tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78199849145751876972011-07-08T12:38:17.298-04:00Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-50797506034082544842011-02-20T14:19:00.007-05:002011-02-20T17:07:34.042-05:00

So I'm sitting in church this morning, in the back row with my fellow Knights. You see 11:00 AM Mass today was a Corporate Communion and I, being a Fourth Degree Knight and in the Honor Guard, helped escort Father in before taking our seats in the back. So anyway, I'm sitting on the first seat next to the center aisle, in the back row, and I look across the aisle and I see a little strawberry

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-48896547086065444622010-08-08T18:14:00.003-04:002010-08-08T23:31:09.145-04:00

OK, it has been awhile but it seems there is more to this mystic thing then assembling a new toy for the grand kids. I have read and meditated long on this and I have some observations. My first thoughts were how to achieve my "Dark Night of the Senses". Should I deny all sensual aspects of my life? But then I realized that it is less about denial then changing my perceptions of sensual things.

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-12240354319275628212010-05-07T09:56:00.003-04:002010-05-07T10:26:01.388-04:00

More than a year ago, I read an article about the Zen Catholic. I found the concept of a meditative, contemplative Catholic faith fascinating. So I did some research for books on the subject only to find they are out of print and a bit rare. Then a friend of mine gave me a book. He had read it a couple of times and it excited him so much that he bought copies for several of his friends, I being

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-15102055085394764832010-03-20T19:20:00.003-04:002010-03-20T19:57:54.308-04:00

Mom to Mom Sales! This morning my two daughters went to the Mom to Mom sale at our church. (Even though only one of them is a mom, they like to do things together. Sisters, go figure.) Anyway, Angela took 20 boxes of children clothes, most of it from preemie through 2T. She also had assorted baby furniture, cribs, high chairs that sort of thing, all of the stuff one gathers when one has twins.

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-18260701477323383232010-03-09T19:45:00.006-05:002010-03-10T17:58:48.734-05:00

I got up at 6:30 am and if you know me, that is unheard of on the weekend. But I got up and went down to the First Presbyterian Church, met my daughter so we could help serve breakfast. I poured milk and juice into cups and lined them up on the serving line so the guests could pick one up as they went by. Besides hot food, cereal and an assortment of baked goods were also served. So when the

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-585654124840185752010-02-14T20:20:00.001-05:002010-02-14T21:39:08.582-05:00

So I'm sitting in church and I am thinking about Marie, a friend of mine. A couple of years ago I went to, for lack of a better term, a religious retreat called Cursillo. After I had made my Cursillo, I started attending prayer and sharing sessions with other cursillistas, among them was Marie. I knew Marie from around church but I wouldn't have called us friends. But over the course of many

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-47352190686236705762010-01-05T13:07:00.004-05:002010-01-05T13:26:07.668-05:00

So I'm reading this little meditation prayer book about the birth of Christ and today's message ended with look back on some of the times and ways God has blessed me. And as I thought about that for a minute I gave a little chuckle. Remember my blessings? Remember every meal I ever ate, every present I ever received? Remember every person I have ever met, whether I liked them or not? Remember

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-14660901900249955022009-08-22T21:41:00.003-04:002009-08-22T22:11:21.088-04:00

Earlier this week, Mrs. Santa and I decided to have a day to ourselves. So we set up plans and started Saturday morning with the glorious task of mowing the lawn. Once that was done we hopped into our mini-van and headed for Frankenmuth Michigan. We had planned a day of geocaching, shopping and a nice dinner. For those that may not know, geocaching is using a GPS receiver to locate caches. They

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-1208260522223698322009-08-04T23:00:00.000-04:002009-08-04T23:17:19.789-04:00

A friend of mine related this story to me. He doubted it was true, as do I but it is a good story none the less.There was a woman who was very active in her Catholic church. Her specialty was organizing meals. It didn't matter, funeral luncheon, pot luck or a fund raising dinner, she was there to make it happen. And after each meal she would announce to everyone, "Keep your fork for desert." as

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-80304366841156802452009-07-18T10:03:00.000-04:002009-07-18T10:25:40.797-04:00

Life is like a really good mystery movie. We start out with no clue as to what is going on. But little by little we learn things and the solution becomes clearer and clearer. As we progress through the movie and more of the plot is revealed we get excited, we want to know all of the answers to our questions. Was the butler really polishing the silver? Was that God that answered my prayers and

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-70948859481565953212009-07-16T17:58:00.000-04:002009-07-16T18:05:01.102-04:00

When we were young we did things to honor our mothers. We would not step on cracks in the sidewalk, etc. Our mother probably enjoyed our thoughts but what she really wanted and how we should have honored her was to clean our rooms.It is much the same with God. We make all kinds of ritual prayers and that is good. But what God really wants is for us to clean our rooms. He wants us to clean the

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-13597300390816835862009-07-13T21:09:00.000-04:002009-07-13T22:44:24.481-04:00

Sometimes special people enter our lives. When I first met my wife's family, there was one person I did not meet, Mary her sister. Mary was only allowed home twice per year and she was never allowed to travel alone. No, she was not a secret agent or a convicted criminal, she was and is a nun, a Sister of Notre Dame. Down through the years visitation rules have relaxed some. I have seen her many

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-15913295675689716202009-07-10T01:46:00.000-04:002009-07-10T02:03:15.551-04:00

Where I go to church there were two women. They are not related, but you rarely saw one without the other. As they grew older, one of them developed emphysema. Eventually this brought her to the final days of her life and she entered hospice.You may or may not know that hospice is a kind of care, not a facility. Someone may be in hospice in the care center, in a convalescence center or in a

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-87219371509468562772009-06-20T13:41:00.000-04:002009-06-20T13:57:43.511-04:00

I use an Apple Newton. I have for years. And although I am slowly moving from the Newton to a Nokia Internet Tablet, there are still times I use my Newton and still some things it does better than anything else I have found. But that is a topic for another posting. In this posting I want to explain how I make maps for use with my Garmin Fortrex 101 GPS and GPSMap Lite for the Newton. Also, this

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-85139919816731756262009-06-19T21:59:00.000-04:002009-06-19T23:20:55.140-04:00

As you may have guessed by now, if you have been reading my posts, I am a faithful Christian and a devout Roman Catholic. As such I pray a lot. And I pray in all of the forms of prayer. Briefly there are five forms of prayer. Blessing and adoration: This is where we tell God how much we love Him. And because God blesses us, we can bless others, including returning that blessing to God.Petition:

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-82234235829777183152009-06-17T15:24:00.000-04:002009-06-17T18:30:01.925-04:00

Many years ago I had the good fortune to attend a Franklin Time Management seminar. At the time I was really into the Franklin. I never went anywhere without that Franklin Day Planner under my arm. One of the things you do if you follow the Franklin method is to set life long goals. And to help you in this you fill out these special pages. One of them is Called "Beliefs and Goals". I sat and

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-17598924210466189162009-06-11T09:42:00.000-04:002009-06-11T09:57:38.231-04:00

Last night I sat vigil for a woman in hospice at the end of her life. She had family but sometimes they have to leave to get rest themselves. Earlier, in my Santa Claus post, I told how my mother had died in hospice surrounded by hospice staff. I had to get some rest and I did not think she would pass so quickly. But she did, but not alone because of the wonderful staff there.Well last night I

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-82668684866413321192009-06-08T19:40:00.000-04:002009-06-26T23:36:19.258-04:00

When the phone rang at 5:00 AM I answered it right away. I am a light sleeper and come awake quickly and calls at 5:00 AM are never good unless they are from overseas or about babies being born. It was my mother. It seems my father had an infection in his leg and had gone to the hospital by ambulance. Once they had drained it, my mother said, they would need a ride home. So my wife and I got up,

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-90583809775233399952009-06-02T14:47:00.000-04:002009-06-02T23:54:43.297-04:00

Many years ago a friend of mine told me that at Christmas time he dressed up as Santa for his family. He even brought his suit to work and after work one evening put it on so I and others in the office could see how he looked. I still have a Polaroid picture of him tucked away. I thought it was pretty cool and that maybe some day I might like to try it. My chance came a few years later.At the

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-18065449292802463882009-05-27T21:16:00.000-04:002009-05-27T22:08:43.163-04:00

There are several good books out about Protestants converting to Roman Catholicism. I have read both Scott Hahn's book and Alex Jones' book. Although there are some similarities, their books are much better and offer insights that I can only now think about in retrospect.My family was not the church going kind. My parents were good people and believed in God and Jesus Christ but they were not

Santa Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17049359754934855244noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7819984914575187697.post-68286126464351537982009-05-27T17:24:00.000-04:002009-05-27T17:48:30.109-04:00

I suppose the first topic of my blog should be a bit about why I felt the need to fill the internet a bit more with my ramblings and what kinds of things I'm going to ramble about. I am at a point in my life where my outlook on what is important is changing. Due to a number of factors, I find myself spending more time in contemplation. Some of this is religious and spiritual in nature and some of

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