Outside my window: Sunshine and a wisp of leftover snow from yesterday’s flurries

Around the house: Girls, pounding and playing and happy in the other room; boy, pounding and playing and happy across the room; husband, showering and feeling better (he was sick yesterday).

In my kitchen: We’re ready for Christmas feasting, I tell ya. I might even make a pie. From scratch. But we’ll see.

In my thoughts: Boy, do I some rambling thoughts today, most centering on my bad attitude and struggle through Advent.

In thanksgiving: For prayers and novenas and blessings.

Nose inserted: Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching, edited by Erika Bachiochi and two–TWO!–manuscripts (one by Meredith Gould).

Links I like:

  • If the Infant Christ was God, Why Couldn’t He Speak? – I am never disappointed by Marc Barnes’s writing. Though the whole thing is well worth reading (a must-read, I daresay), here’s my favorite part: “So in the last few weeks of Advent, embrace your weakness. Kneel before the manger and worship the Christ-child by imitation of the Christ-child. And never forget that if Christ’s humility is incomprehensible in his humanity, how much more must it be in his body and blood in the form of bread and wine. There, there is the ultimate helplessness. There the Christ deigns not only to be silent, but to be food. Sacrificed for our sake, his ultimate act of weakness is our ultimate source of strength.”
  • The Pope’s 3 Wishes for Christmas – I find myself, once again, just in awe–and in love–with our dear Papa. What great wishes! And…well, it makes me rethink what I should be aiming for at Christmas.
  • Tired Benedict Needs Our Prayers – I’m glad I caught this. I do pray for the pope, but this just strikes me heart in a special way.
  • Gene and Alice and the Luminous Mysteries – A lovely piece by Deacon Tom Fox that captures so much of what’s important about marriage…and about prayer.

A favorite thing: Mass.

Food for thought: “Every time we say the Our Father our voices mingle with the voice of the Church; for those who pray are never alone.” – Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, July 25, 2010 (via BenedictEverday.com)

Worth a thousand words: With thanks to my photo-happy sister-in-law: