My Baptism Day

On this Friday, during Lent, when I am supposed to be fasting, I look at the calendar and am reminded that today is the anniversary of my baptism into the Catholic faith. Also, incidentally, my half-year birthday. Either way, good enough reason to celebrate.

On this day in 1965, my mother, newly widowed, and godparents stood before Father Albert Piekarski in the church of St. Augustine in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and promised to teach me and model for me the joys and the discipline of being a disciple of Jesus as a Catholic Christian. I never really got to know my godparents, as mom was just coming back from California after burying my dad, and taking grandma and me back out with her to live. I did have many fine substitute godparents. Grandma, a Jehovah's Witness, daily took me onto her lap and read the Bible to me. I was fascinated with the "red letter version", where Jesus' words are printed in red and began reading long before I started school.

I do not remember learning to pray, but some of my earliest memories are of saying my bedtime prayers with mom. We always wore our Sunday best to Mass when I was little, complete with chapel veil for mom, and a little round piece of lace that we little girls wore whose name escapes me, for me. I had little white gloves and a little white covered basket "purse" for my hankie and if I misbehaved there was no crying room for me - I got taken out for a spanking and solitary confinement in the old Rambler.

Our parish school did not have kindergarten at that time, so mom had an extra year before she chose to sacrifice a good portion of her paycheck to send me to Catholic school. There was no tuition assisstance, no tax credit for school of choice, and on top of all that, there were uniforms and shoes and stockings to buy, extra jackets and sweaters for my sickly self, lunch boxes and lunches (no school lunches then), myriad school supplies (my favorite), and miscellaneous for special activities, band, field trips, etc. We were fortunate to have mostly nuns teaching us at that time, nearly all of whom seemed to love their work, and us. You have not lived until you have played a vigorous game of four-square or kick-ball with a nun in full habit. There was a saint for every situation and then there were angels! There were plenty of priests and we had several daily Masses, special school Masses, regular confession times where there were actually priests waiting in the confessionals for you. There were all kinds of feast days. Anyone who desired could help with reading, singing, playing music, serving (boys only back then). Of course there were many volunteers because it meant getting out of class for practice! We were taught to have a very personal relationship with Jesus, Mary, the angels (especially our guardian angel) and the saints. Jesus, God the Son, our loving brother, was the big man, but it always helped to have intercessors and friends on your side up there to put in a good word for you.

Of course there were the less enchanting times, but the whole point of it is learning to draw on the strength of the good stuff to get through the bad stuff. We Catholics call it GRACE. We receive it in the sacraments - in baptism, holy communion, confession, confirmation, holy anointing for all; matrimony and holy orders for those called to that life. We receive it at Mass. We receive it at those odd times when God touches our hearts and fills us up. And it all started with Baptism.

So after Stations of the Cross tonight, there will be a meatless feast, and maybe a teeny little cake with a candle on it, in remembrance of my birth into Jesus' awesome life.

I Believe in Angels

Oh my. Nearly a month since I've blogged. Not like nothing's been happening, or that I haven't had about a hundred opinions on a thousand different issues. Catholic schools, pro-life, parental rights, near fatal accidents, I have enough in the back of my mind to keep blogging non-stop for at least a month. That's not going to happen. I will start with a little bit about what's been keeping me otherwise occupied...

So with it being winter, my many animals are eating alot of hay, and hay is getting very expensive. At times like this, when sane people are getting rid of animals, I am shopping around for cheaper hay. Within a 200 mile radius. I found it, 200 miles away. When it is cheaper to drive 400 miles round trip, including the gas and motel room, to get enough hay for a month I have to ask myself, "Is there something wrong with this picture?" I have had successful dealings with this hay broker in the past, so trusting that the trip would be worth it, I checked out the truck and readied it, then tackled the old utility trailer. Problems there. Between the goats and chickens playing hide and seek underneath it, the wiring was trashed. The license plate got lost the last time we loaned it out. The hitch is oversized, heavy and involves oversized and heavy stabilizer bars. Much better to borrow the neighbor's trailer and avoid all this, right? The adventure begins.

I brought the borrowed trailer home without incident. Inspecting the ball and hitch, they looked properly matched. Loaded truck and started down the road. Luckily the first leg of my journey was down a state highway at a time of day with very little traffic. The trailer was a little bouncy, so I slowed my speed, continually checking it in the rearview mirrors. Suddenly I felt a tug, and looked back to see the trailer swerving. "Oh God!" I repeated my earnest prayer. I hit the brakes, the trailer slammed the truck and bounced back. Unbelievably, the chain was still holding it on the truck. I sped up a bit and began to back off my speed more slowly, all the while inching to the edge of the highway, ready to pull off whenever I got the trailer to stop. Soon I was successfully off the road and safe. I watched as 2 small cars and a pickup truck passed me. My prayer changed to "Thank you God!" as I began my post trauma shaking and tears. I discovered that the tow ball was a size too small, that's why the trailer bounced off. Thank God it was before there was a load of hay on it. All problems were remedied and hay was brought back to the farm. I've since made another hay run, with the old utility trailer - fewer problems.

The fact that the chain held the trailer amazes and baffles me. I have lost a lighter trailer and chain just around my farm. This one could have caused a major accident, possibly fatal. I believe angels saved us all that day, and kept that trailer from flying into several cars.