Prelude: Set Your Hearts on the Higher Gifts [Univ. of Notre Dame Folk Choir]
Entrance:  I Sing the Mighty Power of God [ELLACOMBE]
Presentation: Where There Is Love [Haas]
Communion Procession: Christians, Let Us Love One Another [PICARDY]
Communion Reflection: Love One Another [Manalo]
Recessional: Take the Word of God With You [Walker, Harrison]

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Click for the album.

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Catholic Encyclopedia | Wikipedia

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But no friend or family has tugged at my heart as deeply as my boys themselves, as they've asked countless times for me to start teaching them to play the piano.

So I've started to work with them, and have started with some ideas from when Suzanne and I were young and learning to play the piano. First, I developed a page with cut-out squares with the basic note names. These squares can be cut out and taped onto the keys of the piano or keyboard. Then, I developed a simple score for what's likely the most popular nursery rhyme - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. It's set up simply to let a child play the keys for the song on their own. Using this method, we're starting with tune. We'll move to rhythm after a few weeks on tune.

Feel free to follow along as I build this out and add to it in the coming weeks and months. Please share this with friends and invite others to explore and use this method too, if you'd like.

It'll all be here: Halbrook.net/KidsMusic. (Also available in the top navigation of the site.)

I tried this out on Thomas tonight, and he had a blast, is enjoying practicing, and is doing quite well. I have my work cut out for me staying on top of creating new pieces for him to learn and practice.

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In addition, as I note below, I note that there are real and valid reasons that some marriages come to an end - or may never have really begun in the first places. I'm not throwing stones at any that have... I'm merely writing to the ideal, knowing that every situation is unique, deeply personal, and the result of deep discernment and relationships between man, woman, and God alone.

Our wedding

While we were preparing for our marriage, one of the things that meant the most to me was a discussion Suzanne and I had about the good and bad times we had witnessed our parents go through, and how their example of love and commitment to marriage through the "thick and thin" was something that had impacted both of us. We were both approaching our marriage with the mindset that it would be forever, and that we had no inkling that ending our marriage would ever be an option.

I imagine that the vast majority of couples approach marriage with that mindset - even some who end up leaving their marriage later in life.

Acknowledging that there are very valid reasons that marriages end (more accurately, that they could be said to have never actually begun), we believe that our commitment is for life. The feeling in this regard is mutual, and our commitment to each other is the same today as it was then, and will God-willing be the same in 40 or 50 or 60 years.

That said, there has been a real and frightening trend away from both the permanence and the sacredness of marriage in our world.

To quote some statistics from a recent study published by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, highlighted in "The First Vocation Crisis", a special report in Catholic World Report:

The article also calls out the drastic declines in sacramental marriage in the U.S. in the same decades.

As an initial response to this phenomenon as observed in recent years, the U.S. Bishops have issued a fantastic pastoral statement, "Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan" (PDF file). It should required reading for all couples preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage, in my humble opinion.

Which brings us to marriage preparation. While some might look at the statistics and suggest that the Church should make it easier to enter into a marriage in the Church, at least one diocese - the Diocese of Phoenix - is raising the bar.

Here's the bar as it's been raised in Phoenix:

• Nine months of pre-marriage preparation time instead of six. Several methods of preparation will remain available, including intensive weekend sessions or a series of weeknight meetings, but the time will be lengthened.
• A full course in Natural Family Planning, a type of family planning that does not use artificial forms of birth control. The church opposes use of contraceptives, from condoms to pills.
• More comprehensive courses on practical skills and the theology of marriage

Kudos to the Bishop Olmstead and the Diocese of Phoenix for providing the time for the couple to learn and to discern together before they walk down the aisle.

In an August interview, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York discussed the four greatest challenges he believes the Church in the United States is facing today. First on his list was the state of marriage.

“That’s where we have the real vocation crisis,” he said. “We have a vocation crisis to lifelong, life-giving, loving, faithful marriage. If we take care of that one, we’ll have all the priests and nuns we need for the Church.”

Amen. Here's to that observation, Archbishop Dolan.

That's what we need to prepare our young couples for, and ensure that they're equipped to build - as well as we can help as a community of faith.

It was almost two years ago, in Peoria at a reception celebrating the ordination of my childhood friend, Father Robert Lampitt, to the priesthood, when his mother made quite an observation. She noted that out of the 100 or so people at the reception, 30 or so were kids, and of those, probably 25 were boys. And she hypothesized that God was going to provide the next generation of priests (what will all those boys do with so few girls?) in this little sample of active, "lifelong, life-giving, loving, faithful" domestic churches.

It has always frustrated me that so many Catholics consider praying the Prayer for Vocations as  their way to be "working for vocations." The prayer is good and important, but there's work to do too. And the work that needs to be done is in the nest where vocations are formed in young men and women from the youngest ages. By moms and dads who are faithful to their promise and to the vocation to which they were called.

Marriage preparation, of course, isn't the only answer. Strong marriage prep is just one part of what the identity of "church" really needs to be. A community of faith supports and strengthens its own as well... and should make every effort to strengthen and support husbands and wives through their lives, through highs and lows.

We're blessed that our parish offers that, through activities and through the friendships with have with fellow parishioners. In fact, it's a big part of why we are so active at Holy Family. Our parish really is a significant part of our "extended family," and living up to our marriage vows is even more important to us because of the examples of faithfulness that we see around us in the parish.

Prayer for one another, awareness, discernment, and preparation, and ongoing community and support. All ways that we can work together as Church to strengthen and support marriage.

As the late Pope John Paul II said, "The future of humanity passes by way of the family." Solve one vocation problem - the one in the domestic church - and the other vocation problem will solve itself.

DON'T FORGET!

Commenting here (on this post's comment area) or sharing it on a social network are two ways that you can earn entries into this month's $25 Borders Gift Card Giveaway. Please comment and share your thoughts. I'm eager to hear them.

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"Msgr. Carl Kemme, Diocesan Administrator will celebrate a Special Mass for the many victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

"The mass will be held on Sunday, January 24th at Ss Peter and Paul Church in Alton at 5:00 p.m.

"Fr. Delix Michel, a native priest from Haiti will be homilist. Fr. Michel is the pastor of Ss Peter and Paul. People from the Diocese of Springfield are invited to attend. Please remember those who have died from this natural disaster and those left to rebuild their lives."

Folks, this is right up in Alton. For those of us in Granite, it's 15-20 minutes. Couple it with a drive up the river road to see the eagles and a stop at Pere Marquette for a chilly hike.

A map to the church:
View Larger Map

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Registration is now open for Trinity Koinonia 7. TK-7, as it's called in shorthand, will be held at Holy Family Parish on March 19-21 of this year.

“Koinonia” is a Greek word meaning “community.” Koinonia is a community experience in Christian living designed especially for adults. In a Koinonia weekend, you encounter Christ first-hand in the community of fellow believers that forms and experiences the weekend together.

The purpose of Koinonia is two-fold. The first is to offer a time and place for experiencing the reality of Christian community, fellowship, and sharing. The second is to provide a depth of faith-sharing support that allows and challenges inner renewal for each participant.

The weekend is designed for anyone who wants to deepen his/her relationship with God, enhance his/her own spirituality and for anyone who would like to spend time with a group of people with like interests. Participants come from various walks of life, age spans, and faiths.

It's a weekend of great food, awesome talks and testimonials, of worship and good new friendships, of music and fun and laughter.

You could call Koinonia a retreat, but it's more than just a retreat.

You could call Koinoina an encounter weekend, but it's more than just an encounter weekend.

I am honored and humbled to have been called to be the lay director for this weekend, and am pleased at the team members that Christ called to join me in this effort. Two priests, Father Larry and Father Chris, will be with us through the weekend to preside over the sacraments and spiritual matters.

TK7 is March 19-21, 2010. It begins on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. and concludes at 4:00 p.m. Sunday evening. Participants return home at the end of each day and return the following morning. Participants are required to commit to the entire weekend community unless there is an emergency.

The theme of the Koinonia weekend is the Paschal Mystery; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This central teaching of our faith is discussed and shown how it can be applied to our daily lives. During the weekend the church year – Lent, Easter, Pentecost – is expressed in the three days.

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you in your decision to commit to this grace-filled weekend.

I sincerely hope you'll join us.

Registration forms are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, and can be downloaded and printed (in PDF form) here.

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"4-8" of snow is on the way!"

It was nice to wake up to barely 3" of light, soft, beautiful snow.

And Thomas is great at helping me shovel.

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Over time, I'll add the old Halbrook.net content as pages here. I've imported BreadAlive.com content below... I'm still trying to decide how to treat this space vs. that space.

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