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 It is rare that anyone should lay down his life for a just man, though it is barely possible that for a good man someone may have the courage to die. It is precisely in this that God proves his love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. {St Paul to the Romans}

This passage from St Paul's Letter to the Romans appeared in Monday's Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. I was later struck by St Paul's words: that it would be almost unheard of for anyone to give their life for a "just" man or a "good" man. Never mind a sinner.

I applied it to myself. Who would I be willing to die for? Hopefully, I would have the courage to give my life for Dan or Joseph, if it came to that. But they are those most dear to me. Would I be willing to give my life for someone outside my family? For someone I don't love so dearly? For someone seen as degraded and contemptible in my eyes or in the eyes of society? I cringe when I consider dying for a prostitute, an abortionist, or Luke Magnotta - the Canadian man accused in the murder and dismembering of a Chinese student in Montreal last year.

Yet, I am not so very different from these people. Sure, they might be sinners, but so am I. Christ died for them and for me. My sin is repulsive to God, just as the seemingly more heinous sins of others might be repulsive to me. I might naively believe I am more "just" or "good" than they are. I might naively believe I am more worthy of Christ's redeeming death than they are. But I am in exactly the same situation: in need of a Saviour.

What unbelievably love of our God, to die for mankind "while we were still sinners". Regardless of our sin, regardless of our station in society. His love, mercy, and forgiveness are infinite. Even though I find it difficult to imagine offering my life for someone degraded and contemptible, Christ did just that when He offered His life for me.

The Best Easter Bread

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Our blog certainly isn't a cooking or baking blog. But as we write whatever we want, I thought I would share with you this family-favourite bread. It has been a tradition in my family to bake this Jewish egg bread at Easter time. It is probably the most delicious bread I've ever tasted. Last year, I made this bread on Holy Thursday for Dan to eat on Good Friday, but I've decided to wait until Holy Saturday this year as it definitely tastes best fresher and is really meant for Easter. So, if you're looking for a beautiful, delicious bread to celebrate the Resurrection on Sunday, look no further. I do, however, suggest reading through the directions carefully before you begin. Enjoy!

Challah

From the Silver Palate Cookbook

This splendid loaf makes wonderful eating straight from the oven and spread with butter and honey. We love French toast made with it. If any of this bread manages to last long enough to become stale, it makes excellent bread crumbs.

2 cups milk

8 tablespoons sweet butter

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 packages active dry yeast

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

⅓ cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon cold water

poppy seeds

1. Bring milk, 6 tablespoons of butter, and sugar to a boil together in a medium size saucepan. Remove from heat, pour into a large mixing bowl, and let cool to lukewarm(105° to 115°)
2. Stir yeast into milk and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat 3 of the eggs well in a small bowl, and stir them into the milk-and-yeast mixture.
4. Stir in 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until you achieve a sticky dough. Flour a work surface lightly and turn the dough out onto it. Wash and dry the bowl.
5. Sprinkle additional flour over dough and begin kneading, adding more flour as necessary until you have a smooth elastic dough.
6. Smear the reserved 2 tablespoons butter around the inside of the bowl and put the ball of dough into the bowl, turning to coat it lightly with butter. Cover bowl with a towel and set to rise to rise until tripled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
7. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and cut into halves. Cut each half into 3 pieces. Roll the pieces out into long “snakes” about 18 inches long. Braid three of the snakes into a loaf and tuck the ends under. Repeat with the remaining snakes.
8. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with the cornmeal, and transfer the loaves to the sheet. Leave room between the loaves for them to rise. Cover the loaves with a towel and leave to rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 350°
10. Beat the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon cold water together well in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash evenly over the loaves. Sprinkle immediately with poppy seeds to taste.
11. Set baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when their bottoms are thumped. Cool completely on racks before wrapping.

Note: I do not use poppy seeds or cornmeal. I slightly grease the pan with oil. 

One Wild Week +

What a week we've had! And I dare say, things are still not quite back to normal around here.

Earlier last week, I discovered our kitchen sink was backing up. Great! I was emptying a sink full of gross dishwater and suddenly heard a torrential outpouring of water in the basement. Closer inspection revealed our bar sink downstairs flowing over with greasy water. It soaked through the carpet and through the wall into the furnace room. The plumbers couldn't come that day, nor the next, so we washed all our dished in a big huge bowl and emptied the water elsewhere (bathroom, laundry room, outside). On the bright side, we discovered early that the only pipes causing this problem were ones from the kitchen, so we could still flush our toilets, shower, and do laundry without any problems. When the plumbers did show up, they were here less than 30 min and told me the blockage wasn't really that bad. I tend to disagree -- the stinky carpet in the basement proved that to my satisfaction.

My Hyacinth bulbs are starting to bloom! Thanks Mom!

It's a darn good thing we could do laundry, despite the plumbing issues, because Joseph got really sick -- totally out of the blue. Poor boy, he woke up 20 min into his afternoon nap throwing up all over himself. He was so sad! As Dan said, it was quite the sickness. In one word: diarrhea. Only yesterday did Joseph start eating regular meals again. I can't be thankful enough that he's still nursing, otherwise we would surely have been in the hospital with a very dehydrated little boy. On the other hand, waking up and nursing him all night long has been pretty exhausting. He's still got his whiny bouts very often, but we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

New pj's from Grandma

We also celebrated St Joseph feast day in as much glory as we could manage. When you only have one Solemnity during Lent, it certainly calls for... ribs for supper! I phoned up the rib experts, aka my sister Maddy and her husband Pat, to get their best oven-friendly recipe. The 4+ hrs in the oven was so well worth it! My tradition-loving-and-making husband instantly declared ribs on the menu for future St Joseph's feasts.

In case you missed this giant in the last post: Joseph's feast-day present from our priest

And so, from the land of many, many dirty diapers, have a blessed Holy Week!

Three Up, Three Down: Playoff edition

I sure haven't written much lately. The main reason, I think, is because I am currently in a Vatican II course which requires me to summarize the entire Council, and then respond in writing to the summaries of all of my classmates. It's been fun. But between work and this course, I don't have much time or energy left for writing. Nevertheless, here is a 3 up, 3 down. I will start with a down so that I can end on an up!

1) Down - Joseph sick. Ay yi yi. This sickness just showed up out of nowhere! I guess half of my class missed time this past week with the same illness, and even some adults around town have had it, so the poor little guy couldn't quite hold it off. He's had a fever, been throwing up, not eating (very strange for him!), and diarrhea. Lots of diarrhea. It's a good thing we bought two large boxes of diapers in Saskatoon last week! Anyhow, the little guy is on the mend.

1) Up - Playoffs. The playoffs have started in the Western Hockey League. Last night I was listening to the Red Deer Rebels vs. the Prince Albert Raiders. The Rebels won 3-0, and Cory even got an assist on the third goal. I love playoff hockey. On another note, because Becca and I haven't been watching T.V. this lent, I had to forgo watching the Saskatoon Blades lose last night. They seem to choke every year.


2) Down - Prison Mass. Pope Francis is scheduled to say the Holy Thursday Mass at a youth prison in Italy. I have nothing against him saying Mass there, but that it is a Holy Thursday Mass is a little concerning. To be clear though, he is not able to say it at the normal location, St. John Lateran Church, because he has not yet taken that church as his own yet (there is a process). So he can say Holy Thursday Mass wherever he chooses. But Holy Thursday is perhaps not the best time to choose to make a point regarding prison ministry. Holy Thursday Mass celebrates the Last Supper, and the institution of the priesthood. These aspects trump everything. It's kind of like if I was to go help out at a soup kitchen on April 10th instead of celebrating my wedding anniversary with Becca. Helping out at a soup kitchen is great, but perhaps it could wait for another day.

Now the world watches in anticipation to see if Pope Francis will wash the feet of women at the prison Holy Thursday liturgy. The rite in Latin speaks about the viri selecti, the men chosen, for the washing of the feet, because the apostles were all men (unless a new Da vinci code comes out to state otherwise). In other words, hoo boy, let's just wait and see how this week unfolds... I leave all other comments or questions on the issue to Fr. Z over at wdtprs.com.

2) Up - Pope Francis. Ok, I was a little hard on him there. The fact is that I know I will learn so much from this man. He may not be putting as much focus on liturgy as I would like (the liturgy is the primary means for us to grow in holiness), but my goodness is he ever teaching us valuable lessons about how to live as Catholics in the world. He is genuine, down-to-earth, and very caring. He also sure doesn't care much for luxury. And for those of you who never saw the video this week of Pope Francis reaching out to the disabled man, it goes something like this:

3) Down - Feast of the Incarnation/Annunciation moved. That's right, there will be no solemnity on the 25th, right in the midst of Holy Week. We have to wait until after Easter Week now. Darn! I guess the real "Down" about this would have to be my gluttony and sloth which desires a solemnity right in the midst of Holy Week. Shame on me! No word if Christmas is being moved later this year, to allow for the nine month space between the Annunciation and the birth. We'll just say that Jesus was born early...

3) Up - St. Joseph's present. Our priest in Tisdale, Fr. Tuyen, is now best friends with Joseph. To top it off, for St. Joseph's day Father gave Joseph a little gift. Well, not so little:

Un-Charted Territory

*Note: the following blog is not for everyone*

There are two real problems that I see with NFP, and particularly the Billings Method.

The first is quite simple. A couple spends all of their time charting about the wife. For instance, every night as I am drifting off into dreamland Becca has to abruptly wake me up and tell me to get the chart. I then have to reach way down to find the chart (our bed is up high) and pass her the chart and a certain coloured sticker before I can go back to sleep. From a guy's perspective this is what NFP is all about. "Get the chart." "Pass me this sticker." "This is who I am." Notice that it's always about her and her body.

The second problem has to do with the stickers themselves. You see, the NFP booklets contain a variety of stickers that mean different things. There are yellow babies, white babies, plain red, plain yellow, green babies, and so on and so forth. Long story short. We don't actually end up using all of the stickers. For instance, our plain green, green babies, and yellow babies never get used. This is a great waste of stickers. I thought about taking them to school and giving the kids one of these stickers every time they did an assignment correctly, but I think I have a better solution. My solution solves both problems, actually.

Charting for men! That's right. Charting for men! Here's an explanation:

I workout roughly 6 times per week. On odd days I lift weights. On even days I do what is called a "Has-fit" workout which is more cardio and legs based (squats etc.). On Fridays I take a break (lest the fasting make me too weak). Well, I think it's only right that Becca know how my body is doing. Think about it. At night I pull out her chart, hand her some stickers, and then put the chart away. Well, afterwards she could pull out, from her side of the bed, another chart for me. Then she'd ask:

"What sticker tonight?"

"Give me a plain green, please."

"Oh great, you had a good workout then!"

You see, I would use up all of those plain green, yellow babies, and green babies. A yellow baby would mean I was too much of a baby to workout that night, and so I deserve to be labelled a yellow baby. A green baby would mean that I worked out (green means go), but that it wasn't a very good workout. I was there, you know, but not trying hard enough. Hence, I deserve a green baby. A plain green would mean that I had a great workout. If I had a pretty good workout, but not a great workout, then I'd put a plain green with some spots to say I was spotty at times. You know, I took a set or two off before regaining intensity. After I would put the sticker on my chart I would then write with pencil: MHF - meaning: My "Has-fit," or MFW - meaning: My Free Weights. Becca would then know exactly how my body is doing. We could chart my own physical progress, and charting wouldn't always be about her. Plus, we'd put to good use all of those stickers that never make it to her chart (for whatever reason... I'll never know).

There you have it. Charting for men. Problems solved.

Theology of the Body, baby.

*kiss bicep*

A Week with Grandma

Yesterday marked the end of our week long visit from Grandma. Although we're delighted that she traveled all the way out here, we knew exactly who the draw was. Joseph affectionately calls her "Am'ma" and loved her right from the first. 

When we picked Am'ma up at the airport, Joseph immediately went to her. He giggled in delight when he realized she was coming in the van with us and was even more delighted later in the day to find she came all the way home with us, ate with us, and set up her things in the office bedroom. When she was still there the next morning and the morning after, he was beyond thrilled.

Our short little man thought it his personal job to boss Am'ma around. "Am'ma," he'd say, grabbing her pant leg to drag her off to some new excitement. The two best friends read stacks and stacks of books, over and over again. They played cars, built blocks, slid down snow mountains, did puzzles, played toys in the tub, and everything else this little boy loves so much. In Am'ma, Joseph had a constant companion to meet all his needs. Way to set the bar so high for us, Mom!

Although March isn't exactly the most ideal month to visit Saskatchewan, seeing as there's not much to do, we got around and played a bit all together. We headed to Melfort for a day of fun at the pool and to Nipawin to visit the other Grandpa and Grandma. We played at Dan's school, went to Mass, and picked out  new books at the library. We introduced Grandma to Burger Saturday and Corner Gas. We baked bread, sewed fishy curtains, and planted beautiful bulbs (my Ontario girl heart needs a little sign of Spring -- thanks Mom!). But most of all, we just hung out with Grandma. 

Grandma brought nearly-finished curtains for Joseph's room (pictures to come when we have them up). Much to her delight, Joseph fell deeply in love with the wacky pattern of fish fishing for cats all over the fabric and kept exclaiming "pishes" as he grabbed and walked all over the fabric. Hopefully they continue to bring a smile and laugh to his face as Joseph remembers his beloved Am'ma who made them! And dare I say, perhaps he'll even sleep better with the super blackout effect.

Needless to say, we were so sad to see Grandma go. "Am'ma?" Joseph asked last night and today. He knows she had to go back to "Brrm" Grandpa, but he still misses his dear friend. When we called this morning to talk to Am'ma again, for the first time, Joseph carried on a lengthy conversation with her and didn't want to hang up. 

Thanks for coming, Mom! We love you and miss you already!

p.s. The John Deer tractors were a gift from Uncle Jim, Joseph's godfather. Thanks so much, he loves them! And Aunty Bridget sent her reversible bee/ladybug. We never got a picture, but Joseph wants to take it everywhere with him and has even figured out the zipper! 

Habemus Papam! Habemus Infantem!

We have a Pope!

We have a baby!

First, the Pope.

I was on my lunch break when the white smoke rose from the Vatican. Then I had to go back to class to teach science. What to do? What to do?

I don't care if it's a public school... this type of thing doesn't happen everyday! So I did the only thing I could do. I ran and booked the projector/laptop cart,  grabbed an "Arthur" video from the library without bothering to sign it out, and I turned on a movie for the kids while I watched the live EWTN feed from my classroom computer. The kids looked over at me and asked what I was doing. "Oh, something important in the world is happening, and so I'm watching it" I told them.

And then I saw him walk out.

And he just stood there. And stood there. It was almost an awkward silence. Yet it was anything but. Here was this man who looked upon the world, and it was as if he understood fully the task he was being called to do. His look seemed surreal. It is surreal. He has to lead this Church. This mess of a Church. This holy Divine Church. It was completely unrehearsed. How could it be? His look was one of the most real and raw examples of humanity, in all its pain and glory.

"Feed my sheep."

Pope Francis. Yesterday I was thinking that Cardinal O'Malley was going to be elected, and that he would take the name of Francis. But, Pope Francis ended up coming from Argentina. A quick search of several articles about him told me immediately that the Church is in good hands. But I already knew that. Despite all the chaos and nervousness of going through a conclave ("what if we get some less than ideal Cardinal like Schonborn?"), seeing the Pope walk up instantly restores our visible anchor in life. Christ's promise of "I am with you evermore" is instantly proclaimed.

"Rebuild my Church"

Pope Francis I. What a beautiful name. I have always believed that of all the saints who have lived, there has never been a saint who has more closely lived the life of Christ than Saint Francis of Assisi. What a sign from our Holy Father!

I can't wait to see the pictures of Benedict and Francis together. Pope Francis is hopping on a helicopter tomorrow to go see him. That's what I'd do!

God Bless our Pope.


Habemus Infantem!

As if this wasn't enough, yesterday little Michael Joseph Rogal entered the world! Becca and I found out via an early morning text message. My first thoughts, besides overall excitement and joy, was that Joseph would have another little boy cousin to play with. Congratulations to Elaine and Brendan (and Catherine)! I will be able to see have a brief visit tomorrow. Oh I just can't wait to hold the little guy!

Saintly Joseph

As I haven't blogged in, yikes, over two weeks now -- so Dan informed me -- I thought I must get something down for you. And as Joseph's saintliness is a recurring topic of conversation in our household, I thought you might like to be in on the joke.

Our little man is a saint. Or so he is supposed to be, having no Original Sin since his baptism and no personal sin, not having reached the age of reason. Sometimes I have a hard time believing this. Both our parish priests in the past 10 months have affectionately dubbed him "Saint Joseph". But we aren't fooled for a moment!

Just in case you too are convinced of his holiness, I'll set you to rights! Joseph has recently (and I wonder at it taking so long) learned the exact meaning of "NO". And by that I mean, he understands when to use it himself and still chooses to ignore its meaning when we use it. When he doesn't want something or doesn't like something you do, he'll say, "No, no, no".

On a similar note, he's not exactly the most obedient of kids -- but again, I have to remind myself that he hasn't reached the age of reason, whenever that is. Often when he's disciplined, he just laughs. Because, you know, it's funny to throw your food or your sippy cup on the floor when you don't particularly want them. Or to stuff your mouth with food until you nearly choke.



At Mass on Saturday, he must have had ants in his pants or something. He just could not hold still or even stay within our pew, right from the moment we got to church. By the Gospel he had wandered around in the aisle, visited a couple men two rows back, and meandered through the pews in front of us until Dan grabbed him. Then he looked at his books, took half the hymnals out of their rack, and wiggled out of our arms numerous times when he got too loud. I took him to the back. There he went up and down the stairs, banged repeatedly on the walls, threw a bucket meant for watering plants, stole the collection basket, and kept saying "boo" followed by a loud laugh.

Eventually, Dan must have felt that I needed backup and he joined us just after I whisked Joseph into the entrance after his exuberant laughter during the consecration. I got a few minutes to follow the Mass before Communion and walked up behind Dan and Joseph. All the way from the back of the church to the altar, Joseph walked, lifting one foot really high and letting it fall with a crash -- something he learned from the dancing antics of his graceful parents earlier in the week.

"Saint Joseph, where are you?" asked Father at the end of Mass. What?! Really? Him, saintly?

But it's times like this when you can see the holiness shine out: I turned around in our bedroom recently to find Joseph kneeling on the floor with my Rosary in his hands, looking up at an icon, and whispering, "psh, psh, psh". It was a beautiful sight and oft repeated since! Maybe he's a saint after all!

Memes of the Week

I must say that is was an entertaining week for memes floating around the internet. Here are some of my favourites from the past week.

This summarizes all that is wrong with facebook:

This one was cute, I thought:

And now for some Pope (Emeritus) related ones:

Here's a groaner:

Just to make me feel all tough:

And finally, my favourite one of the week:

How true it is! We've lost (or at least I have) the true idea of what fasting means. Although, for the record, Becca and I have found it hard not watching T.V. this lent (at least I have anyway).