My Catholic Roots are showing -

Bethlehem, The City of the Nativity

December 11, 2018 1 Comment

We are now in the second week of Advent. This lit candle symbolizes Faith, reminding us of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.

When we travel to Israel we always make it a point to visit Bethlehem. Visiting Bethlehem has changed since early 2000’s, when the wall that separates the West Bank was erected. Many tourists do not want to bother with crossing the border due security issues. Believe it or not, some tourists visit Bethlehem because of the graffiti artwork on the wall. There are plenty of political messages, because this wall, which is not yet completed, is over 400 miles long. The most profound graffiti messages are found in larger cities like Bethlehem. The Walledoff Hotel is now a popular tourist site. Its popularity is due to its location in front of the graffiti artwork of Banksy, an artist and political activist who also happens to own the hotel.

Depending who you ask the wall is either a hindrance or a blessing. I know for a fact that it has hurt the the economy of the Palestinians, and separated families. To the Jews it has almost completely stopped the suicide bombing. It’s a paradoxical situation, and still no peace.

Graffiti , courtesy of Banksy (anonymous and infamous artist)

Bethlehem wall graffiti

At the security checkpoint, if our tour guide is Jewish, he/she can only bring us to the border. A Palestinian guide must take over the tour in a different bus. We must have our passports in hand because several Israeli soldiers with really huge rifles get on the bus to make sure we are who we say we are.

There is no shortage of the visible Israeli soldiers. They are at almost every point, most of them being in their early twenties. Men serve for three years and young women are required to serve their country for two years. You will not see any Israeli police or Israeli army personnel in Bethlehem, (unless it’s a raid), and many times as I have been there, I have never witnessed any Jewish authorities in this area.

The young and beautiful Israeli army

We visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, because the Church of the Nativity is the home of the original “Nativity.” This church was built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus. The Church of the Nativity is one the oldest functioning Christian churches in the world. It is by far one of the most interesting sites and a must see while visiting the Holy Land.

As you pass through the small opening to the main church, even I have to crouch to enter into this passage. This doorway was made small in order to prevent large animals from entering the church.

The Door to The Church of The Nativity

There is always a long wait, to go down narrow marble steps to reach the star where Jesus was born. Usually you come across rude foreigners that push their way through to get there sooner. I sometimes fall into this category, only because one of my biggest pet peeves is someone taking cuts in line, I stand by this principle. The only exception I will make occurs when the person taking the cuts suffers from unbearable body odor.

As a pilgrim, I experience the Church of the Nativity not only as holy, but with great reverence. Though we are only permitted to stay and pray a short period, we cherish these few minutes. If you are blessed, there is an area where you can sit and pray to the left of the Star, but is it rarely available. Last year my friend Jane and I sat and prayed until we were asked to leave. We could have stayed for hours.

According to an article from the National Catholic Register, (December 19 ,2016.) In 1950, Bethlehem, along with surrounding villages were 86% Christian. Now the population across the West Bank, Christians represent less than 2%.

The only passage to the star where Jesus was born

St. Francis of Assisi was the first to introduce the Nativity scene into the world.

St. Francis had a special devotion to the Child Jesus. St. Francis was inspired after visiting the Holy Land and the humble stable, a Bethlehem cave. In the year 1223, with the permission from Pope Honorius III, on Christmas Eve, St. Francis set up a manger in the village of Grecio, Italy, with hay and two live animals. There St. Francis preached about “the Babe of Bethlehem.” St. Francis was so overcome by emotion that he could not say “Jesus.” So the first Nativity did not have Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, or wise men either, just a ox and an ass.

I love all Nativities, and in our home they are everywhere. I have some from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Spain, Bethlehem, and of course, Costco.

Guadalajara Nativity
Olive wood Nativity from Bethlehem

LLadro Nativity from Spain
Mexico City Nativity

As we gaze upon the Nativity let us be mindful of Christmas, so that we can draw closer to the real gifts God has set aside for us. We all have special gifts because we serve a benevolent Father. This Christmas ask Him for your special gift.

Prudie has a bad reputation of biting and scratching small children, but here she just wants to be part of the manger scene
Prudie, the main animal in the manger

Funny Stuff

New Tamale Recipe

December 4, 2018 1 Comment

Tamales are a staple for most Mexican families, especially at Christmas. The perfect tamales should only be cooked no more than 1 1/2 hours, and the masa (corn dough) should easily separate from the hoja (corn husk). My mother made the best tamales in the world, and I wanted to try her recipe for our “Annual Tamale Contest.” I called my sister Norma several times to be certain of our mother’s recipe for tamales. In the past Mike was always the one getting everything prepped for the tamales, but this time things were going to change. In the last 2 years our tamales have not won. All I could think about was winning the contest with my Mom’s secret recipe.

Mike and I did a lot of running around on Saturday to get all the ingredients together. We went to a different Mexican market for the masa this time. Masa is the freshly cooked corn, ground up, and mixed with lard. We purchased 25 pounds of masa, but Mike mentioned that the masa looked too mushy. My sister Norma assured me that Mother always used pork shoulder for the meat. Mike made the sauce with California chiles, pasillas, and New Mexico chile, just like my Mom. Mike kept reminding me, “This is your show; I’m just helping.” As Mike cut the meat I browned it in a large frying pan, and then transferred it into the sauce. For two hours we allowed the flavors to unite into one, and soon our home was filled with the sweet aroma of Mexican comfort food. Before Mike went to bed he told me, “Make sure you let the meat cool down before putting into the fridge.” It was already 10:00 P.M. and my eyes were getting heavy when I went to check on the meat, It was still too hot. I wondered if this putting hot food away was an Old Wive’s Tale. I Googled it, and sure enough, every single post said that it was fine to put hot food in the refrigerator.

Second shift, Russ, Maddie, Sonja, me, Mikos, and Adele

The following morning was production day. I recruited my neighbor Adele, one of my longtime friends to help us.

I taught my class of catechumens at St. Norbert, and from there went to the Dollar Tree to pick up a plastic table cloth. As usual, I left the store with a lot other junk, including Christmas headbands for the kids.

I Came home, soaked the corn husk and waited for the laborers to arrive. Sonja, Russ and the kids, including their dog, arrived at 2:30. My job was to mix the masa with sauce to give it some color, but I decided to go off on my own tangent and add some broth from the pork shoulder. No one knew I was doing this, until nosy Russ asked, “What are you putting into the masa?” “None of your business” I answered. Russ would not leave it alone, “It looks like fat!” “It’s my Mom’s recipe!” I sharply replied. It was not my Mom’s recipe, but my creative way of making things taste better.

I cooked the first dozen tamales for us to enjoy while we worked. The tamales had been cooking for over 2 hours when I got one out and served Adele. The weirdest thing happened. When I opened the tamales it was like mush, Mikos opened the second one and said, “Mom, these are raw!” “No they’re not, they’ve been cooking for almost two hours, ” I replied. Poor Adele, she graciously ate the mushy tamales and said that they was great. Mike was all over this and said , “I knew we should have never changed where we bought the masa, it was way too moist!” So we continued to cook the tamales for another half hour. This time Sonja got into the act, saying, “Wow, what happened Mom? They’re sticking to the hoja (corn husk)!” I had no reply, but I started to panic, because at this point we were almost done with the production. Mike said, “Cook them longer!” Someone cranked up the heat on the pot and while everyone was pointing fingers at me, the tamales started burning. The smell hit all of us at the same time because we were all in the kitchen. “Oh my God, now you’re burning them!” Sonja yelled.

These are the loving words that came out of my family’s mouths:

Mikos: “Mom, did you make tamale soup?”

Sonja: “They taste so good, but they look so awful!”

Mike: “The masa was too moist because we did not buy it at the right place.”

Russ remained silent but we both knew what I did. So to clear my conscience, I sat down and said “Well, maybe because I added some broth from the pork shoulder to the masa, this could have changed things.” At this point everybody started going crazy. Even Jenny, who did not help with the production, said, ” So you compromised the masa?” and her loving husband, my only son, Mikos, added, “You’re never going to win with these tamales Mom.” Russ finally opened his mouth and ratted me out saying, “It was not broth, it was fat.”

After everyone left, I called my sister Norma and shared with her my observation that the recipe that she gave me was a disaster. At first she was very empathetic, then came all the questions: “Did you put the meat away while it was hot? What did you do? You guys worked so hard.” Then I told her about adding the broth. “You did what? You added more lard? That is not our mother’s recipe!” She ended the conversation with, ” It’s a shame, It’s a crying shame!” I told her to shut up (in a nice way).

So on December 15, 2018 I will enter both of my pork and chicken tamales, and pray that God will fix this debacle in time for me to be crowned the “New Tamale Queen.”

Please remember that we are entering into the New Liturgical Year, and Sunday was the first day of Advent. The first Sunday of Advent symbolizes Hope with the “Prophet’s Candle,” reminding us that our Lord Jesus is coming. We prepare our hearts for his birth.

God Bless You!

My Heart of the Matter

Our Thanksgiving

November 27, 2018 2 Comments

My husband Mike lovingly prepares our entire Thanksgiving meal. He’s not the come-alongside-me chef, but more of a loner in the kitchen; cooking this dinner is serious business. My job is setting the table and getting the house ready for our family and our our special guests, our daughter-in-law’s parents Mick and Jean who live in Minnesota. I also prepare spiritually.

Before the Blessed Sacrament (Adoration), I pray that we all get along, and that if politics comes up, I will not get caught up in defending my stand. I pray that all of our grandchildren get along, but mostly I pray that the peace of God be in our midst.

Maddie, our oldest grandchild, for the last few years, has been lovingly making our seating tags. These place cards are creative and personal, depicting different themes of Thanksgiving. I gave our grandson Will a choice of Scriptures on Thanksgiving to read, Will read from Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Our son Mikos said grace, and with that we were ready to dig in.

I can only try to explain how delicious Mike’s meal turned out. I was the least surprised because I witnessed all the hard labor of love that Mike put into our feast. For every Thanksgiving, Mike starts Wednesday with brining the turkey overnight, and then prepping for his famous tortilla stuffing. He gets up at the crack of dawn and works throughout the morning. I help with cleaning up, but mostly I need to stay out of the kitchen, because Mike needs his space.

Jenny is in charge of the salad, and she always uses romaine lettuce, but sadly all romaine lettuce was pulled off the shelves due to an E. coli outbreak. My heart breaks for the farmers, and the great loss they are going to experience, because all the romaine lettuce is tagged and must be discarded. Most of this product comes from California, and framers here supply most of the USA with lettuce. Jenny used butter lettuce instead, and we all loved the new flavor. Sonja made Pumpkin Pies, Turtle Cheese Cake, and Pecan Pie that was a little runny, but delicious. A sweet friend of ours, Natalia, stopped by with chocolate cupcakes; that were topped with pumpkin cream cheese frosting, and we had so many different choices that I had a little of all desserts. There is always a price to pay for gluttony, aside from the scale tipping in the wrong direction, my face was broken out with unwanted blemishes.

While I was Christmas shopping at Marshalls, I noticed a Bingo game, I don’t know why, but the image of the game stayed in my head and I felt a strong urging to purchase the game; however I did not buy it. Several days later I went to Home Goods and purchased the last Bingo game in the store. I also purchased several gifts for the prizes. This little old-fashioned game was a huge hit. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone loved it, and we ended with a cash blackout bonus.

The importance of any game is to keep the kids off their electronics and to experience real interaction with the rest of the family. Electronic gadgets are quietly ruining a generation of kids, and I am concerned about several things, including the lack of exercise, and placing the device on their laps. I always ask my grandkids, “Do you want to have children when you get married? Then you need to place a pillow on your lap when you’re using your iPad.” Only God knows what type of emissions we are being exposed to.

Our daughter Sonja has started a tradition with her family of going to the movies after Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately for the rest the of us she leaves right after dessert and right before the cleanup starts. Unlike Mike, I welcome all the help I can get in the kitchen. Thank you Jean, Norma (my sister-in-law), and Jenny for all your help.

After our guests left Mike went straight to bed for a well deserved good night’s sleep. Not me, because while I’m putting away Thanksgiving decoration, I’m getting out Christmas stuff. It takes us three days to complete this task.

The Crew: Lucas, Jacob, and Will, Russ, Sonja, Mike, me, Maddie, Mikos, and Jenny

When I got home from church last night, I walked into a dark house. I asked Mike why the all the Christmas lights were off and he said, “I don’t want the electric bill to be too high.” “So we worked our butts off for three days to not enjoy the Christmas decorations?” I said to myself. It was late, and I was too tired to start a dispute over this; plus I needed to remind myself of all the hard work Mike put into our meal. The Christmas lights will shine soon enough, and the moratorium for arguments will be lifted after three days.

“The family that prays together stays together.” Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.

« Previous 1 … 128 129 130 131 132 … 169 Next »