Fruit and Fuel of the Holy Spirit

A generous parish family has a Pentecost party every year.

It's always nice to socialize with church families and celebrate one of the biggest Church feast days of the year, next to Easter of course.  

I like to look at it like a "coming out" party.  The apostles could finally come out of their fearful hiding places because the Holy Spirit gave them the courage to move forward, live their faith, and spread the Good News.

We have the most amazing strawberries at a local fruit stand, practically walking distance from our house!  

I thought this fruity Holy Spirit dove was a fun thing to bring to the party.  It was a super simple design:) It also serves as a visual reminder that the Holy Spirit fuels us to come out of our own hiding places.

I shared it over at Catholic Cuisine as an idea to celebrate Confirmation as well.

(I'm making it again for my son's Confirmation party this weekend)

Just as our dear priest said in his homily, Pentecost is not just a thing of the past, it's the here and now.

For that reason, Pentecost is a great reminder for all Christians to come out and live Godly examples...Not always in words but in actions.

I know for me, it's a great time to get motivated when sometimes it's just easier to hunker down and not "go out" of my comfortable box, so to speak.

The Holy Spirit helps me get unstuck when I get mired down and gives me the fuel in my soul tank to live as I should.  Without it, I'm on E, for empty!

+May the force (of the Holy Spirit) be with you, too!+

Soul Stamp

For selfish reasons, I just love when my children receive a new Sacrament.  Not only do they receive abundant graces themselves, it's also an opportunity for the whole family to strengthen our faith...Most importantly, we, the parents!  As Catholics, we are not "once saved." We are saved through our Baptism, of course, but our salvation is an ongoing process; We believe our lives are a series of constant and continual conversions.  The Sacraments are one of many blessed opportunities to experience a new conversion, to revisit the gifts of our faith, and renew our commitment to the greatest Giver.

I've heard it said before that "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic." It's no wonder when we receive a permanent, indelible mark on our souls, received through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.  From these special moments forward, we are always recognizable by the Father...And the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We are loved. Soul Stamp! Permanent gifts are given. 
Of course we have free will not to practice our Catholic faith but in doing so, we deny such beautiful gifts so lavishly poured upon us.   For goodness sakes, it makes sense that we aren't at peace until we are back on the home page. We are restless until we rest with God. {Home in the Church}.  (St. Augustine) 

In a nutshell, we are marked by God. We are His forever. Our souls are stamped. He loves us so much that he gave us many gifts through the Sacraments...Not just one gift but many. Whoa, I saw this in a new way ...A realization of the many gifts freely given to us by God Himself, specifically through the Sacrament of Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation.  How many times have I squandered these gifts? Oh My!  Yes, I was "one of those."

There were times in my life that I ignored the gifts and even so much as tried to send them back.  Nope, didn't work.  The gifts remained.  They sat there waiting for me to look at them, dig down deep, open them up, adore them, be grateful for them.  God waited patiently and lovingly, as He always does for his children.  He never takes back His gifts or His soul stamp.   
His mercy endures forever.

Now I do my best to appreciate those gifts, hoping to never take them for granted again. As my second son prepared for his Confirmation, I was reading about the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.  They jumped out at me, not just as words to memorize for Catechesis, but vitamins to strengthen us for our journey.  They're spiritual self-help, real, tangible, instructions and helpful hints for how to live.  I'm saying that again for myself...How to live.  We aren't just Catholics by name but it's how we live our lives that count.  I'm always trying to talk the talk to my children while most importantly, reminding myself that I need to walk the walk, live by example.  Note to self: Children watch more than they listen! 
(Can you tell they aren't listening?:)

In the midst of keeping things real, we were really excited as the time came for our son to receive the Holy Spirit. 

Everyone was ready and eager for this exciting day.  

Ohhhh, what a very special moment it was...

His soul was stamped and mine was dusted off and shined up again.
A faith ignited,
A faith renewed.
"It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you."~John 15:16~

Pentecost & Final Good Shepherd Garden Party

Happy Pentecost!

"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke of the great things God had done, alleluia."~Acts 2:4,11~

Today, the Easter season comes to an end on this Pentecost Sunday.  I was reading in my Magnificat that Easter, this year, was celebrated on the second latest possible date...Something that had not happened before in any of our lifetimes and the next time it will occur will be 2095!  This was a neat little piece of trivia and due to the nature of the lateness, it seems like it was a long 50 days.  (I am reminded that the word Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentekoste, the fiftieth day.)  The grace of a late Easter has certainly been the savoring of the season.  

The coming of the Holy Spirit is a great reason to celebrate!  This year, we decorated much the same as last year.  We brought out our Gifts of the Holy Spirit candles and used lots of red and white!

~We had a Vigil of Pentecost Dinner, due to a certain "Firefighter" work schedule~

 It was fun to pull out the Pentecost place mats that the kids made and use them again this year.  Good thing we put names on the back...I would have never remembered who was who!

Being the last week of the Easter countdown using the Good Shepherd calendar, we combined our Good Shepherd Garden Party with our Pentecost dinner.  I may appear to be a minimalist, but it stressed me out to think about doing food items for the Heavenly Zoo theme.  It worked well for our family to draw the heavenly animals instead!  We just used paper plates and oil pastels.  My kids love, love, using these.

~Here was our Deer~

"As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God." ~Psalm 42: 1-5

~Here was our Lion~

Daniel 6: 14-23

Everyone wanted to draw the lion!

Jesus is like a lion who roars so loudly that even the dead can hear his voice.  Jesus' mighty roar will awaken the dead.

~We ended up with 3~

~This was our Peacock~

King Solomon had many wonderful things, and some of the wonderful animals he had were peacocks.

1 Kings 10:21-25

People often think that the new feathers of a peacock are a good symbol of the Easter season, when we celebrate the new life that Jesus gives us in baptism.

~The Pelican~

Genesis 1:20-23

God created the fishes and birds on the same day.  Pelicans are sea birds that go fishing with their beaks...

As Christian people, we are called by Jesus to feed one another and to help one another, the way a pelican feeds its chicks.

~The Phonenix~

Job 29:14-20

The Phoenix is a legendary bird, said to have lived in Paradise.  The bird was sad when Adam and Eve sinned and eventually burst into flames.  In the ashes was an egg, and the egg hatched into a new beautiful phoenix, representing life is stronger than death.

We hung our art work over the dinner table for decoration!

Our Pentecost Dinner Menu:

(Sticking with the color red)

Red Beans and Rice

Flames of the Holy Spirit Sliced Strawberries

Bee Hive Garlic Bread

~The Beehive~

Judges 14:5-9

In helping one another and in protecting one another, we can imitate bees.  They teach us something of what it means to be a member of the church.

Living (flavored) Water

~The Water~

Revelation 7:13-17

The book of Revelation says that those who love God will drink from the waters of life.  

Chocolate Chip Dove Cheesecake
(Visit Catholic Cuisine where I posted the easy recipe!)

~The Dove~

Song of Songs 2:8-17

The dove represents the Holy Spirit on the 50th day...Pentecost!  When our eyes are opened by the power of the Holy Spirit to see deep into the heart of this world, Jesus Christ is everything!

~Our Dove was outlined with chocolate chips on our Pentecost Cheesecake for dessert~

This completes our count down!

50 Days of Easter...

At the culmination of the Easter season, let us unite in a great chorus of praise in the Spirit who is the life-breath of the whole world made new in the death and resurrection of Christ.

My heartfelt thanks to Jessica and Charlotte who inspire so many with creative ways to live our faith.  These Good Shepherd Garden Parties, through Catholic Cuisine, are just one of the many ways!

God Bless your Pentecost!

~One last Meditation on Pentecost to share~

Come, Spirit, Come!

Happy Pentecost & Happy Birthday to the Church!

~The Holy Spirit is alive and well today...And for this we are thankful~

It has been a day for celebration!

This is how we started our morning, before Holy Mass...

~These are Holy Spirit Pancakes, cut out from a cookie cutter and sprinkled with powdered sugar~

(We used fresh raspberries for the tongues of fire)

Angel Baby was a good helper!

Isn't this what Fire Fighters do best....Handle flames?

After Mass we made these Church Birthday crowns!

~These are actually Burger King crowns and we added flames of fire (to the tips) and the Holy Spirit dove to represent how the spirit descended upon the heads of the apostles on the Feast of Pentecost~

~These were easy little Gifts of the Holy Spirit candle covers (made on the computer) for 7 votive candles on the dinner table~ This made for great discussion as we read the meaning of each gift as we lit the candles~

You could even make these candles a little fancier but I just had time for basic!

These Holy Spirit Cupcakes were dessert!

Our dinner table set with the Pentecost Placemats we made on Friday and a white table cloth for "White Sunday"

~Three red roses (from our yard), representing the Trinity, now complete by the presence of the Holy Spirit~

Our Pentecost Dinner Menu:

"Flames of Fire" BBQ Hamburgers

Pentecost (Sweet Potato) Fries

12 Fruits of the Spirit Salad

Holy Spirit Cupcakes

Pentecost Red Fruit Juice

We used food coloring in the mayonnaise to give it the orange"Pentecost" flame color~The sweet potato fries were a natural flame color...And they're healthy too:)

12 Fruits of the Spirit Salad
(Tangerines, apples, blueberries, raspberries, green grapes, purple grapes, pomegranate, strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, raisins)

We served drinks that were Pentecost Red (In Color)

Holy Spirit Cupcakes

Happy Pentecost!
We had an early dinner since hubby leads youth group for Mer-man (oldest son)

Now for clean-up...I am here blogging instead (wink)

Come, Spirit, Come!

~May the Holy Spirit bless and guide you and your families today and always!~

Pentecost Placemats

We kicked off our weekend making Pentecost Placemats...

These were simple and fun!  We will use them to adorn our dinner table on Sunday.

These were our supplies:

Finger Painting the Spirit...Sky,Wind, & Flames of Fire

Even 2-year old Angel Baby could participate!

Final products, ready to laminate!

Army Dude~ Age 11

Angel Baby~ Age 2

Super Boy~Age 6

Princess~Age 7

Group Photo~ 7 Placemats for each member of our family