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Greetings! Welcome!

Thank you for opening our email this week! I am delighted to have you with us once again!

We ‘ve got, what I think, is another excellent collection of articles about some of the joys and wonders of our Catholic faith. I’ve even included a fun little quiz at the very end of the newsletter for you. Kind of like the cereal bowl I had when I was a kid - it had a picture of Bozo the Clown on the bottom. I’d only get to see Bozo if I ate all the cereal and drank all the milk. Encouragement! (I still use that bowl today!)

Keeping the “My Favorite Scripture” streak alive, I invited Abby Preiwisch to share her favorite Bible verse with us this week. Abby also works for Our Lady of the Fields Camp as our Director of Marketing and Internship Coordinator. She actually thinks she got away with something, since she included TWO verses in her article! Little does Abby know, I could listen to her all day long! I’d let her include the whole Bible if I didn’t know she had other work to do! Thank you, Abby!

Of course, we have another “Double Dog Dare of the Week”, which really hits home with me. I found a great Catholic vocab word for you that also has a very high Scrabble score! I dig into why Catholics single-handedly keep the candle industry afloat, and I introduce you to Kendra Tierney Norton, a Catholic YouTube Influencer, who is also the mother of 10!

I hope you enjoy this week’s issue of Life’s Joyful Mystery, and as always, we ask you to forward this newsletter to all of your friends and family. Please encourage them to SUBSCRIBE! SUBSCRIBE! SUBSCRIBE!

Thank you!

Sincerely Yours In Christ,

Jim Berigan

Double Dog Dare of the Week: Grudges

[Jesus continued,] "I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."

— Mark 11:24-26 NLT

I think I come up with the ideas for the “Double Dog Dare of the Week” by asking myself, “What am I afraid of the most?” Also, what challenge could I pose to the whole-wide world that would make me look like the biggest hypocrite ever?

Maybe you’ve heard the expression, “I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself.” Well, that old saw does NOT apply here!

Following Christ is HARD!

But, you know, being crucified for our sins was hard, too. But He did it. (Mic drop.)

So, that brings us to the “Double Dog Dare of the Week”.

This week, I am speaking directly to all my brothers and sisters out there who hold onto grudges. You know who you are. I see you out there. I can see you, because I am just like you! Takes one to know one, as they say.

For instance, I’m still upset with the kid who beat me out for the role of Santa Claus in my 4^th grade production of Santa & The Jumbo Jet, way back in 1980. When we graduated high school in 1988, he was still in my class, but I wouldn’t even talk to him. Haven’t seen him since. It’s been almost 40 years, but, if I ran into him today, I’d probably cross over to the other side of the street. Cold shoulder city.

And he didn’t even do anything BAD! He was just a better singer than I was!

Please click here to finish reading the full article. Please!

Catholic Vocab Word of the Week: Aspergillum

(Worth 16 points if you're playing Scabble!)

The word “Aspergillum” is derived from the Latin verb aspergere meaning ‘to sprinkle’.

From the National Catholic Register:

If you've attended the Easter Vigil, you remember that the priest walked down the aisle, sprinkling everyone with holy water. He held a type of sprinkler, probably a metallic rod with a round tip, waving it over the heads of worshippers and spraying water. That, my friends, was an aspergillum.

The same vessel is used other times, as well: to bless the palm fronds on Palm Sunday, and to bless candles on Candlemas.

The priest may also use an aspergillum at a baptism or for other ceremonial purposes, such as blessing the entrance of a house during a house blessing.

Why Do Catholics Do THAT?!

Why do Catholics light so many candles?

Scientific research suggests that up to 65% of people are visual learners and thinkers. A much smaller percentage of the population does best with auditory instruction, text-based information, or kinesthetic learning.

Basically, most people love to look at things. Would you rather SEE the Grand Canyon or just read about it? I rest my case.

I don’t know this for certain, but maybe for Catholics, visual preference is even higher than 65%. Think about all the symbols on display inside a church: crucifixes, monstrances, statues, portraits, painted ceilings, ornate vestments, stained glass windows. The list of things to feast on with your eyes in a Catholic Church is long! Not to mention, there’s more symbolism in a church than in a college freshman lit class. The Catholic Church has had 2,000 plus years to perfect how to communicate the glory of God through symbols. It’s pretty sweet.

But, I’d like to talk today about perhaps the most powerful of symbols in a church, one that is literally everywhere inside the house of God – the candle.

One of the earliest memories in my life is being at midnight Mass on Christmas eve and getting to hold a small lit candle with all the lights off singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". I can still close my eyes and picture the entire church bathed in candle light. As a little kid, I could just feel that God was present.

Of course, the most significant candle is the one that, when lit, indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. Even today, that’s one of the first things I look for when I enter the nave of any Catholic church.

Then, there’s the votive candle station: the tiered candles, each one representing a single prayer made by a member of the faithful. I have always found this area of the church to be intensely powerful.

Please click here to read the rest of the story!

My Favorite Scripture Verse

By Abigail Preiwisch

Romans 5:7-8

“7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

Now, I know I’m breaking the rules here, since Jim only asked me for one verse and I’m providing two. But to be fair, I would provide the whole book of Romans if I could, so really Jim should be grateful he’s only getting two verses 🙂. When I think about what sacrificial love looks like, this is it. Love that cares not what the other has done or can do. Acts of love knowing full well they cannot be returned or repaid. Verse ten even goes so far as to say that Christ reconciled us while we were His enemies. Wow. These verses demonstrate the reality that the Christian life is not about what I can do for God, but what He has already done for me. It is not that I love God but that He so radically and fully loves me in a truly transformative way.

A priest friend of mine from the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois (my home diocese) told me how he loves saying that God’s generosity is scandalous. He enjoys watching all the church ladies gasp in their pews. “Scandalous?” they think. “God?!? No, God cannot be scandalous.”

Well, frankly, I disagree, and I would actually posit one thing further. Yes, His generosity is scandalous, but so is His Love, the very core of Who He is. Look at the Incarnation. God, the Creator of the universe, of everything, became His creation. The Eternal Word chose to confine Himself to mortality and all that comes with it. But if that wasn’t enough, He allowed Himself to be brutally beaten, tortured, and killed at the hands of His creation, all for love of them. It would seem to me that if you can look at a crucifix and not call that kind of love scandalous, then you don’t grasp the reality of what happened on that day.

Please click here to read the rest of this reflection!

In the Spotlight: Catholic Online Influencers

Kendra Tierney Norton from "Catholic All Year"

If you aren’t already familiar with Kendra Tierney Norton, I’d like to introduce her to you as the subject of this week’s “In the Spotlight: Catholic Online Influencers.”

I’ve been aware of Kendra for a while now and have been very moved by her story. She is a mother of 10 children and is doing her best to live out her traditional Catholic faith and values in the modern world. She’s been making YouTube videos, writing books, and producing other valuable resources for parents since 2015.

Along the way, she has shared the joys and sorrows of her life with her loyal viewers, such as when her husband of 21 years passed away from cancer, leaving her with 10 young children.

Through all this, she has kept up her regular posting, as well as her faith and trust in the Lord. It has been a journey!

She also is really funny! She and her kids like to dress up in costumes for some videos, and it looks like they’re all having a blast! Her spirit is infectious!

Kendra is also very practical. For instance, she made a video about the challenges parents face when trying to balance time with their kids vs. time on their phones. For guidance, she pulled out a very old book called “110 Rules Of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation”, which was once copied out long-hand by none other than George Washington when he was a young student. While the vocabulary is definitely from a different era, the advice is, to this day, highly salient. Instead of shaming her viewers for wanting to check emails, respond to texts, and scroll mindlessly for a bit, Kendra offered reasonable advice on how to carve out time for everyone. I found that very refreshing!

Kendra also has so much great advice on how to create a home that reflects the depth of her faith. She has several videos on making religious-themed crafts with her kids, cooking and baking special foods for Catholic observances, offering Catholic gift ideas, and sharing her experiences with homeschooling her own children.

Honestly, I am amazed by her spirit, energy, and enthusiasm! It inspires me greatly!

If you haven’t ever seen one of Kendra’s videos, I highly recommend you check her channel out. I have included her video about George Washington and cell phones below.

Enjoy!

A Little "Saintly" Trivia: Male Edition

Can you match the Saints with their “patronage”?

List of Patronages

• The Patron of Animals

• The Patron of Cancer Patients

• The Patron of Educators, Students and Learning

• The Patron of Fathers, Workers and a Holy Death

• The Patron of Lost Causes

• The Patron of Lost Items

• The Patron of Pregnancy and Expecting Parents

• The Patron of Soldiers and Police

• The Patron of Sports and Athletes

• The Patron of Travelers

List of Saints

St. Anthony of Padua is the __________

St. Christopher is the __________

St. Francis of Assisi is the __________

St. Gerard is the __________

St. Joseph is the __________

St. Jude is the __________

St. Michael the Archangel is the __________

St. Peregrine is the __________

St. Sebastian is the __________

St. Thomas Aquinas is the __________

ANSWERS: (HIGHLIGHT TO REVEAL THE INVISIBLE TEXT)

St. Anthony of Padua is the The Patron of Lost Items

St. Christopher is the Patron of Travelers

St. Francis of Assisi is the Patron of Animals

St. Gerard is the Patron of Pregnancy and Expecting Parents

St. Joseph is the Patron of Fathers, Workers and a Holy Death

St. Jude is the Patron of Lost Causes

St. Michael the Archangel is the Patron of Soldiers and Police

St. Peregrine is the Patron of Cancer Patients

St. Sebastian is the Patron of Sports and Athletes

St. Thomas Aquinas is the Patron of Educators, Students and Learning

To learn more about the mission and the needs of Our Lady of the Fields Camp & Retreat Center, please click the link below.

www.GiveSendGo.com/OurLadyoftheFieldsCamp

See you next week!

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