Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Seasons

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

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Fourth in my 7 posts in 7 days. More than halfway finished!

As I did on Tuesday with Kendra, I’m joining in with a link-up with another blogger who will be at the Behold Conference this Saturday.  Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter’s weekly “phfr” posts “capturing the contentment in everyday life” since one of the “daughters,” Dierdre Folley, will be a speaker at Behold.  I am looking forward to the conference and meeting Dierdre, if I ever get through a week of blogging.  I have to say both that it is super enjoyable to do all the link-ups and post each day, but I’m finding it much more involved  and much more time-consuming than I thought.

pretty

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I’ve been meaning for months to paint an upstairs bathroom.  We’ve had ideas, paint chips, paint samples, etc.  Finally, today two  of the kids helped me paint three of the five walls in this room. (I took this one-or-more-walls-at-a-time idea from a dear friend, who’s been posting Facebook photos of the transformation of their old house, one wall at a time, instead of whole rooms at a time).  I am so grateful for the idea, as we were tiring after two walls, and it was nice to be finished with the project for today.  I love the color.  It’s called Tranquility.

happy

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I know everyone is sick of the snow–we’re expected to get two more snowstorms this weekend.  And I guess I have to admit I’m pretty tired of winter, too.  But this has been a TERRIFIC winter for cross-country skiing, something we’ve done many times more this winter than the other two winters combined since we’ve had the skis.   We discovered this year that a group of volunteers grooms trails at a local golf course, and we went there many times.  The silver lining of more snow is perhaps another time or two to get out the skis.  Sorry all you people pining for 80 degrees.

funny image

Our family has loved having a second dog (just for one year, while his family is abroad for a work adventure), in addition to our wonderful English shepherd.  Our “borrowed” dog, is a Yorkie-poo who has convinced us that a small dog is in our future, both to keep us and our medium-sized dog company when this little guy leaves.

So the 13-year-old at our house is fond of sewing (in addition to creating graphics for my blog), and has made the Yorkie-poo several outfits, including a reversible coat that is adorable.  She decided for some unaccountable reason to make him a Santa suit this week, and it is a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.

real

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I promise you, I believed I took a photo this morning of the deplorable state of our “multi-purpose room” which houses school books and supplies, my desk, the treadmill and assorted other stuff.  I’ve been meaning to work on it, and so little has happened there, and it’s definitely “real.”  But after driving many miles today, painting, cooking, etc., and all my other “getting things done”  I am not getting up from this living room chair right now for anything until I post this.

So I found instead a photo I snapped today at my high-school daughter’s robotics competition. I thought I was in geeky heaven today when we spent a few hours there today, seeing all the costumes, robots, and watching the practice matches of robots battling and throwing giant balls on the “field.”  So.much.fun.

The “real” part was as the younger kids and I were leaving, and my 10-year-old was not thrilled with the idea of walking past this mascot (we’re not in this photo) from one of the teams. I had joked before to both the kids each time we saw one, “Hey, maybe he wants a hug!”  We are not huge mascot fans.  But we made it past this guy without even so much as a high-five, as he was busy giving a high-five to the person in front of us.

Five Things … for Lent

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Lent begins a week from today,  and I wanted to share five things.

1.  I’m giving up my Fitbit for Lent.

Ack. Part of the reason I’m doing this is that I love it too much, and I’m afraid I won’t actually do it unless I announce in public that I’m giving it up.

I first joined the Fitbit world when my husband got one at a work gathering about two years ago. I said, “Let me get that set up for you” and never gave it back.  I did buy him another one after about six months of using it, but within a week I had lost mine, so I took that one.  He since decided to get a Fitbit Zip, but I think he should really upgrade to a Fitbit One since it tells the number of floors you climb.

It seems to me that you either get Fitbit or you’re not interested, and there’s no in-between.

Case in point: I have four sisters, and a sister-in-law, and we were all in Belgium and France last fall visiting one sister who lives in Europe, and doing the Paris-Versailles Grand Classique.   One sister and I were obsessed with our Fitbit numbers each day (the day of the Grand Classique I had almost 40,000 steps. 40,000!  We liked to say to each other, “It’s like it doesn’t count unless your Fitbit shows the numbers.” The other four just laughed at us for being so obsessive.

Anyway, if you are among the Fitbit faithful or have a similar device, you’ll know how hard this will be for me.  I also realized after I made  the decision that I’m signed up to do not one but two half-marathons during Lent.  Sob.

2.  Silence.

The younger kids and I were reading in our history earlier this week about monks in the Middle Ages having meals (and much of the rest of their lives) in silence.  Of course we knew this already, but hearing about it in that unusual context made it stand out.  So we’ve been batting around the idea of trying for some silence during our busy days.

We decided we would start with lunch in silence on Fridays.  We can always add on extra days, but it seemed prudent to start small.

3.   Lent Book Series.

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I’m trying a first-ever series at Reading Catholic.  I, and a fairly large group of guest authors, will be writing about books all Lent long.  I invited the bloggers listed on Local, Catholic and Online, as well as other local-ish people, to write about a book related to Lent in some ways. I hope you’ll follow along and share your favorite Lenten reads.

This year it’s a bit of an experiment, but with the positive response I am thinking of making it an annual series.

4.  Pondering . . .

“He became poor,  so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

The Holy Father’s theme for Lent 2014.  Did you know each year the Holy Father has a message for Lent, and picks a Scripture verse for meditation?

Here is a link to Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2014.  I have skimmed it, but I will also print out and read during Lent.  I want to be rich;  how about you?

5.   Rich Mullins

I’ve loved Rich Mullins before he was cool, after he was cool,  and after he was dead.  He died in a car accident, actually pretty near where we live in Illinois, and I recall it vividly because I was very pregnant with my oldest child.    So when a friend shared on Facebook that she enjoyed this tribute special to him, I bookmarked it.   I’m sad I haven’t made time to listen to it yet.  His music and his writings (many of his columns and writings for various Christian magazines are still available on the Internet) are remarkable. In many ways, he was a modern-day St. Francis.

How is your preparation for Lent going? Are you ready for it to start?

Linking up with both Jen’s 7 Posts, 7 Days and Hallie’s Five Favorites.

The Big Purse Dump

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Second in my 7 posts in 7 days. 

I normally don’t do many link-ups, but this week I’m making an exception because I’m trying to do Jen Fulwiler’s 7 posts in 7 days, and I thought this would be a fun mix-up.  So plan on a lot of link-ups this week, but no guarantees about the future.

Kendra from Catholic All Year will be at the Behold Conference this weekend, and in her honor, I thought I would join in on her “Big Purse Dump.”

purse dump

So, I know Kendra specified “purse-droppers” weren’t supposed to clean out their purses, but one habit I learned from FlyLady, and one of the ones I’m actually pretty good at, is cleaning out my purse each Friday.  I don’t think that counts as cheating, since I haven’t cleaned out my purse since learning about  her link-up when reading about it at Bonnie’s blog early this morning, but maybe the powers that be can weigh in on that.

Two other ways I might that I “cheated,” but I don’t think so:

*I have not just a purse but a small tote bag I carry some days.

*I cleaned out used kleenexes before I snapped the photos.

Around Christmastime, I took my older teen to Macy’s to use up a cousin-gifted gift card.  I rarely go to Macy’s, and there were huge sales on purses, so I thought I would look at them. I found not one but two purses, and one was this Fossil  striped tote that I really love. We happened to run into a friend who does often shop at Macy’s, and she let me use her “frequent shopper” discount card or something like that, and so with the sale prices and that both purses together ended up being less than $30. I love a bargain!

photo 1

I’ve always been a “big purse” carrier, and stow tons of stuff in it—I always would joke with friends that I could go on the 1970s version of “The Price is Right” and Monty Hall would say, “I’ll give you $50 for every safety-pin you’ve got in there!” and I would make tons of money. Does anyone even know about The Price is Right any more? This was summer early morning watching when I was in grade school, along with Schoolhouse Rock, on actual TV, just in case you were wondering.

But I am glad that I got the smaller purse, because it allows me to have a basic bag, and also pare down things I carry every day.  I carry the tote only when I need to, like this morning when taking kids to the dentist and might have a few minutes to myself.

[Random aside: Notice the stack of Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction
books towards the back of the table when I snapped this photo. This book series (we have 1, 2 and 3 from the library right now) is a huge, huge hit at our house at the moment, and the cardboard box there contains the supplies to make penny bombs, mechanical pencil shooters and other boy-crafty items. Super fun.]

Now, here is what is in the purse.  I’m only putting up one photo, that contains only half the items.  The other photo looked a bit like it had too much info from the inside of my checkbook and wallets, and I’m just leaving that out:

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*black small bag with lipstick, aquafor, not one but three floss containers, nail clippers, etc.

*wallet not at all organized stuffed with receipts, cards, etc. Also, checkbook.

*deck of cards. I love playing cards, whether solitaire or a quick game of rummy while we are waiting somewhere. Call me crazy. I actually have a bit of a collection of playing cards, many from airlines back when airlines used to give you free playing cards if you asked. I have Northwest Airlines and Eastern Airlines, to show you how long ago it was. My current purse deck came from the Catholic school attended by some of our cousins.

*random receipts, gift card, rainbow loom thing made by somewhere along the way, hand sanitizer in a ziplock. That’s kind of an interesting story. Once a hand sanitizer opened in my purse and got all over the place. Since then I’ve kept in a ziplock, just so you know.

*seven writing implements. I love sharpies especially, and I think five of the seven are fine sharpies.

*two fresh kleenex packets.

*mini first-aid kit made by my 13-year-old for me.

*stevia packet, Kind bar, two packages of my favorite gum, Trident Vitality.

not shown: my iPhone, which carries so much of the weight of things (literally and figuratively).

I didn’t take a photo of the contents of the tote bag, since I don’t carry it every day. I did happen to take it with me today when I took kids to the dentist. I normally put my laptop, but additionally this morning it included:

*trader Joe’s chocolate
*random coupons
*another kleenex packet.
*several review books—I usually have two or three in there to skim or read during school pick-up or other random times.  Right now there are two in there: Embracing Edith Stein, I’m taking a lot of notes on that one; and Faces from Dante’s Inferno. I just need to begin that one, but I feel daunted.
*a clipboard with random things attached—to do lists, scheduling. Trying to be organized…
*in an inside pocket, two shells from our January florida trip.  A really happy memory on a cold day here.

My thoughts:

*It’s my favorite thing in here: not pictured, my iPhone. Just this morning, I was able to use it to make future dentist appointment, boy haircut appointment, consult my list at Lowe’s, Target and Sam’s Club, and make several phone calls & many texts, and skim the New York Times (none while driving, naturally).  In addition, the kids & I were able to do the readings from Mass (via Universalis) and do a little lectio divina on that, as well as finish listening to the audiobook of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.

*Wow, I really have a lot of those: pens.  I can never find one when I need it, and yet there were seven.  Why?   This would also be in the category, I’ve been looking for those.

*Huh, that should be in there:   need to eat up the chocolate before Lent begins next Wednesday.

*finally: where are the holy cards and rosaries? I usually have a few here, but for some reason not at all, in either bag. I do have a rosary app, novena apps, etc., on my iPhone, but I’m usually not without analog items.

That was a lot of fun to do.   I might even try on Thursday to do a first-ever for me,  a phfr (pretty, happy, funny, real) from Like Mother, Like Daughter, in honor of Dierdre Folley being at Behold as well.  We shall see…

Thank you to Kendra, for hosting this, and I look forward to meeting you at Behold this weekend!

Keep Your Eyes on Christ

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From the second reading of today’s Office of Readings, a sermon on Ecclesiastes by St Gregory of Nyssa:

We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil. Saint Paul himself and all who have reached the same heights of sanctity had their eyes fixed on Christ, and so have all who live and move and have their being in him.

As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.

The wise man, then, turns his eyes toward the One who is his head, but the fool gropes in darkness. No one who puts his lamp under a bed instead of on a lamp-stand will receive any light from it. People are often considered blind and useless when they make the supreme Good their aim and give themselves up to the contemplation of God, but Paul made a boast of this and proclaimed himself a fool for Christ’s sake. 

…

And so, without board or lodging, [Paul] travelled from place to place, destitute, naked, exhausted by hunger and thirst. When men saw him in captivity, flogged, shipwrecked, led about in chains, they could scarcely help thinking him a pitiable sight. Nevertheless, even while he suffered all this at the hands of men, he always looked toward the One who is his head and he asked: What can separate us from the love of Christ, which is in Jesus? Can affliction or distress? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger or death? In other words, “What can force me to take my eyes from him who is my head and to turn them toward things that are contemptible?”

He bids us follow his example: Seek the things that are above, he says, which is only another way of saying: “Keep your eyes on Christ.”

—–

With Lent just a little more than a week away, I am pondering prayer.

Years ago, I was out to dinner out with friends–a group of priests, a few married couples and a few singles.

One of the friends said that the readings from the Office of Readings, the “biggest” hour in the Liturgy of the Hours, seems more compelling during Lent.  He wondered  if it was because you were fasting during Lent, or are more focused on spiritual things.

A good discussion ensued.  I don’t recall the consensus view, though I think we all agreed the Holy Week and Triduum readings were especially rich, no surprise.

This might have been the evening that my husband and I (who have been praying the Office together off and on since we starting dating in 1991) first learned about Universalis, an online and mobile way to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.  This would have been in the last millennium,  since I feel confident I am not only one of the biggest fans of Universalis, but also one its earliest users (nearly 20 years).  I first used Universalis on my uber-cool Palm.   Raise your hand if you remember those.

I know I have written about Universalis not a few times before, but please, if you have a smart phone, consider getting the Universalis App.  It is one of my top-used apps and a great way to pray the Liturgy of the Hours wherever you are.   It is a currently a $10 app for Apple products–I think I might have spent $25 or some other really large number for an App when I first got it on an iPhone, but it is worth it at either of those price points.  You can also read it online for free on the Universalis website.

Back to the theory that the Office of Readings is “better” during Lent   We’re not in Lent yet, and yet this reading often falls during Lent.  Still,  nearly two decades after that conversation, I would say no.

In my own spiritual life, I find that being moved or impressed by something is more episodic than seasonal.

Some days, I just drift distractedly through the Office (or Mass when I go, or a Rosary).  Some days, though, in particular with the Office of Readings,  a part of a psalm or reading will stay with me all day.  I try not to feel bad that I can get distracted, but just “keep on keepin’ on” as a former pastor was fond of saying.

Daria Sockey’s book The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours has something to say about that.  (I can’t look up the exact quote, because gave away my review copy to a dear friend (after reading and mini-reviewing it here). That book is a good resource about the whys and hows of praying the Office.

I’ve tweeted short lines from the Office, or shared on Facebook, when they’ve really moved me, and I think I’ve shared here before.  When I read the second reading in the wee hours this morning (yes, the early morning rising does happen regularly) , I immediately thought, what a great thought to take through today:

“Keep your eyes on Christ.”

By the way, this second reading goes really well with the first reading, from Ecclesiastes, itself always an interesting, puzzling reading.  You can read today’s entire Office of Readings here , or search there for Feb. 24 if you’re not reading this today).

Do you use technology to pray? Do you think Mass readings, or prayers, are “better” during Lent?

(Linking up here today with Jen Fulwiler’s “7 posts in 7 days” series).

Getting Things Done

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This morning, I might have yelled at both my husband and my 16-year-old daughter. Perhaps it was within 10 minutes of returning  from daily Mass.

Let’s back up. One of the reasons that I don’t write here as often as I like is because I’m Getting Things Done”® in real life. Like all moms, I’m busy with so many details of life and household-running that often, my great ideas—for me, in writing—often fall by the wayside. But I do get a lot done (and actually not via all of David Allen’s system, though I enjoy using his ® and a lot of his GTD ideas).

I was up this morning well before 4 a.m., courtesy perimenopause. I’ve learned to work around this, when I can’t get back to sleep, by Getting Things Done®, and hoping for a power nap in the afternoon. This early morning, here is what I did:

I prayed the “Office of Readings” on the Universalis App on my iPad (and some other prayers),

I opened the Kindle App and happily finished Persuasion. I keep forgetting to read it—I’ve been fitfully it for about three months now— but last night while I was driving, I asked my 13-year-old to read out loud for the last 10 minutes before we got home. She did such a great British accent for all the characters.  In particular, her wonderful Charles Musgrove has inspired us in one evening to make  “Have I not done well, mother?”  a Piccione family saying.

(Normally this early, I would have checked e-mail, but when I read the other day that Melissa Wiley is taking some early morning time to read classics, I thought, yes! and I’m so glad I did. But now I’m sad to be finished, and mulling my next Jane Austen read, or maybe I will, like her, tackle Middlemarch for the first time since college?)

I got dressed and went to the treadmill, hoping to get some training miles in since I’m signed up to do a half-marathon in both March and April, and after that will likely be starting my training for the Air Force Marathon in September. Getting Things Done®, running-wise. I did a quick 3.5 miles, woke up my high schooler, and headed to 6:30 a.m. Mass by myself.

I remember nodding along during the first reading, from James, especially:

“See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
For just as a body without a spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead.”

Yep. Getting Things Done.® That’s the way the world works. Thank you, James!

When I came home, I decided against a shower before driving teen and our carpool friend in to school, so I could put dinner in the crock pot.  I thought, it’s not like I’m going to be getting out of the minivan (famous last words, as we shall see). As I’m chopping vegetables for the crock-pot, I’m barking out questions to husband and teen about their schedules, things they need to Get Done® , and I end up yelling at both of them.

The details shall be lost to history, but suffice to say I was sorry for what I said, and at the same time still a wee bit annoyed because sometimes it feels like I’m the only one Getting Things Done® around here.

I apologized to teen (husband had since abandoned us for work), so as we drove in I called my husband.

(Now that I think about it, I called him using the bluetooth speaker that he purchased and put in the van for me, and taught me to use, so I guess I’m not the only one Getting Things Done®. )

I half-apologized by telling him I was sorry for being “too efficient,” but things do need to be done, after all! He smilingly said, “You know, I was thinking after you left that I can be frustrating, too.”

We both burst out laughing, and I thought, yes, you’re annoying when you’re spending time “being present” with people instead of Getting Things Done®. But I realized I’m glad for my Martha ways, and also glad that my husband (and others in my life) “choose the better part” by their “live in the moment” ways.

[[And so you might be thinking that this is going to be a reflection on the Mary/Martha, and how I need to be less like Martha and more like Mary. But it’s not.

I like Getting Things Done®, and I like being efficient, I just want to do so without yelling at my most beloved within 10 minutes of getting home from Mass. Is that too much to ask?

And—if you recall from Scripture (John 11)—it was Martha, NOT Mary, who came out to greet Jesus after Lazarus died (while Mary stayed behind), and tells him

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

And Martha, not her sister Mary, is the one who said to Jesus,

“Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.”

So, yeah, if being a Martha means I can have that kind of faith, I’ll stick with Martha.]]

Anyway, on the drive to school, the radio had a piece about why husbands & wives shouldn’t have different checking accounts, and an interesting in-van discussion ensued. I said I didn’t agree, necessarily, although in our family all the accounts are joint. The main thing was for the husband and wife to agree in general on how to spend money, and for both to know in general where money was held. I was happy to talk about my role as CFO of our family, since I love… all together now… Getting Things Done®.

“And it’s helpful that Dad and I basically have the same ideas of being frugal,” I said.

After a pregnant pause, the teen said, “Once, Daddy bought me a $6 bottle of water, and he wouldn’t let me keep the bottle because he didn’t want you to find out.”

More laughter ensued (it was a “special occasion,” she said), and I told her of course every once in a while a $6 water bottle could be fun, and better to tell me straight out, because I will find out. And next time, $1 for the bottle of water, and $5 for college.

But secretly, I laughed that the two of them are making happy subversive memories at my frugal expense. As Mr. Bennet (one of my least favorite characters in Pride & Prejudice, but he does get an awful lot of good lines), said, “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

When we got to school, some larger vehicle (driven by a very nice but well-coiffed and cutely dressed mom, and me in my sweaty running gear, feeling jealous) was stuck in the drop-off driveway in the ice that had formed over yesterday’s slushy snow melt. We were several cars back, but after watching her try for a while, I told the teens, we need to get out and push that car. Me, Getting Things Done®, again.

So after retrieving the ice melt I had in the back of the minivan for just this purpose (and glad I had earlier this winter been Getting Things Done® by keeping the van well-stocked), another parent and I helped a group of teens push the vehicle into freedom.

I quipped to another mom in a car as I headed back to mine, “Well, that’s the last time I’ll come to drop-off in sweaty running clothes” which is actually a lie, because I undoubtedly will (but you have to picture me in wild hair, fleecy top, running capris, bare legs, and goofy low-boots I had thrown on. I was a fright).

As I drove home by myself, I pondered it all. Getting Things Done® and not getting things done, and being present, and laughing at one another, and how much I love my family and how different we all are and how much that drives me crazy.

I suddenly recalled a recent piece by Anna Nussbaum Keating in America magazine about the college “hook-up” culture, and how much I grieve for the young women (and yes, men, but mostly women) who think that getting ahead and hooking up while accruing money and prestige is normative. I truly feel heartsick to read these kinds of stories, and have so much to say but this is already getting long and I am nearing time when I need to go back to real life and Get Things Done®. This longish quote from it was powerful:

“In a detached environment, the message from the church sounds impossibly strange, and yet it is one worth remembering: It is not unambitious to want to have a good marriage or close friendships or to get along with one’s family or know one’s neighbors. It is, in fact, extremely ambitious. People do not accidentally have harmonious relationships, any more than they accidentally become secretary of state. They put in the hours, and their practices become their habits and their habits become their virtues and their virtues become their lives. (emphasis mine)”

Yes, what she said.

Just to clarify, having harmonious relationships doesn’t mean you have to be a mostly-at-home mom, like I am, or you have to be the Secretary of State (not that there’s anything wrong with that), or that you have to be married or single.

But it does mean you have to work, really work, on relationships—true relationships, not hook-ups—and be intentional and sacrificial and vulnerable. And you can’t just turn on that switch after years of acting a different way, though certainly time, therapy and prayer can help turn things around.

It means you have to be healthy emotionally and spiritually, or at least working on being those. It means sometimes you have to Get Things Done® and sometime you have to just be. It means a ton of grace and a ton of prayer (including Mass, with or without yelling afterwards), praying always, and it’s so, so worth it.

Deep thoughts for this topic, mostly to myself:

1.  Getting Things Done® is not all good, and it’s not all bad.

2. Yelling at your loved ones within 10 minutes of returning from Mass is NOT good.

3. Subterfuge is futile. The family CFO will find out about all extravagant purchases, even $6 water bottles made with cash, even if you destroy the evidence.

4.  “People do not accidentally have harmonious relationships, any more than they accidentally become secretary of state.”

5.  Practice makes perfect. Keep practicing.

(Linking up here with Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Twitterature, not because I’ve written “short,” but because this post shares some of the books–Persuasion, Getting Things Done,  Scripture–that I’ve been reading.)

“The Faithful Traveler in the Holy Land” Tonight!

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My blogging has been seriously light of late.  That means a busy and full life off-line, and actually a ton of reading, that I wish I could get onto here as well.  I have some great ideas as we head towards Lent, so stayed tuned.

While I hope that the approach of Lent will help me get back into a groove blogging-wise, I wanted to highlight a show that will be premiering tonight on EWTN, “The Faithful Traveler in the Holy Land.”

Faithfultraveler

I have been a fan of Diana von Glahn, the face behind “The Faithful Traveler” series, since way back when she had a series of US-based travel shows that featured Catholic pilgrimage locations, primarily along the East Coast.  We DVRd it back then, and my husband and I (and sometimes our kids) would watch one every so often and really enjoy it.

(True confession/rant here: Much later, I discovered when going through a spam folder that Diana had actually e-mailed me to review that first series in advance of it coming out.  I was so sad! And it just annoyed me to no end that I still don’t have a good system for keeping up with e-mail.  I’ve just resigned myself to being as good as I possibly can with it, and not getting too annoyed at missed things–like this!–in the past. True confession over).

So I was very excited to read in the EWTN newsletter that Diana and Dave von Glahn, the husband-wife team behind “The Faithful Traveler”  had a new series premiering on The Holy Land.  It airs tonight and every night this week on EWTN, and can be streamed on the website here.

Those who know me well in real life will know that one big goal I have for our family is to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land sometime before our kids are all grown up.

My husband Joseph and I are  members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and the daily requirement of being in EOHSJ is to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”  One of the lifetime requirements is to make a Holy Land pilgrimage.   Since I was pregnant with our youngest child when we were instituted, we haven’t made our pilgrimage yet.  So watching this series will be a good way to go on a virtual pilgrimage right away, and inspire us to begin our planning for it.

I tell people from time to time that I’m saving pennies so that  we can go on a pilgrimage with Steve & Janet Ray of Footprints of God Pilgrimages.  And I still think that may be our plan, but I was happy to see that the von Glahns are also hosting a pilgrimage this summer.  I know this summer won’t work out for our family’s schedule, but I hope they continue to offer Holy Land pilgrimages.

In the meantime, over the next few nights we will be watching what I expect will be an excellent series about the Holy Land.   And to the von Glahns, know that I am a big fan of your work!

Have you made a Holy Land pilgrimage?   Any advice for me if you have?