My Review of "Cherished by the Lord: 100 Meditations"

I received   "Cherished by the Lord: 100 Meditations," by Sister Kathryn James Hermes in today's mail. This book is beautiful, absolutely beautiful, both in its design,and in its contents. 
The cover alone would attract me to this book if I saw it in a bookstore.
As for the interior: The pages are light purple, a quiet, relaxing color. There is a lovely nature scene at the bottom of each two-page spread.
And now, the contents. I've been paging through this book, pausing to read here and there.
Each chapter has a Biblical passage before the meditation. The meditations  are concise, and clearly written.  In some of them, Sister Kathryn James shares own experiences. I  love that personal  touch!

I've already found some chapters which I'll be reading again and again. Two of my favorites,  so far, are Chapter 84, "Someone Is Waiting For Your Story," with its very contemporary references to Twitter, YouTube,and Facebook, and Chapter 91, "Sabbath Space."  Here is  a brief quote from that chapter. "For some of us, the harried pace of life has blurred Sunday into any other day of the week, except that people go to church.Why not establish some other Sunday ritual that expresses the joy of your relationship with God?"

Another thing I really appreciate is the fact that this book has a Liturgical Index, a Topical Index, and a Scriptural Index.  This way, I can choose either a meditation appropriate for the season or feast, or one that fits my feelings at the moment, or one based on a particular passage in the Bible.

 I plan to keep this book close at hand in order to dip into it, read it slowly, savor it.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Cherished by the Lord: 100 Meditations. This is also a great online Catholic store for all your religious shopping needs, such as gifts for Confirmation and gifts for a baby baptism.

Product Mentioned in "Anne of Ingleside"

 I googled "Epps Cocoa" because it is mentioned in "Anne of Ingleside" by L. M. Montgomery.
I selected this advertisement, printed in 1904, for my Vintage Media Collection and my Chocolate Collection.

Adding to my Offline Collection

I've just ordered another decorative magnet online.

I didn't need to make an account with the store, because they are partnered with amazon.com, and I already have an amazon.com account. (I've had it almost as long as
I've been online.)
Another plus is that shipping is free. And that, for me, is a TREMENDOUS plus!
But was there a difficult part? Yes. The hard part was selecting
just one magnet out of so many. (I have to economize SOMEWHERE.)
So how did I finally decide which magnet to order now, and which
magnets can wait until later?
These seven simple words (okay, six words and one number!) helped me to make my decision:
"Only 4 left in stock. Order soon."
But deciding what to buy now, and what can wait until later is part of the fun of having
an offline collection.

I Do NOT Want the Abortion Clinics to Close

Nope. I do not want to see them closed. What
I want is to see them transformed into birthing centers and neonatal units.
Most especially, I would like to see them transformed into clinics where women with high-risk pregnancies are helped to give birth to healthy babies.

Homily 2012-05-26 - Fr. Anthony Mary MFVA - St. Philip Neri, Priest (Memorial)

Another wonderful homily from Fr. Anthony. Some great humor here!

"Most Excuses for Not Having Homework" Award Angers Student's Mother

"Most Excuses for Not Having Homework" Award Angers Student's Mother 
 I am sitting at my computer (obviously!) fuming, but FUMING about this. If I were a cartoon character, there would be smoke coming out of my ears. 
 I admit that I do not know whether the child actually had made frequent excuses for not having her homework. And, even if that is the case, perhaps her excuses were valid. 
 There is no valid excuse for her teacher's actions. 
 If I were the principal of that school, I would force that teacher to wear an old-fashioned dunce cap for a full day. Of course, she in turn would probably bring suit against me for excessive humiliation. And I in my own turn would ask her, "And just how do you think Cassandra felt?"
 A final note: To be honest, I find it hard to be objective when it comes to a teacher humiliating a child in front of the class. It was done to me all too often.

I Didn't Make The Connection at First

It recently occurred to me why I especially like
the apple with one bite taken out of it in this set of magnets. (The
first set I ordered for my collection!)

It reminds me of the "Ramona and the Apples" chapter in Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona.
Remember how Beezus found Ramona in the basement, with a whole pile of apples
with just one bite taken out of each apple?
And Ramona's perfectly logical, if exasperating (a word that appears frequently in
the book) reasoning: "But the first bite tastes best."
Now that I think of it, it's amazing that Beezus wasn't the first nine-year-old
to turn prematurely grey!