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.
Murray Clan 13!!
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.
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.
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."
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."
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
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
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"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)