My Sunday Best: Zombies and Guitar Solos

Wow it has been awhile since I have had the time to linkup with My Sunday Best! I have missed this great linkup so much. It is always nice to reminisce on a great Sunday, especially like the one we had today! Religious education, a great homily about ZOMBIES (yes, you read that correctly, I'll share more later in this post) and Goalie rocking solos with his mini guitar he bought at the Dollar Tree. 

Here is a picture of what I wore today. Its not a great picture because I couldn't find the selfie-stick in the messy house so this was the best I could do today. White blouse, black leggings with a black skirt and black boots. It's been chilly in the mornings lately so I was bundled up!

I have volunteered to be a Catechist at our church and today was my second Sunday teaching Little Man's class. We are having a great time and I have some great ideas to really get the kids involved in their faith. As of right now, I have separated the class into teams and as we progress through lessons each team can earn points and I am keeping a running tally until the end of the religious education school year and the winning team will get a prize! Obviously I will be gifting all the kids something but the team with the most points will get something a little extra. If you are a fellow Catechist keep a look out for the upcoming My Sunday Best posts that I will try to share some ideas and teaching ideas that we can use throughout the year. I also wouldn't mind if you all have ideas or suggestions you would like to share with me!

After classes we headed straight to Mass. It came to my attention that Goalie snuck in his toy guitar he purchased at the Dollar Tree yesterday. When I say he snuck in his toy... he really did. My son put his toy inside his jacket and zipped it up and didn't unzip it until after Mass had started. I honestly didn't know what to do when I saw the guitar. I tried to get him to give it to me but then I triggered an emotional response of anger. Goalie struggles with his emotions so the only thing I could do was compromise. He could play the guitar while the songs were played but when it was "listening" time he had to put it in my purse. It worked pretty well and Goalie rocked out during the songs. He sang, dance and played his little guitar. Several people thought it was cute but I was on pins and needles all Mass hoping he wasn't disturbing anyone. 

To make Mass even more more exciting, our priest gave an amazing Homily today! He pulled the congregation into it by talking about Zombies. He explained that zombies are humans that have contracted a disease that makes their bodies numb. Numb to pain and possible loss of limbs (that was a joke). The body itself cannot work the way that it once had worked before. He then explained that this "zombie" virus works much like leprosy. One of the readings and the Gospel today discussed this disease. 

First Reading: Second Kings 5:14-17

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

The boys actually listened really well today... for obvious reasons. Zombies and Leprosy actually both spiked their interest because my boys like creepy things, like zombies and leprosy intrigues them because their Papa D's (Grandpa) name day saint is Saint Damien of Molokai.

I hope you all are enjoying this amazing day the Lord has made with your families! Time to clean and get ready for work for me tonight. I am enjoying the smell of chili in the slow cooker filling my home. 

God Bless!

St. Damien Hawaiian Luau

Saint Damien's feast is celebrated on May 10th. I recently began a new job and I am still getting acclimated to my new schedule so I have a few posts that should have been posted over a week ago. 

Sorry!

Saint Damien has a very special place in my families heart. Not only is he an amazing example of what a person who dedicates himself to serving God and others but He is my dad's patron saint. My dad is extraordinary. We were never close while I was growing up as a young child but as an adult we have become very close. He has been a fighting force for me while I have battled several trials through my adult life... An abusive marriage, learning to be self sufficient again and being there for his two grandsons. My dad is a great example of someone who never gives up. Almost 5 years ago, he was in a motorcycle accident. A older man driving a truck hit my dad from the side while he was on his motorcycle. Since that accident, my dad has had to deal with immense physical hardships. He lost one of his legs, has had several surgeries to fix his hip, endured skin grafts and forgave a man who has never attempted to say sorry. This accident changed my dad's life. He can no longer work and still struggles with pain but he is always moving forward.

Saint Damien was a Belgium priest who was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii. He volunteered to help the people diagnosed with leprosy that were sent to the island of Molokai. He especially cared for the children of the community. He contradicted the disease himself and became a suffering servant and after 16 years of caring for those in the leper colony, He also died from the disease.

We are also close to the Hawaiian Saint because my husband is half Hawaiian and still has family living on the island. The customs are rich and the food is flavorful. Here are some pics from our Luau.

I hope you all enjoyed the feast of Saint Damien and I ask that you please say a small prayer for my dad, that he continues on his path of healing and that God may lead him to his next chapter in his life.

 

Damien, brother on the journey, happy and generous missionary, who loved the Gospel more than your own life, who for love of Jesus left your family, your homeland, your security and your dreams.

Teach us to give our lives with joy like yours, to be in solidarity with the outcasts of our world, to celebrate and contemplate the Eucharist as the source of our own commitment.

Help us to love to the very end and, in the strength of the Spirit, to preserve in compassion for the poor and forgotten so that we might be good disciples of Jesus and Mary.

Amen

Saint Damien, pray for us!

Hawaiian Luau

Today has been such a busy day! We started out with our first May Crowning and went to the Science Center for Little Man's last Field Trip of the school year. To end the day we had a Family Hawaiian Luau in honor of Saint Damien of Molokai, which is my one of my dad's Patron Saints. Saint Damien is such an admirable saint. He endured physical and mental sufferings in order to bring the lepers closer to God. In the end, he contradicted the painful disease and died.

Today's feast is a little more special for my dad because he is suffering from physical ailments at this particular time. For those of you who don't know my family personally, my father was in a motorcycle accident in June of 2011. A truck hit him from the side and he was not wearing his helmet and was life flighted to Sacred Heart Hospital. By God's grace, he survived with a serious head injury broken hip and he tore his heel from his foot. Extreme road rash covered the left side of his body and was skin-graphed. We are so grateful that my father is still here with us and I will always remember when I received the call about his accident. It was the scariest moment of my life. Even though it has almost been a year, he is unable to walk without the assistance of a walker and is in extreme pain. I ask anyone who reads this post to please pray for him and his recovery. In addition for prayers to my father, I ask that you also pray for the man who hit my dad while he was driving his truck. We have never heard from him since the accident, but I am sure that the guilt he must carry with him is heavy on his heart and it must be unbearable at times. Pray that he can forgive himself and feels God's forgiveness. If you are interested in learning some prayers to Saint Damien, you can find them here and below.Tomorrow EWTN will be praying for my father as well, so please keep on your mind and say a few more prayers for his recovery please and thank you in advance.

Here are some pictures from our Hawaiian Luau in honor of Saint Damien of Molokai and my dad.

I love how Squishy looks likes hes doing the Hula in this picture! Little Man was super excited to wear his authentic Hawaiian shirt from our close family friend, Donna and her mother. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends in the lives of our children.

We bought these beautiful leis from the Dollar Tree to finish our outfits.

Our Hawaiian Luau consisted of Brown-sugar glazed ham cooked in the crock pot, Sweet potatoes with cinnamon and nutmeg, fresh garden salad, pineapple upside-down cake and virgin pina coladas (not pictured because I forgot). I think it turned out pretty well, no one left hungry. I am planning on making a traditional Hawaiian breakfast next year (time did not allow this year) called Loco Moco. I would make it more a country twist with grits instead of rice, sausage/turkey patties instead of a hamburger and country gray not brown. I might try it out tomorrow and see how it turns out.  

This was the first pineapple upside-down cake I have ever baked and I am proud of how great it turned out. I let my parents take home half because there is no way we could eat all this cake and be able to have room for more this Sunday during our celebration for Mather's Day, our May Crowning and Our Lady of Fatima :o) Well I hope everyone enjoyed today and remember to tell your loved ones you love them. You never know what plans are in store for you and your family.

God Bless! 

St. Damien, brother on the journey,
Happy and generous missionary,
who loved the Gospel more than your life,
who for love of Jesus left your family,
your homeland, your security, your dreams,

Teach us to give our lives
with a joy like yours,
to be in solidarity with the outcasts of the world,
to celebrate and contemplate the Eucharist
as the source of our commitment.

Help us to love to the very end
and, in the strength of the Spirit,
to persevere in compassion
for the poor and forgotten
so that we might be
good disciples of Jesus and Mary.

Amen

Saint Damien, pray for us!