Passion of Saint John the Baptist

Saint John the Baptist is an extremely important person in the history of Christianity. Saint John was the first person to recognize our Lord from within the womb:

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.

Luke 1:39-44

Saint John also Baptized Jesus in the Jordan. It is the First Luminous Mystery of the Rosary 

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:13-17

Besides Mary and Jesus, no one except Saint John the Baptist has the honor of having both his birth and death honored. He was the cousin of Jesus. Today is the fest of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. He was martyred by beheading because he spoke the truth of Jesus and spread it.

Today we have a pretty busy schedule so we will be making a special dinner to celebrate today but that's about it. We have football practice, a soccer game and homework to complete. If you are able to spend some extra time enjoying the feast day, check out some of the following activities. 

Activities to celebrate today:

Check out Net Art for several different options for coloring pages.

Saint John the Baptist ate grasshoppers and honey so creating a honey dish or treat would be appropriate or a grasshopper parfait. We are making Honey Sesame Chicken for dinner tonight. 

Pray the Luminous Mysteries with special reflection on the Baptism of Jesus.

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken:

2-3 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1/2 Cup Honey 

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce 

1/4 Cup Red Pepper (diced)

1/4 Cup Onion (diced)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil 

2 Tsp Cornstarch 

3 Tbsp Water 

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp Ground Ginger

1 Tsp Coriander

Pinch Red Pepper Flake

Sesame Seeds

Place chicken breasts into the crock pot. Mix together honey, soy sauce, minced garlic, onion, red pepper, red pepper flake, ginger, coriander and olive oil together in a bowl to create a sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cook on Low for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken from the sauce and shred. While chicken is out of the sauce, mix water and cornstarch together. Pour the cornstarch into the slow cooker until smooth. Cook on High until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the shredded chicken back into the sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and sauce mixture. Serve over rice with a green vegetable. 

Prayer for Saint John the Baptist:

O God, You raised up St. John the Baptist to prepare a perfect person for Christ.

We call upon St John’s intercession to properly prepare us with a true sense of repentance 

to receive Your grace and salvation.

Make us faithful to truth and justice, as You did Your servant,

John the Baptist, herald of Your Son’s birth and death.

Lord, may You increase Your life within us.

Amen.

I hope you and your families are enjoying celebrating the Passion of Saint John the Baptist today. It has just started to rain and hail pretty hard here. The cool air is blowing in from the mountains. I think I may sit out on the patio and just have a few moments of quiet to regroup. I would love to hear about your family traditions and activities for the day.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us!

Transfiguration: A Fruitful Feast

The Feast of the Transfiguration today! The Transfiguration is the 4th Luminous Mystery of the Rosary. It is best described by a passage from the book of Mathew:

Matthew 17:1-8
And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. 

And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 

And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him. 

And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not. And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead

It was a custom to bless grapes on this day but now the blessing has been extended to any fruit. The symbolism of blessing fruit is to illustrate the "fruitfulness" of all creation in heaven. In Rome the Pope will use new wine at Mass and they bless raisins. Obviously this makes drinking a glass or two of wine a great way to celebrate today as well! 

Blessing of Fresh Fruit:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord, bless + this new fruit of the vineyard, which in your benevolence you have ripened by heavenly dew, an abundance of rainfall, gentle breezes, and fair weather; and have given us to use with gratitude in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. 

All: Amen.

(Sprinkle fruit with holy water.)

I thought it would be fun to bless some of our fresh fruit and then have the boys help make some delicious fruit salad for a mid morning snack but the boys thought having a "holy" smoothie would be better. I am preparing Chicken Walnut Craisin Stuffing Casserole for dinner (you can make it with raisins but we prefer craisins in this house).  We are also enjoying it with pecans instead of walnuts because I allowed my kids to "help" grocery shop and that's what we bought instead. Raisin Bread or Oatmeal Raisin cookies would make a great treat too.

Chicken Walnut Craisin Stuffing Casserole: 

Serves 4-6

2-3 Large Chicken Breasts (Sliced in half)

4-6 Slices of Provolone Cheese (One for each half of chicken)

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Onion (diced)

1/2 Cup Green Pepper (diced)

1/4 Cup Celery (diced)

2 Cups Stuffing Mix

1/4 Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup Craisins
1/2 Cup Crushed Walnuts 

1/4 Cup Melted Butter

1 Tbsp Garlic

1 Tbsp Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large Casserole dish. Season the chicken with garlic and pepper and place the halved chicken breasts into the dish. When you half the chicken it allows it to cook faster and helps you use less meat in the recipe. It's one of a few ways I stretch the meats in my house and save a little extra money. Place a piece of Provolone cheese on each half of the chicken breast. Sprinkle the diced onion, green pepper and celery over the chicken next. Combine the Cream of Chicken and chicken broth together to create a gravy and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Finally layer the chicken with stuffing mix, craisins, walnuts and melted butter. Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes.

You can always top this with french fried onions and extra (shredded) cheese the last 10 minutes of baking to add a little extra texture! Serve with a vegetable of your choice. I am serving my casserole with broccoli.

Other Activities that I think would be appropriate would be visiting a Butterfly Garden or creating your own Butterfly Garden. The Transfiguration is described as a metamorphosis and butterflies are a great symbol of that. There is a garden at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. That great membership is coming in handy! Do to the weather our visit to the Butterfly was postponed. When we move further up north there is a Butterfly Pavilion I can't wait to visit.

An hour or Adoration would be great too. Check out this great post by Look to Him and be Radiant about children at Adoration. It includes a printable! Creating a beautiful rosary hanger to hold your rosary would be a fun and memorable craft or even coloring pictures of the Luminous Mysteries to display. Holy Heroes is also offering some online trivia and audio of the 4th Luminous mysteries. There is a Coloring Page too. Since today is Saturday, it is traditional that the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosaries are recited. In honor of the Transfiguration of Jesus, the boys and I will be meditating on the Luminous mysteries tonight.