I love roses

I love roses. They bring me hope. Rose bushes are feisty plants. I am not a great yard caretaker. One of the bushes that was planted before we moved here 30 years ago lives among the blackberries. It has been cut back to nothing and still returns with beautiful flowers. Here in Seattle if the weather has been mild it is not unusual to see roses in December. One of my favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux, said that she would "let fall a shower of roses" spending her heaven doing good on earth. There is something about a rose that reminds me of God's promises and his love. When I am down I go for a walk and see a rose and remember.

It's reading recommendation time again. My lack of energy has led to lots of time for reading books both on my Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6 (okay so mine's a Kindle 2) and at the library. I like reading both non-fiction and fiction.

Non-fiction:

• A great book that casts some doubt on current gender studies:

• Joy is not found in money, possessions, and high-powered careers.

Fiction:

• Read if you need to survive a science fiction universe. It's fiction, honest.

• Told from the point of view of a boy reared entirely in one room for the first 5 years of life.

• Spenser novels by Robert Parker. I consume these like potato chips which I would eat if my stomach would let me.
• You can't go wrong with Precious Raomtswe of the Number One Ladies Detective Agency. Take your mind off of your cares with a trip to Botswana.

Sit back, have a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy.

Beyond Words

Yesterday I felt well enough to go to mass. I usually go to the 11:30 am Sunday mass because I like to sleep later than the morning-people parishioners. It's usually a pretty quiet mass since the families with children for the most part attend the 5pm Saturday or 9am Sunday contemporary music masses. We have the organ and the traditional choir. This time the 11:30 was full of life. We had four baptisms, four new infants brought into the faith. We had a lot of kids counting the friends and families of the newly baptized making our normally sedate mass exciting.

Baptism is new birth in Christ. I don't remember my own baptism. My parents brought six week-old me to the font and I was reborn, marked with the cross of Christ. When we have baptisms at Holy Rosary I feel reborn. When the sponsors and parents make the baptismal vows for the babies we the assembly renew our own baptismal vows. We are sprinkled with the same Holy Water in which the babies were baptized. What a new beginning to the week!