Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today's Feast day is my favorite of the Marian Feast Day's.  Our lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the America's both the North and the South.  She is also the Patroness of the unborn.  My mother in-law was privileged enough to see the actual tilma and she was just amazed at the reverence the Mexican people had toward the tilma.
Mary's appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all peoples.  In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans.  While a number of them had converted before this incident, they now came in droves.  According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time.  In these days when we hear so much about God's preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God's love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the gospel itself.
In class we are going to have chips and salsa while watching a video of Juan Diego.

St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age.  Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man's window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married.  Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint's feast.  In the English-speaking countries, Saint Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus-further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

I have little pouches of butterscotch disc for a treat, representing the bags of gold.

Advent wreath cookies

Advent begins this Sunday and since most families have an Advent wreath in their home, I thought I would make Advent wreath cookies and talk about their meaning.  The candles are edible, I colored some fondant and formed the fondant around toothpicks.  Have a very Blessed and Prayerful Advent!

The Advent Wreath

The wreath's symbolism of the advent (coming) of Light into the world is clear. The gradual lighting of the four candles, one on each Sunday of the Advent season, combined with the liturgical colors of the candles (purple is the penitential color used during Advent; rose is a liturgical color used only on Gaudete Sunday in Advent) help to symbolize not only our expectation and hope in Our Savior's first coming into the world, but also in his Second Coming as Judge at the end of the world.

THE MEANING
1st CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF HOPE"
We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises he made to us. Our hope comes from God. (Romans 15:12-13)

2nd CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF PREPARATION"
Preparation means to 'get ready'. "Help us to be ready to welcome YOU, O GOD!" (Luke 3:4-6)

3rd CANDLE- (pink) "CANDLE OF JOY"
The angels sang a message of JOY! (Luke 2:7-15)

4th CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF LOVE" 
God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us! (John 3:16-17)

Men of Faith

There are so many men of faith I could spend years telling there stories, but tonight we are going to talk about the men who will be represented on the Jesse tree, in December. Here they are:

Adam-The First Man
Noah-and the Flood
Abraham-Man of Faith
Isaac-The Victim
Jacob-The Man Who Wrestled With God
Joseph-The Favorite Son
Moses-The Liberator
David-The Chosen King
Joseph-Foster Father of Jesus
John-the Baptist
Jesus-The Son of God

For my treat I have caramel apple suckers from the story of Adam and Eve.  I also have rainbow jello jigglers from the story of Noah.   Read all about these great men in your bible.

Feast of All Saints and All Souls

As a Church, we dedicate November to remembering our faithful departed.  We pray for all those awaiting entrance into heaven, and ask that God give them the merits and prayers of other members of the Communion of Saints and welcome them into his presence.  With faith, we pray:

Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May they rest in peace.

Even as we pray for our deceased loved ones, so we should also ask them to pray with us.  Whether they are in heaven or purgatory, we trust that they will intercede for us.  Because they are his beloved sons and daughters in Christ, the Father will answer their prayers.

For my treat I have pudding cups topped with crushed Oreo cookies.  I garnished them with a ghost peep and pumpkin.  I cut-out R.I.P. designs and slid the spoon through them.

Woman of Faith

Here are some of the great women of the Bible:

Eve-The Mother of all the Living.

Sarah-The Mother of Israel

Deborah-The Judge of Israel

Ruth-The Righteous Gentile

Ruth is one of those people of exceptional character who did much more than what was expected of them.  Ruth was a Moabite who married an Israelite man.  Her father-in-law had died, so her mother-in-law was a widow.  When Ruth was 10 years married her husband and brother-in-law also died, leaving her mother-in-law alone with no family. 

Her mother-in-law, Naomi told her two daughter-in-laws to go back to their hometowns, and she was going to move back to Bethlehem where some family was still living.  One of the daughter-in-laws did go back to her family but Ruth stayed with Naomi, saying: Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people and your God my God. 

Ruth traveled with Naomi to Bethlehem where she worked in the fields of Naomi’s relatives.  She gleaned the grain (pick up the scattered grain after the harvesters).  Boaz saw her and inquired about her.  When Boaz found out what a courageous woman she was, he called her over and invited her to eat and drink with his hired men. 

Eventually Ruth and Boaz married and had a son, Obed, who became the grandfather of King David.  The story of Ruth tells us that we should not judge people by their race, nationality or color; rather we should look in their hearts.

For one of my treats, I have Triscuit crackers to symbolize the wheat that Ruth gathered.

Hannah-The Mother of Samuel

Esther-The Courageous Queen
The Jewish people have a Feast of Purim to celebrate how Esther saved their lives. The feast is very elaborate with rich foods, so I have Pepperidge Farms strawberry cookies for a treat for the students.

Judith-The Heroine

Mary-The Handmaid of the Lord
The second Eve, Mary, the mother of Jesus, brought life through her obedience to the call of God.

Feast Days of Mary

Catholics honor Mary and express their devotion to her throughout the year.  Here are some of the special feast days and a symbol for each of the feasts.

January 1, The Solemnity of Mary.  This feast praises Mary as Mother of God and mother of the Church.  My symbol is a noise maker that is used to ring in the New Year.

March 25, The Annunciation (Lk1:26-32)  The Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she would be God’s mother.  My symbol is a blue mint that says “It’s a boy!”  since Mary knew she was having a son.

May 31, The Visitation (Lk.1:39-45) Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth who is carrying John the Baptist in her womb.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within her.  Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said in a loud voice, “Yu are the most blessed of all woman, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  So for my symbol I have fruit snacks.

August 15, The Assumption of Mary.  Mary was taken body and soul, into heaven.  For my symbol I have cotton candy representing the cloud she was on as she entered heaven.

August 22, The coronation of Mary.  Mary is crowned  the Queen of heaven and earth.  My symbol is a crown sugar cookie with gold sprinkles.

September 8, The birth of Mary.  Mary has a birthday just like everyone else.  My symbol is angel food cake with blue icing.  The angel food cake represents purity and the blue icing royalty.

September 15, Our Lady of Sorrows.  Because Mary knows what it is like to suffer, she is honored as Our Lady of Sorrows.  My symbol is a pack of tissues, since we often cry and need a tissue when we are sad.

October 7, Our Lady of the Rosary.  Praying the rosary is a way to honor Mary.  My symbol is 59 pieces of Trix cereal for the 59 beads on a rosary.  I chose Trix cereal since rosary beads are usually round and come in multiple colors.

December 8, The Immaculate Conception.  This feast celebrates that Mary was free from Original and personal sin throughout her entire life.  My symbol is a white chocolate baby filled with marshmallow cream.