[bksvol-discuss] Re: Support Needed For Our Volunteers and Members
- From: Ann Parsons <akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:31:04 -0500
Hi Monica,
Well, well, open one's mouth and one is sure to be volunteered for
something! <smiling> I'm not a fantastic cook, but if you want a
facilitator for such a discussion, I suppose I can do it. There are a
lot of cooking tips that are so simple, folks don't even think about them.
Do you know the Chicken and Stuffing recipe? You say you like
casseroles. That's a good one, and so darn simple, but so good! Here it is.
Take three cups of cooked chicken. I use skinless chicken breasts that
I've simmered till done. Cube your chicken and mix it with one can of
mushroom soup, and one 8 oz container of sour cream. (I like to
saut`e some onions and mushrooms and throw those in too, but you don't
have to do that.) Next, take stuffing that you find in the packages,
either in the box or the bag and prepare it like you would on top of
the stove. If you want, you can add your cellery and onions and such.
Spread the stuffing on top of the chicken mixture and bake in 350 oven
for as long as it takes to heat through and brown the top, say 35 mins.
It's a great recipe, freezes well, is wonderful to take to pot luck
suppers or to make for somebody who needs a home-cooked meal e.g.
funeral, sickness, etc. Everyone loves it.
Ann P.
P.S., Sure, most names, at least Western European ones, are either
Biblical or names of saints. Here's what I found on St. Monica. Her
caring and compassion typify your character.
Saturday
December 13, 2008
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived
extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's
invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to
be a saint.
August 27
St. Monica
(322?-387)
The circumstances of St. Monica’s life could have made her a nagging
wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not
give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her
parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her
hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming
features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also
had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home.
Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but
always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally won her
husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one
year after his Baptism.
Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest,
Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father’s death,
Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was
distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy and
was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or
sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her
Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close
to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much
closer than Augustine wanted.
When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric.
Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he
was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail
for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine’s trick,
but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he
had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.
In Milan Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose,
who also became Monica’s spiritual director. She accepted his advice in
everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had
become second nature to her (see Quote, below). Monica became a leader
of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste.
She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of
instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several
of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one
else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told
Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not
know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my
hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after
and suffered severely for nine days before her death.
Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St.
Augustine, especially his Confessions.
Comment:
Today, with Internet searches, e-mail shopping and instant credit, we
have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want
instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long
years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character,
finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her
cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine.
Quote:
When Monica moved from North Africa to Milan, she found religious
practices new to her and also that some of her former customs, such as
a Saturday fast, were not common there. She asked St. Ambrose which
customs she should follow. His classic reply was: “When I am here, I do
not fast on Saturday, but I fast when I am in Rome; do the same and
always follow the custom and discipline of the Church as it is observed
in the particular locality in which you find yourself.”
--
Ann K. Parsons
Portal Tutoring
EMAIL: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx
web site: http://www.portaltutoring.info
blog:
http://www.samobile.net/users/akp/blog
Skype: Putertutor
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost."
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