We Are A Family of Saints

We Catholics come from a truly royal bloodline. The blood of Christ. And as His family members we are called to imitate Him even unto death. This is a pretty tall order, especially if we are not quite sure what it means. Luckily we have been given the Saints to look to for guidance. The Saints will show you the many different ways you can imitate Him and inspire you to imitate Him in yet another way, completely unique to who you are.

We all have a favorite Saint and Saint story. Some of us are drawn to St. Therese, some to St. Francis de Sales. No matter which Saint you are drawn to, take advantage of that natural pull and nurture your relationship with that Saint. You may find that the Saint has a lot in common with you. Or perhaps that Saint is everything you are not, but everything you wish you could be. Either way, he or she is willing to be a role model for your life. All you have to do is ask.

And speaking of role models, who do your children look up to? I fortunately live in a little bubble unto myself and I am not exactly up on who is who in the Pop Culture world. But I have seen enough to get a pretty good idea of who our children have to choose from and it frightens me.

Anyone can be like they are. We may not look like them or have the money and fame they have, but if you take a step back and see today's stars for who they really are, they are no different from the rest of us. I can grab at the limelight, be picky about my food, obsess about my clothes and have a child out of wedlock too! That's easy! But place a Saint before me and suddenly I am challenged. I am challenged to examine myself a little more closely. I am compelled to become more than who I am today. I am reminded that I am called to become someone so different, that I am no longer myself - I am to be like Christ!

Today's children do not know very much about the Saints. When I first fell in love with the Church and all she has to offer, I tried to tell my kids about the Saints. They were bored stiff! And no small wonder, since the Saints I was drawn to had nothing in common with my children. But then I got smart. I did some research and found that Saint's lives were not boring to children after all. One Saint raced on horseback onto a battlefield to stop her son from beginning a war. Twice. Another preached to fish. Some traveled to many different countries and had great adventures. Others performed miracles. Some levitated, some bilocated, and some were hunted down and martyred. Their lives were different from each other's and our own, yet they all struggled just as we do.

Read stories of the Saints to your children. As you do, remind them that, by right of our Baptism, the Saints are our ancestors - actual family members! You are telling them family stories from "way back when", when your brother in Christ Patrick ordered the snakes into the ocean, never to return to Ireland. And when your sister in Christ Elizabeth descended the palace steps, in rags, towards her husband, and as she approached him, her rags transformed into a royal gown. Presenting the Saints in this manner will foster a sense of pride in your child for who he is and reminds him of who he is destined to become.

As members of the Church Militant, we all fight against worldliness and against ourselves. I can't make it past one hour in the day without breaking the first commandment! The difference between most of us and the Saints is that they did not give up and that they finally won. We do not know the final outcome of our lives yet because we are still in the middle of our own battles. But with an army of Saints praying for us at every turn, and with the Sacraments and all the help He promised us, we have just as good of a chance of a victory as the greatest Saints in heaven. Keep the stories of the Saints before you, to continually remind and inspire you to keep on fighting until the very end.

Announcement!

We are pleased to share the latest fruits of our labor with you! Intercessories Family Ministry has been working on a new website for quite some time now, and while it is not "finished," it is ready for public use.

You will find what will eventually be one of the most extensive lists of links to help you plan your liturgical year celebrations, with information on Saints, feasts and holidays, and lesson plans, crafts and games, too.

As you will see, the site was created in a very easy-to-use format to help you plan for the days you want to highlight each month. We are by no means finished, either! Our goal is to add at least 20 new links every day for the next year, giving you over 7300 links to choose from!

We also offer you an updated shopping cart and will be stocking our cyber-shelves full of great items to help you bring the Catholic faith to your family.

With so many plans in the works, if we waited until it was finished, the site would never be available to you! So please excuse the cyber dust as you explore our new site. We hope you enjoy the website as it exists in its baby stage, and can see the vision we have for it as it grows.

http://www.intercessories-fm.com

Blessings,
Jay and Cassandra Poppe

Date #1...

Jay and I went to our first "10 Great Dates" session on Friday. We had received an email earlier, announcing that Friday's session would be for date #2, so we had to quickly read up and see what homework we had missed. It kind of brought us back to my high school days, frantic to finish before class!

Date #1 consisted of walking down memory lane and making a conscious commitment to work on our marriage. We went to Sweet Bay Cafe' and went over the questions together. I had actually had a twang of panic before our date, simply because I could not remember much about when we first started dating. I didn't want him to think I didn't care, just because I couldn't remember our first date, first kiss, first time we talked about marriage, etc.

At that point, I think I was blessed with a profound insight into what it is perceived to be "bad husband syndrom". That inward writhing and mental anguish at being called onto the carpet and to have to announce that you have no idea how or when "monumental" relationship milestones were passed. My private shame would finally be exposed - I must not be a real wife. I mean - really - can you see Lucy forgetting her anniversary? And Ricky swooping in and saving the day? It never happened in I Love Lucy. But it has happened in the Poppe household. :)

So, before date #1 could even begin, I was already nervous that I might fail this marriage excercise in some way and prayed Jay would not take it too personally. But Jay, being the gracious and good humored man that he is, laughed it off and had the distinct pleasure of reminding me of all our milestones. Never was there a husband who had his wife's eyes, ears and heart more completely then when he told our own unique, romantic story.

It was wonderful. In fact, I do not remember ever having that kind of relaxed, enjoyable communication with him. Not in a long time, anyway. And I laughed so much, I actually whipped myself into a minor asthma attack. (That is always a good sign I am having fun.)

I do not want to imply that Jay and I have a perfect marriage. In many ways this exercise felt a little awkward to us both, as we started our entire relationship off on the wrong foot. We did not even love each other until somewhere between child #2 and #3, so we never had much of that initial "puppy love" stuff most people can draw upon in harder times. There is a saying about the making of sausage: It's not a pretty sight. And the same goes for our marriage - how we got there was not a pretty process. But it is a beautiful, flavorful dish we appreciate and savor, and thank Our Lord for helping us through the not-so-pretty times so that we could eventually enjoy the tremendous gift it now is.

More on our dates soon! (We did, after all, have TWO dates that night!) There was much to ponder, and I wanted to at least begin to flesh out our initial responses to the date before it got lost in the piles of laundry, homeschooling planning and diaper changes. Have a blessed Sunday and I will post more on this later!

Fireproof

OK, I realize we are probably the last couple to see the movie Fireproof, but I have to say I am glad I finally saw it. My 15yo son has been bugging Jay and I to see it for quite sometime and I can certainly understand why. (And I must say, I am one proud mama to know my son sees the value in such a "chick flick"!)

A local parish was showing the movie, so we decided to take advantage of the chance to join the rest of the world, if only for 2 hours. If you have seen the movie, you do not need to hear yet another reveiw of the movie. And if you have not yet seen it, I highly recommend it!

For anyone who has heard either of us speak on our own marriage, you know the pain we went through before the Lord took over our marriage and set us straight again. Fireproof conjured up the past pain, but in ways that were safe and, in fact, healing. We have the balm of Our Lord: the gift of forgiveness and the security of knowing that sacrificial love can indeed overcome all things. Even ourselves.

For approximately the next 10 months, Jay and I have agreed to go through a marriage program. Not because we are in any crisis, but because we love each other enough to know that we are not immune to the ways of the world.

We realize that unlike the evangelical "salvation docrine" presented in the movie (once saved, always saved), a marriage itself is very much a representation of the teachings of the Catholic Church when it comes to our salvation. Just because we were saved once from divorce does not mean we can sit back and relax, assuming we are always going to stay together. In fact, because we had fallen so far, we know more than some how easy it is to fall away from each other and fall into "self". We clearly see how important it is to continue to work for our marriage, just as the fallen and forgiven person realizes how important it is to continually strive for holiness and take nothing for granted.

We invite you to join us on our 10 Great Dates -one great date a month, starting October 2. While this program is NOT Catholic, we will certainly approach this program with Catholic teachings and with Truth. We look foward to learning more about each other and ourselves, and hope you will grow, both in your Catholic faith and in your marriage, as well!

God bless you!

H1N1 X 2 = 2 loooong weeks!

We wanted to start school this week. In fact, the Mother of Divine Grace curriculum highly recommends it. But it was not to be for us.

Last week, 2 of our 5 bunnies came down with the swine flu. By Friday we were in the emergency room for the 7yo, as he was having difficulty breathing. Everyone is just fine now, but we're all a bit sick of sickness. The pediatrician said (yesterday) that now is the time to get it, as the next wave coming later this year will be far nastier. I am suddenly wishing the entire household came down with this one! But apparently it was not to be. Hopefully, since we were all exposed to it in close quarters, we will have at least a little immunity to it so that if we do come down with the second strain of it, it won't be so bad.

Ah well, it is all His will in the end.

And in the meantime, instead of saying we started school on Tuesday, we will simply have to say we started school this week. Baby steps!

Exaltation of the Cross (Sept 14)

"O Jesus, keep me under the standard of your Cross."

This quote was made by St. Bernadette, the poor and ignorant child of Lourdes. Yet, for such an uneducated mind, she managed to produce a sentence layered with profound meanings.

We are familiar with the multiple meanings of Christ’s Cross. The cross is a symbol of suffering and punishment, but it is also a symbol of a great and triumphant victory. And just as the cross itself has multiple meanings, so does the word “standard”. In fact, according to my dictionary, there are approximately 19 different meanings or sub-meanings of the word standard. But fear not, I will only focus on a few.

Standard: A pedestal, stand or base. In its most literal sense, St. Bernadette probably meant to keep her under the physical standard of His cross. She prayed that He keep her close to His Cross, always. She wanted the perseverance to remain near Him, even in His suffering when so many others had run away. This prayer asks that she be counted among the few who remained unafraid and willing to suffer along with Him as He completed the Paschal Mystery. This level of perseverance in the faith is difficult to attain, as the other eleven disciples have shown us.

Standard: A flag, banner or ensign. Wow. The American flag is overflowing with meaning and it is an honor and privilege to stand beneath it – to say, “I love my country and believe in all that it was intended to be!” It is so much more powerful to stand beneath the Cross to proclaim your belief in all it stands for. This standard is raised to indicate the rallying point for soldiers in battle. As St. Joan of Arc rode into battle beneath the flag of our Lord, Our Lady and her country, so we must remain beneath the Cross as we ride into spiritual battle each day.

Standard: A level of requirement, excellence or attainment. We are called to live a life of the Cross – a feat no mere human can do on his own. We all need the grace of God to keep us at the Cross, continually offering up our sufferings and frustrations. In this case, the Cross is a constant reminder to us to strive to be like Christ, even unto the Cross.

On the feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross , explore ways your family can place themselves under its standard.

- Explore together what our faith teaches about the Cross. What does it mean to pick up our cross and follow Christ? Make a list of the crosses in the lives of your family members. A miserable job, a long term illness, an unkind schoolmate, that strange smell in the car. Anything that causes a family member irritation or complete misery is a cross. Then brainstorm ways of changing those crosses into a source of sanctification and a chance to grow in virtue. Thank God for these crosses and ask for whatever you need to help you carry your burden.

- We are members of the Church Militant, fighting a spiritual battle every day. Build pride in your family and your faith by creating a family crest. Using the cross as the main feature, embellish it with symbols of the faith and of virtues and talents your family members have contributed to the Church Militant as a whole. If you pray the Rosary nightly, include a Rosary on the crest. If someone sings in the church choir, include a musical note on the crest. Make it something that shows how your family gathers together under the Cross to fight the good fight.

- Discuss the phrases “They have high standards for their children,” and “Why don’t you lower your standards?” How do these apply to the Cross as a standard? When a standard is set high, it can be seen from far off and is a constant reminder of what each family member should be striving for. But if it is lowered, there is no moral compass in sight and family members will begin to stray. Therefore, raise the Cross high upon that hill as the standard to which everyone in your family should strive for.

St. Bernadette’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, remind us of what an honor, duty and privilege it is to venerate and embrace the Cross – not just on the feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross, but each and everyday.

Let us echo her plea and pray: O Jesus, keep us all under the standard of your Cross.

City Cousins visit Country Cousins

My sister and her 2 daughters came from NJ to visit for a week. the accomodations were less than stellar, but the company was divine! We don't get many visitors, since we are in disaster mode with remodeling inside and out (so excuse the pictures!) but it sure was great to see them!

Goin' for a hayride!

Visiting Sequoyah's Cabin. Sequoyah was a half-Cherokee man who invented the written Cherokee language. The Indians were getting cheated out of land deals because they could not read the contracts, so he came in and created their written language. He spent the rest of his time travelling and teaching. What a fun day!

Statue of Sequoyah

Caroline, Fulton and CJ hanging out in Sequoyah's fireplace

Fulton showing off the latest in ladies' fashion

Big Guy/ Little Guy time

The ducks out for stroll and seeing who the new people are

Sometimes entertaining cousins can be exhausting!

New Jersey Catholic Writer's Conference

Finally found a few pictures from my recent trip to New Jersey. Fr. Frank Pavone is such a gracious and charitable man. Please keep him in your prayers!

Calling Special Families!

I am working on 2 exciting projects and need your help!

If you are interested in becoming a "trial family" for one of the two books I am currently writing, please visit the following Yahoo Groups.

Parenting book: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ifmparenting/

Rosary book: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ifmrosary/

I will be taking only 8 families per book, but once the books are finished, these Yahoo Groups will be open to all who want to join.

Thank you in advance!

In Him,
Cassandra

Checking in again

What can I say? I like using other people's internet connections! I'll take this over dial-up any day!

The Catholic writer's conference ended today, and soon I will be returning home with so much. Not just with "things" (and let me tell you, I have amassed quite a collection of "things"!) but I will return with so much hope and inspiration, too! Our Lord is working through so many talented people out there in the writing world, it was humbling to be in their midst. Yet this same group welcomed me with open arms and hearts and took me as one of their own. Again, everything has not had a chance to settle in my overstuffed brain yet, so I am not prepared to post too much right now. But I will at some point.

What I can say is Intercessories Family Ministry and my writing are taking on a more defined shape and I am excited to see where Our Lord could be taking us!

I miss my "bunnies", though, and cannot wait to see them. Only a few more days and I'll be back in the country and reunited with my family, searching for duck eggs, baking bread and planning school. . . . . . and writing!