Over at Catholic Cuisine

Hi there! Didn't mean to step away for a break. I don't really have a good reason, except… life. Anyway, just wanted to point you over to Catholic Cuisine where you can read about our plans to celebrate the feast of Saint John Paul II today (and Miss Cupcake's baptismal anniversary) with a delicious Polish meal of kielbasa and cabbage served over mashed potatoes and Piernik for dessert, a spiced honey bread which made my house smell amazing when it was baking this morning.

John Paul II, we love you! Please pray for us.

St. John Paul II

This is for those of us without a story...

I've been seeing everyone's pictures and reading their beautiful tributes to the man that we all know now as St. John Paul II but who will always fondly be remembered as just JPII.

I don't have a story. Or rather... I do. But it's just an ordinary one.

I went to Rome for a semester during my sophomore year in college. It was in the spring (Spring Romers rule!) and it was probably the most important part of my college career, after meeting my husband. In vague generalities, it showed me what another part of the world looked like and how different people lived. While we were there, the school arranged for us all to attend one of the Pope's regular Wednesday audiences. We showed up, sat in a huge auditorium and waited while the Holy Father made his way down the center aisle turning side to side as he went. Just about the time he passed the section we were sitting, he turned towards the opposite side of the aisle and I snapped this picture.

Check out all the early 90's tech on display!

This was the closest I ever got to him. And it wasn't even this close because I had a zoom lens. I never saw the twinkle in his eye. I never heard the encouragement of his voice stir my soul. I never felt his words or his touch or his blessing set my faith on fire. And yet, I cried like a baby the day he died. It never occurred to me until that moment that he was the only pope I'd ever known. The. Only. Pope.

It wasn't until he was gone that I realized what a quiet figure he had been. Not a tower of strength and support because I didn't pay attention like that. Not an spiritual icon to be loved and revered because I was pretty clueless. I can't credit a specific occasion with having affected my life profoundly... I guess it was just the slow and steady culmination of his teaching and example... of just being there for so long. He didn't knock me off my horse. There was no specific moment of conversion/reversion inspired directly by him. He had just always been there.

Until he wasn't.

What is that proverb? "You never know what you've got till it's gone." That was me. When I realized that my children would not know him, would never meet him, would probably not even remember him. I wept.

So, that's my story.
JPII, I do love you.

A Pillow Doll Giveaway!

Apparently, I need better lighting when I embroider. Or glasses. Probably both now that I think about it. It wasn't until I was finishing this doll that I noticed I had accidentally grabbed the variegated red, not the solid color red. See how the left side of his cape is lighter than the right side? Don't worry if you can't. My color blind husband can't either, but I can. Since I don't feel like I can sell this one in the shop, I'm offering it here as a giveaway.

You can enter below using the Rafflecopter entry widget for a chance or multiple chances to win this little Blessed (soon to be Saint) John Paul II Pillow Doll. The giveaway closes Thursday night at 11:59pm so I can get the doll in the mail to the winner on Friday. 

If you don't want to wait until the giveaway closes, there is one JPII doll in the shop right now. I plan on putting the shop on vacation starting April 6th so, if you'd like to place an order for anything over there for Easter, please keep that deadline in mind. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simple celebrations: Bl. John Paul II

How excited are we to get to celebrate today? Very!!! But nobody is in the mood for a treat so we will save our Kremówka Papieska for another day. We did read over the Office of Readings for the day. Right now, our JPII roses are blooming like crazy and are producing the biggest blooms we have ever seen. This is a picture of Shortcake's hands holding the biggest blossom...

Good Shepherd Garden Party :: Week One

 Yesterday was the Octave Day of Easter, St. Thomas Sunday, Low Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, and also the beatification day of Pope John Paul II not to mention the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. Whew! It was also our first Good Shepherd Garden Party! We pared down some of the menu items, preferring to combine a few items in favor of streamlining. Saturday was a busy day with golf lessons, the Community Garden official opening celebration and a piano recital so Sunday needed to be a much simpler day. The beautiful 50 degree rainy weather made it a day to enjoy at home, tucked under a blanket with the windows open. Our Garden Party finished off the weekend perfectly! Head over to Catholic Cuisine for the link-up!

Unfortunately, our overcast skies were not conducive to picture taking. It's a little blurry.

Here are some closeups with better lighting:

 I made mini shepherd's pies with a biscuit crust and shepherds crooks on top. They were filled with some leftover garlic chicken and cheese. This is proof that I am not Martha Stewart perfect! 

The kids wondered why some of their pies had slugs on them.

 A bowl of mashed potatoes to represent the sheep in the sheepfold. (My kids didn't want the potatoes on top of their shepherd's pies so we put them on the side.)

 This also represented the gate, the sheepfold, the ewe, ram and lamb. Streamlined, didn't I tell you! The children enjoy building their own graham cracker gates at the table, so this one was just for show.

 Wolf's Paw cookies ~ yet again, I could not find the Voortman's Iced Almonettes even though I remember seeing them somewhere around here.

To celebrate the beatification of our beloved Pope John Paul II, we made an easy version of his favorite childhood dessert which is now called Kremówka Papieska, or Papal Cream Cake. It was delicious! Jessica has linked to several options over at Catholic Cuisine, but I made my own using store bought puffed pastry and a cream filling from another recipe. We spent the rest of dinner sharing our memories and stories of Blessed John Paul II with the children.

O Holy Trinity,
we thank you for having given to the Church
Pope John Paul II,
and for having made him shine with your fatherly tenderness,
the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love

He, trusting completely in your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary, has shown himself
in the likeness of Jesus the Good Shepherd
and has pointed out to us holiness
as the path to reach eternal communion with You.

Grant us, through his intercession,
according to your will, the grace that we implore,
in the hope that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.

We love you, dear Holy Father! Please intercede for us that we may more intimately know the Divine Mercy that you championed here on earth.