A Study in Contrasts: Celibate or Married Priest Dinner?

Last night, we were invited to an adults-only dinner party at a local priest's rectory. The ordered priest is the spiritual father of a good friend of mine. Thus, we snagged the hottest ticket in town! As it was a Tuesday, we decided to throw caution to the wind, eat meat and enjoy ourselves mightily. I couldn't help myself....I felt a blog post coming on as I sat there and had a great time. 

We started with a glass of champagne seated in the living room, a fire burning in the fireplace. No music, just the voices of those discussing whether Voyage of the Dawn Treader was worth the $10+ ticket price. I believe we decided that yes, it was. 

The dinner party- three couples, Father Order and a postulant- proceeded to the beautiful table. We scan the place settings- multiple glasses and flatware. Prepare for a dinner cooked by a master... My friend (with six kids) and I (four kids) were a little giddy at being served dinner instead of serving and  participating in adult conversation instead of wrangling children at the table. We started with a delicious shrimp cocktail paired with white wine and went on from there- eight courses. The dinner was about three hours of amazing food and wonderful, adult discussion- the conversation of people on the same page, comfortable to talk about religion and politics with minor variations of opinion but agreeing on basic principles.

Father Order had lived and studied in Rome for seven years and it showed with his hospitality and offering of such a generous meal. We spoke about the new Mass translation for the U.S. that will be coming up in a year. I confessed that my least favorite Christmas carol is "O Christmas tree." My husband and I told some silly jokes. We talked  about the husbands' jobs- there was a scientist, a college administrator and a hospital chaplain at the table. We talked and joked about the postulant's year of discernment (we know him from his volunteering at the hospital); it is very heartening to see a man finding his way in his vocation. It was a peaceful, blessed evening.

But my blog post title is "A Study in Contrasts"- so let's compare and contrast, shall we?

Father Order's rectory- immaculately clean and organized

Father Dad's townhouse- not too bad, but why are there Playmobil figures on the icon table and does the shoe pile really need to be that big at the front door? How many people live here anyway? Is that a chocolate smudge on the wall? Why is that cat crying outside- I hope you fed him today, Girl #2!

Father O's before dinner ritual- champagne in front of the fire

Father D's before dinner ritual- getting home right at 6, rushing to the front door, talking on the cell phone to parishioner or hospital while wife is finishing up dinner a bit frazzled because the guests came right on time and the two littles refused to take a nap so at the moment they are grumpy. Then Father D offers drinks to guests; we drink in the living room. I rush to the CD player to turn off Wee Sing Christmas and turn on something a little more classy.

Father O's starter courses- shrimp cocktail, then sauteed mushrooms- each with a paired wine

Father D's starter- depends on what his wife felt like making- sometimes deviled eggs, sometimes an antipasto tray, sometimes cheese and crackers set out by the big girls (did you wash your hands, girls?).

Father O's main course- duck breast with champagne gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and peas (um...yum- I must confess- this was my first time eating duck) and peace

Father D's main course- again, it depends- maybe something grilled, maybe a casserole, maybe a delivery pizza, maybe something 'gourmet,' depending on the guests...take the big girls aside and ask them to stop monopolizing the conversation, take the boy aside and tell him, yes, he must eat some of the weird dinner, take the baby aside to change her diaper...tell all the kids  including the guest-kids that they can play upstairs until dessert...then, a little peace

Father O's after main course courses- a salad course and a cheese course and more conversation 

Father D's after main course- well...um...we re-fill the glasses. Father D gets a call from the hospital- fortunately, he is on the phone for less than five minutes. I still shoot daggers at him with my eyes. He is the sanguine one; I don't like having the main hosting job.

Father O's dessert course- a choice of two yummy desserts, liqueur and coffee or espresso and more conversation

Father D and dessert- call the kids back for dessert; coffee is ready- boy spills his chocolate and cries- kids ask- isn't there more whipped cream? We might put in a video and let the kids eat their desserts picnic-style; our table only seats six, so it is always a tight squeeze. At this point, I might put the baby to sleep. We sometimes wind down the evening with a board game.

I know Father O doesn't have these mega-dinners all the time, but it was so much fun and an amazing invitation- thanks to my friend for setting it up. I love my kids, but sometimes it is a nice break to have a dinner with only adults. We have a babysitter so rarely (like go-to-a-Lord-of-the-Rings-movie-rarely). The contrasting dinner isn't really a fair comparison because my husband will go to a parishioner's home alone or to a restaurant when he needs to be sans famille. But when we are together, it gets chaotic!

A Boy and A Boat- Mommy-blog Style

Enjoying an hour in a rented boat at the harbor, Boy decided he was the captain and we all were his servants. Oh- to have the confidence of early childhood! 

Although we enjoy the relative warmth around here, we are searching for the time and place to go run to the snow to have a 'real' Advent and Christmas.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima,  Our Lady of Lourdes: one great, holy woman who is Mary, the Mother of God, Theotokos, and ever-virgin who intercedes for us to her Son Jesus Christ.

Holy Mother of God,  Holy Virgin of virgins,  Mother of Christ,
Mother of divine grace,  Mother most pure,  Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,  Mother undefiled,  Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,  Mother of good counsel,  Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,  Virgin most prudent,  Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,  Virgin most powerful,  Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,  Mirror of justice,  Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,  Spiritual vessel,  Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,  Mystical rose,  Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,  House of gold,  Ark of the covenant,
Gate of Heaven,  Morning star,  Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,  Comforter of the afflicted,  Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,  Queen of Patriarchs,  Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,  Queen of Martyrs,  Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,  Queen of all Saints,  Queen conceived without Original Sin,
Queen assumed into Heaven,  Queen of the most holy rosary,  Queen of Peace.

Pray for us! 

It is truly proper to glorify you, who have borne God, the ever-blessed and immaculate and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who, a Virgin, gave birth to God the Word, you, truly the Mother of God, we magnify. 

You can find a story of Blessed Juan Diego and Mary, our Lady of Guadalupe here.

You can find Bible-focused rosary meditations here.   Mary, the new Eve: here

Random Thoughts- 7 QuickTakes

I am determined to do seven, totally random quick takes just as Jen does at Conversion Diary. Usually I concoct some theme. So here it goes...

1. My husband wanted me to write a post on the Immaculate Conception. I felt like better, more intellectual blogs have explained the holy day well. Well, the vast majority of people (including a Catholic deacon) he spoke to believed that the Immaculate Conception is the same as the Virgin Birth. No, it's not. The Immaculate Conception in a nutshell: Mary was conceived without sin by Anne and Joachim; she was kept free from sin from the moment of this conception in preparation for her FIAT to God. We celebrate her birthday on September 8 because we celebrate her conception on December 8.

2. There is no better Advent breakfast than chile and cheese tamales left over from the end-of-the-semester class party and black tea with egg nog. Add a chaser of Trader Joe's sweet and spicy pecans, and I am a happy woman.

3. Do your children have a case of the Christmas gimmes? Break out your Little House books and read the Christmas portions- especially the year when Pa is lost in a blizzard for three days and he brings them a can of oysters. Come to think of it, I should re-read these stories for myself and be more grateful for the blessings I overlook.

4. My big girls are practicing Shakespeare's Macbeth (sorry- the Scottish play) for a March performance with their drama class. What a bleak play to be practicing during the winter. They must have all their lines memorized by next week, and yes, sometimes it is nice for this homeschooling mom to have other people make their kids accountable.

5. I think progesterone is mightily lacking in today's women- maybe. After a late miscarriage where the placenta was calcified at 20 weeks, I decided I need progesterone supplementation. I got a One More Soul doctor to give me a script- and I took the drug at the first signs of pregnancy throughout the entire pregnancy with my last two children. Progesterone is what is lacking if your luteal phase is really short. Talk to a doctor if you think this might help you.

6. I thought that all blogspot blogs were censored by China, but sometimes my stats report otherwise. I imagine a lone reader, hacking a way out of the Chinese firewalls...and the same for my reader from Saudi Arabia. I pray that those with more freedom will use it for more than just reading celebrity gossip and watching kittens playing.

7. Awful food for thought: My husband participated in a talk from a Holocaust survivor yesterday. Eva was a twin and was forced to participate in medical experiments. She spoke of the power of forgiveness; the victim who forgives takes back power and gets the "last word" from the victimizers. As far as she knows, the experiments had to do with contraception. The company that invested the most in these experiments was Bayer.  We all know that company;  we probably all have Bayer aspirin in our cabinets. The evil in the world is overwhelming.  As the Lord said, "prayer and fasting is needed to drive out this kind of demon."

Bonus Quick Take: The Holy Father's general intention for November (forgot to post it...) was:

November

General Intention: For the eastern Churches, that their venerable tradition may be known and appreciated as a spiritual treasure for the entire Church.

Thank you Pope Benedict for praying for us!

at my windowsill...

Around here, we don't have four seasons. As you can see from the back patio, there is no snow and the bougainvillea is in bloom. But, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas when I take out my nativity sets. This is last year's addition- a free-trade nativity from Nepal bought from the shop 10,000 Villages.

The sink has bottles of soap and Simple Green out in the open that didn't make it into the photo, but other than that, I followed Leila's instructions.