Rocket Man

I'm sure we've mentioned it, but Rafa LOVES to draw!!  Check out this rocket he was drawing and look at how much detail he adds!!  He's a cool kid.

Pleased with his work!

Our friend, Father Paul, came to dinner the other day.  I made my favorite dinner (hot & crunchy trout and frozen lemon mousse for dessert!).  We had a great time at dinner and playing with the kids.  The best part of all is that he blessed our house.  We've meant to do this for some time and only delayed a wonderful blessing!  Fr. Paul blessed the water and took a branch that we picked from one of our trees and went through each room in the house to bless it.  It was wonderful!  Frankie read the reading:

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its strength, what shall it be salted with?  It is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the measure, but upon the lamp-stand, so as to give light to all in the house.  Even so let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven." (St. Matthew 5:13-16)

Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday

With a contrite heart, go to confession if at all possible today. Sunday, April 15 is Divine Mercy Sunday. The Church offers us a special opportunity to contemplate God's Divine Mercy with intense devotion and to receive, under certain conditions, the incredible gift of a plenary indulgence--a person becomes as if just baptized and would go directly to heaven if he or she were to die at that very instant. It is a wonderful opportunity to receive this generous gift and, with a firm and resolute heart, to start over again. An essential part of satisfying the conditions is to go to sacramental confession right away. I hope this reaches everyone in time to do that!  If you would like to read more on the background of Divine Mercy Sunday, you can see this link from EWTN:  http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/backgr.htm The following is drawn from the official decree. The full document may be found at the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020629_decree-ii_en.html "O God, your mercy knows no bounds and the treasure of your goodness is infinite..." (Prayer after the "Te Deum" Hymn) and "O God, you reveal your almighty power above all by showing mercy and forgiveness..." (Prayer for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time), in these prayers Holy Mother Church humbly and faithfully sings of Divine Mercy. Indeed, God's great patience with the human race in general  and with each individual person shines out in a special way when sins and moral failures are forgiven by Almighty God Himself and the guilty are readmitted in a fatherlike way to his friendship, which they deservedly lost. Duty of honouring Divine Mercy The faithful with deep spiritual affection are drawn to commemorate the mysteries of divine pardon and to celebrate them devoutly. They clearly understand the supreme benefit, indeed the duty, that the People of God have to praise Divine Mercy with special prayers and, at the same time, they realize that by gratefully performing the works required and satisfying the necessary conditions, they can obtain spiritual benefits that derive from the Treasury of the Church. "The paschal mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting of mercy, which is able to justify man, to restore justice in the sense of that salvific order which God willed from the beginning in man, and through man, in the world" (Encyclical Letter Dives in misericordia, n. 7). It is God's Mercy that grants supernatural sorrow and resolution to amend Indeed, Divine Mercy knows how to pardon even the most serious sins, and in doing so it moves the faithful to perceive a supernatural, not merely psychological, sorrow for their sins so that, ever with the help of divine grace, they may make a firm resolution not to sin any more. Such spiritual dispositions undeniably follow upon the forgiveness of mortal sin when the faithful fruitfully receive the sacrament of Penance or repent of their sin with an act of perfect charity and perfect contrition, with the resolution  to receive the Sacrament of Penance as soon as they can. Indeed, Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in the parable of the Prodigal Son that the sinner must confess his misery to God saying:  "Father I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Lk 15,18-19), realizing  that this is a work of God, "for [he] was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found" (Lk 15,32). Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday And so with provident pastoral sensitivity and in order to impress deeply on the souls of the faithful these precepts and teachings of the Christian faith, the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, moved by the consideration of the Father of Mercy, has willed that the Second Sunday of Easter be dedicated to recalling with special devotion these gifts of grace and gave this Sunday the name, "Divine Mercy Sunday" (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree Misericors et miserator, 5 May 2000). The Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter narrates the wonderful things Christ the Lord accomplished on the day of the Resurrection during his first public appearance: "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you'. When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the discples were glad to see the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you'. And then he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'" (Jn 20,19-23). Plenary Indulgence To ensure that the faithful would observe this day with intense devotion, the Supreme Pontiff himself established that this Sunday be enriched by a plenary indulgence, as will be explained below, so that the faithful might receive in great abundance the gift of the consolation of the Holy Spirit. In this way, they can foster a growing love for God and for their neighbour, and after they have obtained God's pardon, they in turn might be persuaded to show a prompt pardon to their brothers and sisters. Pardon of others who sin against us Thus the faithful will more closely conform to the spirit of the Gospel, receiving in their hearts the renewal that the Second Vatican Council explained and introduced:  "Mindful of the words of the Lord:  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another' (Jn 13,35), Christians can yearn for nothing more ardently than to serve the men of this age with an ever growing generosity and success.... It is the Father's will that we should recognize Christ our brother in the persons of all men and love them with an effective love, in word and in deed (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et spes, n. 93). Three conditions for the plenary indulgence And so the Supreme Pontiff, motivated by an ardent desire to foster in Christians this devotion to Divine Mercy as much as possible in the hope of offering great spiritual fruit to the faithful, in the Audience granted on 13 June 2002, to those Responsible for the Apostolic Penitentiary, granted the following Indulgences:  A plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!"); A partial indulgence, granted to the faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation. For those who cannot go to church or the seriously ill In addition, sailors working on the vast expanse of the sea; the countless brothers and sisters, whom the disasters of war, political events, local violence and other such causes have been driven out of their homeland; the sick and those who nurse them, and all who for a just cause cannot leave their homes or who carry out an activity for the community which cannot be postponed, may obtain a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, if totally detesting any sin, as has been said before, and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions, will recite the Our Father and the Creed before a devout image of Our Merciful Lord Jesus and, in addition, pray a devout invocation to the Merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you). If it is impossible that people do even this, on the same day they may obtain the Plenary Indulgence if with a spiritual intention they are united with those carrying out the prescribed practice for obtaining the Indulgence in the usual way and offer to the Merciful Lord a prayer and the sufferings of their illness and the difficulties of their lives, with the resolution to accomplish as soon as possible the three conditions prescribed to obtain the plenary indulgence.

The Zilker Zephyr

On Monday we went for a ride on the Zilker Zephyr - it was really cool!

Miguel's First Toofy

This morning when Miguel was eating his cereal, I noticed that he really chomped down on the spoon.  I took a good look in his mouth and, sure enough, he has his first pearly white!  Check it out!

Easter!

What can I say - we had a GREAT day!!  We woke up early and attended the 6:45 Mass and spent the rest of the day with our good friends (and Miguel's Godparents).  We had fantastic food and lots of fun for the kids (well, all of us really).  Thank you God for this wonderful day!!  Check it out!

Finally, the pinata broke - and the kids rushed for their prizes!

Now the video...  In the morning we made cascarones.  This one of Rafa breaking one on Frankie´s head is hysterical!!  Listen closely...  I hope you can hear it.

Alfonso Martinez, Jr.

Dear Uncle Poncho. Every time I spoke to you, you always had wonderful words of wisdom and advice (sprinkled in between a joke or two). It was also this way the very last time we spoke. Thank you for that. You died on the Feast of the Most Holy Annunciation. I found this profound as this was the day that Mary’s “fiat” brought our Savior into this world. But I also realized that it is also the Feast day of St. Dismas, who was the good thief being crucified at the right hand of Jesus. He was a man who, despite great trials of life, showed a great profession of faith and repentance at his moment of death and is said to have been canonized by Jesus Himself while dying upon the cross. Uncle Poncho, through the Grace of our Lord, I am confident that you, like St. Dismas, have heard the words of Jesus, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

Glorious St. Dismas, you alone of all the great Penitent Saints were directly canonized by Christ Himself; you were assured of a place in Heaven with Him "this day" because of the sincere confession of your sins to Him in the tribunal of Calvary and your true sorrow for them as you hung beside Him in that open confessional; you who by the direct sword thrust of your love and repentance did open the Heart of Jesus in mercy and forgiveness even before the centurion's spear tore it asunder; you whose face was closer to that of Jesus in His last agony, to offer Him a word of comfort, closer even than that of His Beloved Mother, Mary; you who knew so well how to pray, teach me the words to say to Him to gain pardon and the grace of perseverance; and you who are so close to Him now in Heaven, as you were during His last moments on earth, pray to Him for me that I shall never again desert Him, but that at the close of my life I may hear from Him the words He addressed to you: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Amen