher and classmates. The picture of the Blessed Mother on page 12 was also beautiful. The pie on page 14 looked delicious, and I liked the flamingo. But I did not care at all for the other pictures of the Blessed Mother. She just did not look beautiful. Her smiles on page 25 and on the medal, and perhaps the large nose did not become her. The text fell a little flat as well. I wish that Fr. Paul had talked more about ideas of things that we cannot see, such as truth, goodness and beauty. The book did end with another fabulous picture of Fr. Paul. Kelly Wahlquist recommended the book as a baptism or First Communion gift, but I think I would pass on it in the future. I am not even sure that the book will be liked if I pass it on.
I had been reading Marian Consecration with Aquinas (Matt Fradd and Fr. Gergory Pine, OP, Tan Books) in preparation for my covenant renewal. I finished it late last night, along with reading the Schoenstatt founding documents. I treated myself to a sneak peak into Gaze Upon Jesus. I read through all of the commendations again, and then the forward and half of the introduction. Then I skimmed through parts of the first meditation by Stephanie Landsem. Did no one else catch it? Mary is described not as a woman immaculately conceived, free from all sin, but as a woman who prefers working in her flower beds so much that her vegetable garden is neglected. Her mother teases her that St. Joseph will starve to death because of it. Mary is unmarried in the story, again, a false narrative, since she was already betrothed to Joseph, though they were mot yet living together. In fact, the text indicates that she has not even met Joseph yet. Mary also ponders the future children which she and Joseph may or may not have together because of his old age, contradicting the tradition that Mary and Joseph both had made the Nazarite vow, and would not be engaging in sexual intercourse. Scripture itself affirms this, since Mary expressed surprise that she was to bear a child. Had she and Joseph planned on living as husband and wife in that aspect, pregnancy would have been no surprise. She would have just assumed that this would take place after they came to live together. There would have been no need to question the angel. Then, of course, the idea that Joseph was an old man who was widowed with other children fits nicely the Protestant interpretation of passages of the Bible which refer to Jesus' brothers. But we really do not know whether he was married prior to that or not. And we do know that there is no word for cousin in Aramaic, so Jesus' "brothers" were not his brothers as we understand the term. As colorful as Stephanie Landsem''s story might be, I am thinking that if the other mediations are that inaccurate, the books may not be that helpful. Time will tell as I read through them.
Crosstown Appliance was here for the second time in a week this morning. Last week it was the stove. A minor clog in the whatchamajigi that kept a burner from always lighting, and the flame from increasing and decreasing. The technician fixed it with a toothpick. Our toothpick, even. A cheap repair. This morning he was back to fix the coils in the dryer. Another relatively cheap repair, particularly given that our dryer is over thirty years old. This is the first time we have had to have it repaired. No matter how good the deal, I am so glad that we have never bought into offers of discounts if we replace more than one appliance at a time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why clog up the landfills with appliances which are not dead yet?
I am up to my ears in alterations and repairs. Had to sew part of the zipper in Husband's new pair of pants because the zipper kept coming off of the track. I took in the shoulders on a new dress. Now I have to do the shoulders on a blazer. I am hemming the sleeves on my new winter coat, and re-hemming the sleeves on the lining of the rain coat I got last year. I have the sewing skills (YouTube helps.). But I am short on patience. Something to offer up to the Capital of Grace.
