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.

The Rosary

 October is the month of the Rosary, so I thought I would have the students make an edible rosary.  While I am explaining to them the parts of the Rosary, they can put the rosary together and then eat their finished product. 
The development of the rosary has a long history.  First, a practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms.  Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys.  Soon a mystery of Jesus' life was attached to each Hail Mary.  In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the luminous mysteries to this devotion. 
The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation.  The main focus is on Jesus-his birth, life, death and resurrection.
The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus' Father is the initiator of salvation.  The Hail Marys remind us tp join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries.  They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and haevenly existence.  The Glorys remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity. 

I used fondant to make the Our Father beads, the Cross and the trinity connector.  I used a kabob skewer to make the holes.  For the Hail Mary beads I have candy beads, and I used dental floss to string it together.



Guardian Angel and St. Francis

Today we are sandwiched between two great Feast Days, the Feast of the Guardian Angels and the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
It should bring great comfort to all of us knowing that we have an angel who protects us from spiritual and physical dangers and assists us in doing good.  As long as I can remember have have been saying this prayer when I get up in the morning and before I go to sleep at night.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my Guardian dear,

To whom God's love commits me here,

Ever this day be at my side

To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen

St. Francis is one of the most loved Saints.  Most people look to him as a lover of animals, which he was, but he was also very giving to the poor.  He also recognized creation as another manifestation of the beauty of God.  In 1979 he was named patron of ecology.  I also pray his prayer every morning, in hopes that I could become more Christlike through his example.

PRAYER OF PEACE (ST. FRANCIS)

Lord make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred, Let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, Joy.

O Divine Master grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it is in dying that we are
Born to eternal life. Amen.

For my treat tonight I have guardian angel sugar cookies and green juice in honor of St. Francis.

Adam & Eve

God created Adam & Eve in his own image, and gave them the gifts of intellect and free will.  By their own free choice, Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit.  Because of their disobedience sin came into the world.
For my treat I have apple wedges sitting on top of peanut butter-caramel dip.  I topped the apple with a gummy worm to represent the serpent.

Creation Story

We begin the book of Genesis with the story of creation.  The creation story should remind us that God made man in His image and likeness and that he made all things good.  God also says we need to be good stewards of creation.
On the 3d day of creation God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit."  So I have fruit and vegetables for a snack.  On the 5th day God commanded, "Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings...", so I have gummy fish and whales for the students.  On the 6th day God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life...", so another treat is animal crackers.

Scripture Cookies

The theme of sixth grade religion is the study of the Old Testament and its meaning for Catholics.  To review with the students how to look up scripture, I have a Scripture Cookie recipe that is one of the student’s favorite activities.  Here is the recipe; I have included the answers for you:

Scripture Cookies

To find each ingredient look up the scripture reference and fill in the blank.  Some clues are subtle, so check the list of the ingredients on the bottom of the page before making each recipe.

1 cup __________ Psalm 55:21 (after churning)

2 cups __________ 1 Samuel 14:25

2 __________Isaiah 10:14

1 teaspoon each__________ 2 Chronicles 9:9 (several kinds)

2 cups __________ Leviticus 2:1

1 teaspoon  __________ Matthew  5:13

1 teaspoon  __________Leviticus 6:17 (modern cookie form)

3 cups__________ Proverbs 11:26 (one type)

1 cup __________ 1 Samuel  30:12 (optional)

1. Beat the first four ingredients together.

2. Mix in the remaining ingredients.

3. Drop by teaspoonful’s onto a greased cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for 15 minutes.

Answers:  1 cup butter (softened), 2 cups honey (I use sugar instead), 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla and cinnamon, 2 cups flour,1 teaspoon salt, 1teaspoon baking soda (leaven), 3 cups oats, 1 cup raisins.

Blessed Mother Teresa

Tonight begins another year of CCD and my14th year of teaching.  It is always exciting meeting the new students and sharing my love of The Catholic Faith with them.  It is also the feast of Blessed Mother Teresa, one of my most admired saints.
Mother Teresa has inspired millions with her extraordinary example of compassion and selfless work for the poor, the ill, and the outcast.  Born Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia.  In 1928 she said goodbye to her family for the last time, she entered the Loreto Sisters in Dublin to become a nun.  There she chose the name Teresa.  She was assigned to a high school for girls in Calcutta, where she taught history and geography to the daughters of the wealthy.
In 1946 she received "a call within a call" to leave the convent and help the poor while living with them.  So she left the Sisiters of Loretto and went to follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.
She started a new order, the Missionaries of the poor, in Calcutta, taking care of the poor and the sick.  Many of her former students joined her order.  In 1979 Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace prize.  On September 5, 1997, God called her home.  She was beatified on October 19, 2003 by Pope John Paul II.  She needs to have one more miracle done through her intercession to be canonized.
For my treat I have some naan bread, chicken curry, and rice krispy treats (signifying the rice she would have eaten).

I am the true vine

In the gospel for this Sunday Jesus tells us that He is the true vine and his Father is the vine grower.  He also tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches.  If we abide in Him we will bear much fruit, because without Jesus in our life we can do nothing.  I am serving grapes tonight to remind us that we need to bear fruit for God.
Tonight is our last class for the year and the end of my blog.  Have a very blessed summer!

Empty Tomb Cookies

I am so glad that the Easter Season last for 50 days because it gives me a chance to use many of the Easter ideas.  My treat for CCD is empty tomb cookies.  The story of how you make them is really cool so I am attaching the recipe.  We aren't making them in class, since I will not have them tomorrow morning when they are finished, but we will talk about how they were made.

Here is the recipe, Enjoy!

Empty Tomb Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup whole pecans, in a plastic baggie

1 teaspoon vinegar

3 egg whites

1 pinch salt

1 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees--you MUST do it now. Also, gather a cooking mallet, kitchen mixer, masking tape and Bible.

Read John 19:1-3 ~ Jesus was beaten for our sins; beat the nuts with a cooking mallet; set aside.

Read John 19:28-30 - Jesus drank something like vinegar (gall), sniff the fragrance, dip finger in and taste, too; place the vinegar in a mixing bowl.

Read John 10:10-11 - Egg whites symbolize Jesus' holy, innocent life; add whites to the bowl with the vinegar.

Read Luke 23:27 - the bitter tears of the women; taste a few grains, remember your own sins; add the salt to the bowl.

Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 - Sweet salvation! Taste and see; add to the bowl.

Crank up the mixer and let it go while you read from Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3; let the mixer go for about 12-15 MINUTES; this needs to be VERY stiff!

Read Matthew 27:57-60 - Fold the nuts into the egg-sugar mixture; this symbolizes the rocks in the garden.  Using a scoop or knife & spoon, drop by spoon into mounds (to resemble a rocky tomb); put into the oven and turn it OFF!

Read Matthew 27:65-66 - The tomb is sealed; use two pieces of tape (5-6 inches long) to "seal" the door edges (symbolically).

Read John 16:20 & 22 - Consider these passages, then go to bed!

NEXT MORNING: Read Matthew 28:1-9 - Jesus is risen! Behold--the empty tomb! Unseal the oven door, take out the cookies, break or bite one in half -- it should be hollow inside---empty---just like the Tomb!

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Serpent on a Pole

The Israelites are almost ready to move into the Promised land, but before they do, they once more complain  about Moses and God.  To punish the people God sends seraph serpents which bite them and cause death.  The Israelites repent of their sin and ask God to heal them.  God instructs Moses to make a pole and put a serpent on the pole.  When the Israelites look at the serpent on the pole, with faith, they are healed of their snake bites.  The serpent on the pole prefigures Jesus on the cross, Jesus heals us of our sins.

My thought for the treat was a good thought, but the finished product did not turn out as well as I had hoped it would.  I made soft pretzel crosses and hoped to find gummy serpents but could only find gummy worms to tie on the cross with licorice.  The students did enjoy the soft pretzels and gummy worms even if they did not look so good.

Seder Meal

Every year during Holy week I host a Seder meal for their class.  Here are the symbolic foods that we had for our Meal:

Four cups of wine; The cup of Sanctification, The cup of plagues, The cup of Blessing, and The cup of Praise

Parsley-The Passover holidays come in the spring, when the earth turns green with new life. Only God can create life and keep it alive. This green parsley is the sign of life.

Salt water-while the Israelites were still slaves in Egypt, their life was miserable. The salt water stands for their tears.

Matzoh (in the white cloth) -On all other nights the Israelites ate any kind of bread, but on Passover they ate matzoh, unleavened bread. When their ancestors left Egypt, they were in such a hurry they didn't have time to let their dough rise. Instead, the baked it flat. The Scriptures tell us that leaven is a symbol of sin.

Horseradish (bitter herbs)- to remember how bitter life was for their ancestors in Egypt.

Haroset-The Israelites worked very hard to make brick and clay to build cities for Pharaoh. They remember this in a mixture called haroset, made from apples, cinnamon, honey and nuts.

Lamb shank-This bone stands for the lamb whose blood on the Israelite houses was a sign to God. The blood will show their obedience; when God saw the blood, he passed over them and no plague  touched  them when God punished Egypt.

Egg-traditional offering brought to the Temple on feast days.The egg is now a symbol of mourning, reminding us of the destruction of the holy temple in Jerusalem.  The hardness of the shell also reminds us of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart.

Group picture before our celebration.

The Easter Story

While I am babysitting my grandchildren in Columbus, Judy my sub is showing "The Easter Story" to my students.  I have pretzels and flavored water for them to snack on while watching the movie.

Pretzels have been around since the time of the Roman Empire.  Because they are made from a mixture of flour, salt, and water, pretzels were considered an ideal Lenten food.

Pretzels are said to have been first made by monks, who twisted long, thin strips of dough into a shape that looked like praying arms.  Thus, pretzels were first called bracellae, or “little arms.”  Some traditions say that the small twist in the middle of the pretzel represents a child’s arms, while the encircling part of the pretzel is the parent’s arms.  The three holes formed with this type of twist represent the Trinity.

For a long time, pretzels were considered strictly Lenten fare.  In some cities, pretzels were distributed to the poor during Lent.  In other places, pretzels were sold by street vendors, and eaten with beer or soup.  In Austria, pretzels were suspended from palm branches on Palm Sunday, for passersby to pluck and eat.

Pretzels come in many shapes and have very simple ingredients.  The ingredients of pretzels are ones that are easily found and yet have a story far beyond what we see.  People are often the same way.  Frequently we look at the outside and fail to see who they are beyond their surface appearance.

Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey

After wandering in the dessert for a year, Moses sends 12 spies, one spy from each tribe to scout out the land of Canaan.  After scouting out the land for forty days the spies returned with a huge bunch of grapes and some figs and pomegranates.  The spies told Moses the land was flowing with milk and honey. 

Even though the people knew the land was prosperous and that God had been with them through their wandering they were fearful of the people living in Canaan, they wanted to return to Egypt.  God became very upset with the Israelites and wanted to destroy them.  Because Moses interceded for the people God did not destroy the Israelites but told them they would have to wander in the dessert for forty years before they could enter the Promised Land.

For the students treats I had fresh grapes and pomegranates and milk and honey ice cream.

Manna in the desert

As the Israelites are traveling to the Promised Land, Canaan, they do a lot of complaining.  One of their complaints were they are sick of the desert food, they think they want to back to Egypt where they had plenty of food.  God tells them He will send them quail in the evening and manna  in the morning.
The manna looked like little coriander seeds which the Israelite's ground up to make cakes.  In the book of Wisdom it says that the manna delighted everyone, no matter what his taste.  If you were craving sweet it tasted sweet if you craved salty it tasted salty.
The Israelites were instructed to only gather enough for one day except for the day before the Sabbath, then they were to gather enough for 2 days so they could be free to celebrate the Lord's day.  God was testing them to see if they would trust him to provide for them. 

So for my treat I made applesauce muffins.

Queen Esther

I  am having a sub next week while I go on a Culinary vacation to Napa, California.  I chose the video of Queen Esther for the sub to play for the class.

The story of Esther takes place during the reign of the King Ahasuerus of Persia.  Queen Vashti was disobedient to the King so he had her removed from the throne.  When the king was searching for her replacement he found a Hebrew girl named Esther who became the new Queen, the king did not know she was a Hebrew. 

Shortly afterwards Esther’s uncle Mordecai, discovered a plot by Haman to kill all of the Hebrews.  Mordecai asked Esther to appeal to the King to save the Hebrews.  Esther fasted and prayed before approaching the King.  Esther planned a banquet for the King and Haman; during the banquet Esther told the King of Hamans plan to kill the Hebrew people.  The king had Haman hanged for his plans.  The Jewish people have a Feast of Purim to celebrate how Esther saved their lives.

My treat for the students are Pepperidge Farms Verona cookies because they are a sweet rich cookie much like a cookie served at Purim.  I also have juice for them to drink.

Lent

It's hard to believe that Lent begins next week. For the students treat this week they recieved 40 oyster crackers symbolizing 40 days of lent.  The oyster crackers are plain and flavorless, just as our lives should be during lent.  They also contain no sugar, dairy or eggs and in the old traditions all of those things needed to be eliminated from our diets during lent. 

Passover

Tonight we begin our unit on Moses.  Each year that teach about Moses I gain more respect for him.  He is becoming my favorite old Testament character.  Tonight we will start at the beginning of the story of Exodus, from the birth of Moses through the 10 plagues.  The final plague was the death of the first born son.  The Israelites were instructed to kill a lamb, pour the blood of the lamb on their doorpost so God would pass over their house and not kill the firstborn son.  The Israelites had to prepare their food in a hurry, so their bread did not have time to rise.  God later tells the Israelites to celebrate Passover each year to remind them of how he saved the Israelites from the Egyptians.  Fast forward to the New Testament and it was the night of Passover that Jesus, who is the perfect lamb who  shed his blood for us, instituted the Eucharist.
I made unleavened bread and served grape juice with it to my students.

Our Lady of Guadalupe



Last week I was on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, so I thought I would have my sub show the movie of Juan Diego and talk about the imagery of the Tilma. 

According to Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady asked him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He told the local Bishop who asked for proof in exchange.

Juan Diego went back later and saw the lady again. He told her that the bishop wanted proof, and she instructed Juan Diego to go to the mountain top, where he found roses, which were native to the Bishop's hometown and could not possibly bloom during wintertime. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his apron-like tilma and returned to the bishop; an imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the tilma from the residue of the soil and roses.

Today, the icon is displayed in the nearby Basilica of Guadalupe, now one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.  My mother in-law was lucky enough to see the Tilma when she was vacation in Mexico.  She said the pilgrims climbed the steps on their knees to show their respect for the Tilma. 

The students enjoyed served salsa and chips while they watched the movie.

Joseph the Dreamer

The story of Joseph tells about God's providence in our life and it also tells how the Israelites ended up in Egypt.  Joseph was Jacobs favorite son since he was the first son by his favorite wife Rachel.  Joesph's brothers were very jealous of him and sold him to caravan heading to Egypt for 20 pieces of silver.
While Joseph was living with Potiphar, Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of attacking her, so Joseph was put into prison.  Pharaoh's cupbearer and chief baker were also put into prison with Joseph.  Both men had dreams that they could not understand.  They told Joseph their dream and Joseph told them the meaning of each dream.  In the cupbearer's dream, he saw a vine with three braches filled with grapes.  He picked the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup.  He put the cup into Pharoah's hand.  Joseph said the meaning of his dream was that in three days he would be released from prison and again be cupbearer for the Pharoah.
The baker's dream was similar, he was carrying three baskets and in the top one were baked goods for Pharoah.  Birds were pecking at the baked goods.  The interpretation of his dream was that in three days Pharoah would hang him.
Three days later the events happened just as Joseph said they would.  Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he talks to the Pharoah.
After some time Pharoah had dreams that he did not understand and the cuobearer told him about Joseph.  The meaning of Pharoah's dreams were that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.  Joesph told Pharoah that he needed to put someone in charge of all the grain.  The Pharoah chose Joesph to be in charge.
There were indeed seven years of plenty then came the famine.  The famine went so far as to effect Joseph's family, who came to Egypt to but grain.  They did not recognize Joseph but Joseph recognized them.  Joseph finally revealed himself to his family and asked them to come to live in Egypt.
So for my treat I have sweet rolls and juice to symbolize the wine.  Joseph was falsely accused and hated by his brothers, but God rewarded him and provided for all his needs.

Fishers of Men

In last weeks Gospel from John we heard how Jesus called Andrew and Simon Peter.  This weeks Gospel is from Mark and he tells how Jesus calls Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples.  The two sets of brothers are fisherman and Jesus tells them that he will make them fishers of men.  So my treat tonight is Swedish fish. 
Just as Jesus calls ordinary fisherman to be his disciples He calls us to also be His disciples.  There is not a profession that God cannot use to make a difference in the world.

Peter-Cephas

Last weekend the church celebrated Epiphany and Monday was The Feast of The Baptism of Our Lord.  The church now begins Ordinary Time and the Liturgical color is green. Jesus is ready to begin His ministry.  John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God."  The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.  The two disciples of John were Andrew and his brother Simon Peter.  Jesus said to Simon Peter, "You are Simon son of John; you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter and means rock.")   So for my treat I served rock candy.

Baptism of Jesus

Next Monday is the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, so my treat tonight is shell shaped shortbread's.  When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the voice of the Father thundered "You are my beloved child.  With you I am well pleased."  God our Father also echoes those same words to us.  I pray that you would feel the love of God in your ordinary or your hectic day.