Trip to Muir woods with the CFR's

The Murray family had an adventure traveling
to the Muir Woods after the Pan de Vida Retreat weekend. Before the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal returned to the Juan Diego Friary in New Mexico we showed them a beautiful portion of Northern California. Bro Maximilian, a native of Illinois, had the opportunity to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Fr. Joseph Mary showed us where to view the Muir Beach lookout with a view of the Pacific Ocean that is breath taking. All those on the hike, including Claire marveled at the beauty and wonder of God's magnificent creation. Fr. Joseph Mary's approach was much more hands on. Good times were had by all!

Brian Regan-Big Family Stuff

Living in a big family we totally get this stuff. Brian Regan makes it real and hilarious. He is a Murray family favorite!

Happy Birthday Fulton!!

Fulton turned 5 years old on the feast of the Presentation. He had a very fun filled day with his siblings and friends. He is such a joy and treasure to the family. God Bless you Fulton!

Messy Mondays: Seven Lies about Homeschoolers (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

My kids loved this, especially the older ones. So, truly you can only understand the humor if you have been there. Enjoy!!

Fear is a fundamental gift of God

Yes, I know that it is hard to imagine, but fear is a gift.  Of course, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit - Fear of the Lord.  I read this meditation the other day which so accurately explained the gift of the fear of God that I wanted to share it.  Fear is a fundamental gift because it roots us in the truth about God and divine things.
"Without special help from God what would we have done on a certain day, at a certain hour? What choice would we have made? Without His continuing help, what would we do tomorrow?
When we stand before these two abysses - the abyss of the infinite purity of God, the only good, inaccessible to the sinner, and the abyss of our own wretchedness and weakness - we are seized with an impulse of retreat, to dread. This is not a matter of distrust, nor of discouragement or despair.  It is a piercing, poignant and purifying view of what we are in very truth before the eyes of God.  As long as we have not been purified by this sentiment, we cannot say that we have tasted the Lord.  It is fear that first makes us know and experience what God is and what we are."
I thought fear was not of God.  But, how can Fear of the Lord be a gift be a gift of the Holy Spirit?  Fear causes people to move, to change to grow.  If we are too afraid to see ourselves as God sees us than we have unhealthy fear.  Holy, healthy fear make our faculties for knowing and loving receptive to God's grace.

Bateman/Murray Cousins

Here are the boys hangin' out over Christmas. It was pretty awesome to have everyone together celebrating cousin Emily's birthday. The Christmas season is all about family get togethers and celebrations. I love seeing the cousins laugh and joke with each other, and they love spending time as a group. Of course, it is not without some issues, but for the most part it is good time had by all.
Time is something that slips so easily away, make sure to enjoy the time you have together and be truly grateful for His gift of the present.

December updates...

It seems as thought this year has been a blur, especially the last month.  Matthew has completed another semester, one more and he will have a degree in Philosophy.  He will graduate in the Spring and we are so proud.  Sheila just received her Certified Nursing Assistant license and is looking for a job as a CNA and beginning school at the local junior college.  Claire had another surgery where they removed two protruding screws from the hardware in her back as well as replaced a shunt in her spine.  She is recovering nicely and has regained some strength.  We are so grateful for her improvement since the surgery.  Kieran was just advanced to the adult class, given his size and strength, and all of the boys, Kieran, Thomas and Joseph, advanced in belt testing.  John turned two years old and Fulton, Michael, and Stephen have been anxiously waiting for Christmas.  We have had a very busy month, and now that the Christmas season is upon us we are thoroughly enjoying this time to pray together and reflect on the precious gifts that we have received from God.  Merry Christmas to you and many blessings in the New Year!

A very Blessed Christmas to you and your family from the Murray Clan!

Happy Birthday Thomas!!

Thomas turned 12 yrs. old on Dec. 20th.  During this time of preparation for Christmas it was important for the clan to take the time to appreciate Thomas and his significance in the family.  We had the family together and celebrated with a cake.  In December there are two birthday celebrations that force us to appreciate the lives of family members among us as well as prepare us for The life born to save mankind. As we prepare to open our hearts for His entrance into the world and into our hearts we reflect on His gift of family and meditate on the incarnation.  God became man to save us and set us free. Happy Birthday Thomas!

The New Blog picture.

In November the family was very adventurous, we had our portrait done.  We have not had a portrait done of the family since 2007. Given the family size and the challenge of getting 12 people, adults and children to smile at the camera is quite a challenge.  Our parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brentwood, is preparing a directory of all the parishioners and they offered portraits to be taken by Olan Mills at the church.  Joe and I were very skeptical given our past experience of taken photographs while herding and directing the children to appear happy in the photo.  The photographer was wonderful and truly captured each child's and adult's personality.  This was our Christmas picture this year and we are so glad that we took the time to have it done.  What a blessing to have our family take the picture and spend Christmas together.  Praise God for His goodness and His tremendous blessings.

Happy Birthday John Mary!

John Mary turned 2 yrs. on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

He had a wonderful birthday with family, especially on this wonderful feast.

Pictures are not his favorite, but he will tolerate them on his birthday.

He was glad to receive his bike from his grandparents. What a great day for a birthday! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Thanksgiving... not the only time to be thankful!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, it is crucial to humanity for us to be thankful people.  Similar to so many others I am very thankful for the blessings God has given to our family.  The gifts as well as the crosses.  We cannot improve or grow without both.  As a Catholic, I am most thankful for the gift of faith.  I find strength and consolation in the beauty of the sacraments.  The Eucharist, which means thanksgiving, is the greatest treasure and what I am most thankful to God for is the precious gift of His Son.
The season of Advent has begun, which this year the church has declared as the season of grace.  And, with this Adventseason  has come the new translations of the mass.  These translations are also perfect opportunities to give thanks to God for illuminating the gifts of mass in a much more transformative and elevating language.  I am so thankful for the beautiful changes which are more accurate to the original Latin text.  This Roman missal no longer attempts to "dumb down the mass," as our pastor Fr. Jerry Brown so accurately explained during his homily on the first Sunday of Advent.  We are once again encouraged to appreciate and be thankful for the gift of the priesthood.  Especially those self-giving men who feed, shepherd and support their flock in learning the new responses and listenening to the right worship of God that takes place in the new missal.
Christmas will soon be upon us, therefore let us enjoy the next four weeks of Advent as we truly prepare to receive on Lord on the day of His birth.  Giving thanks to God with supreme adoration and praise that now adheres more accurately to the Church's initial prayers and responses of the mass for centuries.
Happy season of Advent!

Blessed are those parents...

Blessed are those parents who make their peace with spilled milk and with mud, for of such is the kingdom of childhood.
Blessed is the parent who engages not in the comparison of his child with others, for precious unto each is the rhythm of his own growth.
Blessed are the fathers and mothers who have learned laughter, for it is the music of the child's world.
Blessed and wise are those parents who understand the goodness of time, for they make it not a sword that kills growth but a shield to protect.
Blessed and mature are they who without anger can say "no," for comforting to the child is the security of firm decisions.
Blessed is the gift of consistency, for it is heart's-ease in childhood.
Blessed are they who accept awkwardness of growth, for they are aware of the choice between marred furnishings and damaged personalities.
Blessed are the teachable for knowledge brings understanding, and understanding brings love.
Blessed are the men and women who, in the midst of the unpromising mundane, give love, for they bestow the greatest of all gifts to each other, to their children, and - in an ever-widening circle - to their fellow men.

This was written by Marion Kinneman.  I pray that I may continue to practice this and strive to remember the precious gift of parenting.

All Saints Day - Halloween

This year I really appreciated Halloween. We celebrated All Hallows Eve at our parish Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brentwood. The kids enjoyed dressing up as great Saints in the Church.

 Eight members of the Murray Clan dressed up as Saints while only one was a religious priest. That is a true testament to the opportunity for laity to be canonized in the Church.  It was so much easier and less expensive to have them dress as Saints than havng to purchase pre-made costumes of super-heroes and scary figures.

 We had St. Michael the Archangel, St. Maria Goretti, St. Gianna Berretta Mola, St. Stephen, St. Dominic Savio, St. Charbel, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Dominic (priest)
Pope Benedict XVI highlighted to the young people that "the very notion of saints has been caricatured and distorted, as if to be holy meant to be remote from the world, naive and joyless."
This certainly was not true at the party. There was so much joy and we were so glad to be a part of parish that took the time to celebrate the Saints of our faith.
"Christ is not so much interested in how often in our lives we stumble and fall, as in how often with His help we pick ourselves up again. A Saint is someone who picked him- or herself up, by God's grace, one more time than he or she stumbled and fell.

Claire's Birthday!!

Claire recently celebrated her Sweet 16 birthday!!  Her cousin Emily flew up from Arizona and her friends from Napa came to celebrate with her.  What a surprise for her to see her cousin who came just for the weekend to celebrate her birthday.  She was truly surprised and so glad to have her spend the weekend with us.
Claire continues to need prayer.  She had two surgeries within the last month in order to allow the wounds on her back to heal.  She has been having numbness in her hands and fingers.  Our fear is that she may lose the function of her arms and hands as she did the function of her legs.  We worry that she may need a breathing tube in the future if she loses the function of her upper body.  The Missionaries of Charity and our family have begun saying a novena to the Servant of God Fr. John Hardon.  Please join us in pleading with our Lord through the intercession of Fr. Hardon  to grant healing and increased strength for Claire. 
We do accept the graces and the sufferings of our Lord and we pray for the continued grace to do His will.  Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns and my our Lord bless you and your family.
With love from the Murrays.

Dear Aunt Betsy...

The kids performed this for their Aunt Betsy on her B-day. She loved it!

Update on the Clan

It has been some time before I have updated on how the clan is doing.  Summer sadly has come to an end and school is entering it's fourth week.  Michael is entering the first grade and doing well, his struggle is the touchmath addition.  But, I appreciate what the method has done for Stephen so I want to continue with Michael.  Stephen is now in Third grade and each day certainly poses a new challenge.  There are so many abstract thoughts presented in this grade level and Stephen does not do well with material that is not more concrete.  I have become more aware of this given the need to instruct Stephen on these new ideas.  Joseph is in fifth grade and Thomas is in Sixth grade.  They have a new composition program that they are enrolled in together and it has proven to be beneficial so far.
  Kieran has entered freshmen year and is working hard on Latin and the classics which call him to write paper topics weekly.  This is strengthening his ability to write well and support and defend his thoughts. Claire is now a Junior in High School.  She has had a good start with Algebra/Trigonometry, Astronomy and Spanish.  Unfortunately, she spent a week in the hospital, she had to have two different surgeries performed in order to clean and close a wound that had developed on her back.  She is doing much better now, no infection and the site is healing, praise God!  Sheila will begin the CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) program this week and she should have it completed at the beginning of November. Her plans are to try working as a CNA while she goes to school to receive her nursing degree.  Finally, Matthew has entered his second year at St. Patrick's seminary.  He is enjoying the challenges and continues to discern God's will for him.  Please continue to keep Matthew in your prayers.  Joe is doing very well at work, they love having him there, who wouldn't, and his team's sales are one of the top in the company.
I try and maintain and we all appreciate your prayers and concerns.  We look forward to the Fall and winter, and God's many trials and blessings, may he continue to richly bless you.

Sheila's Pilgrimage to Spain

Sheila has been working on this movie for weeks. It is long, but her trip was wonderful, as the movie indicates.
Thank you for your prayers and support!!!

Happy Feast Day of Blessed Mother Teresa!

Our family celebrated the fest of Blessed Mother Teresa at St. Mark's parish in Richmond with the beautiful Missionaries of Charity. Our family has been blessed to be a part of their order in Richmond. They have welcomed, prayed and supported our family and we truly enjoyed celebrating with them on Mother Teresa's Birthday on August 26th and today on her Feast Day.
Here is a beautiful prayer she prayed daily and she encourages her sisters to pray during their time of thanksgiving after receiving the Eucharist:
Dear Jesus,
Help us to spread you fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us , that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine: so to shine as to be a light to others; the light O Jesus will be all from you, none of it will be ours; it will be you, shining on others though us. Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our heats bear to you. Amen
May Our Lord, through the intercession of Blessed Mother Teresa, enable you to radiate His love for others and serve the unloved and unwanted. God Bless you!

The Tahoe Boys

This year vacations were split. Joe was able to go up to Tahoe with Matthew, Kieran, Thomas, Joseph, Stephen, Michael and Fulton. He stayed at the time share his parents graciously offered us this year. They had a wonderful time. Sheila was away in Madrid, Spain with 1.5 million youth who just happen to be Pope Benedict XVI's closest friends in the Catholic Church, more on her pilgrimage later, and John, Claire and I were at home working on strengthening since she has been home from the hospital.
As you can see from the pictures the boyz had a wonderful time and they are so grateful for the opportunity to swim, hike and pray up in the Sierras. It is truly a beautiful part of the world!!

Happy Birthday Joseph!!!

Joseph is 10, not 46 as the candles indicate. The Murray family may need some new candles, some have been a little over used. We will work on it in the future.

Summer Fun!!

Summer is still with us!! Thank God! I am enjoying this time away from school with a different schedule.
The boys love swimming... and swim daily. We love this season of warm weather, barbecuing, and longer days.
School is just around the corner, but for now thank God for the summer!!

Father and Son backpacking trip 2011

Joe, Kieran, Thomas, and Joseph had a wonderful time in the Sierras last week!! It was a great weekend!!
This is an opportunity for fathers and sons to get together, hike, have mass, have confession, and hear great mediations. Thank God in His goodness for the wonderful work of Opus Dei!!

Stephen's Reenactment

"26 yrs. of WYD" by Grassroots films is below.
Here is Stephen's reenactment.
This is classic Stephen.

26 Years of World Youth Days

The Giants Win for the Murrays!!

June Birthdays!!!

Happy Birthday Kieran and Stephen!!!
Kieran is 14!! and Stephen is 8!!

Claire Update

Please continue to pray for Claire.  She has been in the hospital for a month and is doing physical and occupational therapy.  She is working very hard and getting stronger everyday.  Your prayers sustain her and our family.  God Bless you!!

Computer Problems

I have been behind for over a month on blogging.  My computer crashed again, and I had to wait for the fan to be replaced.  Once the computer was working I made it a point to back up all of the necessary files just in case this happens again.  It is a difficult transition when you have access to everything you think you need at the push of button, and later find yourself not being able to have a button to push.  I don't want to rely on technology as I do.  Many times it is a blessing and a curse.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to trust you, and for showing me Your way.

A time for Sacraments for the Murrays

Stephen and Claire received sacraments this weekend.  Stephen received First Communion and Claire received Confirmation.  The family attended and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit certainly rested upon us this weekend.
I read a commentary that I want to share.  It is very beautiful:
"Yielding to the Holy Spirit"
"Tears are the humble, created water of my heart that corresponds to the powerful uncreated water of the Spirit's life in me.  Tears are perhaps the most rejuvenating and re-creating water of all, the evidence that I have allowed grace to melt the ice at the center of my being.  As Leon Bloy says strikingly, where there are tears, there is the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit of God is always, as at the beginning, 'hovering over the waters.' What areas of my life are still rigid, refusing to yield to resistance and be shaped by God's fingers?....
In what parts of my person do I still allow the old inflexible grouch of sin to have his way?  Each one of us, according to our state in life, has different strategies for allowing the old Adam and Eve to survive in us.  We may have that rascal, the decrepit old self, locked away safely, but surreptitiously we still pass him food through the slot in the dungeon door, do we not?
The Glory of God is always found in movements of love, in communication of life, never in static routine cramped piety, thoughtless repetition of official acts of conventional observance, external religious acts that could easily become the letter that kills, the continuing tyranny of the old, sinful self.  The Spirit by contrast, is wind, fire, light, water, Glory; the unexpected, the transforming, the self communicating, the self-outpouring Power that shapes by embracing and not letting go.  The way of the disciple is necessarily a way of discipline, because discipleship is the living school in which we learn how to be like Christ by intimate association with Him."

Stephen's First Holy Communion

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

This is so beautiful.  I love reciting it together during the Pentecost mass.
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine with these hearts of yours,
And our most inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gifts descend;
Give the virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia

Claire's Confirmation

Life on the Rock - Nun Essential - Fr. Mark and Doug with Sr. Miriam Jam...

Sr. Miriam James SOLT - She is Awesome!!!
"Our deepest longings of our heart are found in Jesus, and we are LOVED"