I Googled last night. Go ahead, click on that link.... let me google that for you... :)
It led me to a very cool site, Cookthink, with a great idea for a light and easy dinner for a bunch of tired but hungry people: ham, Swiss, and sliced pear pita sandwiches, grilled golden brown just till the cheese got a little melty. Mmmmm.
For my non-ham-eaters, we also made turkey, provolone, and Granny Smith pitas. Just as delicious.
Tonight during dinner, looking at all the beautiful faces around the table talking and laughing, I realized I would walk across hot coals for these people. Every one of them.
I don't get many opportunities to do that, however, so in the meantime I will have to settle for doing their laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning, putting fresh sheets on their beds, taking them where they need to go, praying for them, and cheerfully (most of the time) doing everything else that comes with the wife-and-mother territory.
When you think about it, the hot coals trick might be easier.
Our new Archbishop, Jerome Listecki, is being installed today. We've been watching the ceremony on and off this afternoon. (Thanks to WTMJ-4 and WISN-12 for broadcasting it.)
And while we're talking about shepherds... as you may recall, I love the song "My Baby Needs A Shepherd". It can bring me to tears in a New York minute.
Just think about those lyrics...
My baby needs a shepherd She's lost out on the hill Too late I tried to call her When the night was cold and still And I tell myself I'll find her But I know I never will My baby needs a shepherd She's lost out on the hill
My baby needs an angel She never learned to fly She'll not reach sanctuary Just by looking to the sky I guess I could have carried her But I didn't even try My baby needs an angel She never learned to fly ...
My baby needs a pilot She has no magic wand To help her part the troubled waters Of the Rubicon But in my soul I know she'll Have to go this one alone After all that is only way she's ever known ...
My baby needs a mother To love her till the end Up every rugged mountain And down every road that bends Sometimes I hear her cryin' But I guess it's just the wind My baby needs a mother To love her till the end
None of my children are lost, either physically or spiritually, thank God! And yet, I still can torture myself by thinking about the terrible sadness of these lyrics.
But yesterday, while praying for my children I realized that no matter what the future holds for my children, they have all those precious things mentioned in the song.
They have a shepherd: Christ.
They have an angel: their Guardian Angels.
They have a pilot: the Pope, pilot of the Barque of Peter, who will steer them safely through the roughest of waters (as long as they stay on board).
And they certainly have a mother to love them till the end: me, and of course, our Blessed Mother.