We Captured a Swarm! Wouldn't it Be Wonderful If We Could Capture Souls Like That?

I love being a beekeeper and I love all the saints who appreciate the bees and use them in their teaching. St. Francis de Sales mentions bees often in his sermons. Many other saints did too, e.g., Thomas Aquinas. 

I thought of that today when I went out to check our swarm trap and saw that we had, indeed, captured a swarm. It's been up about a month since I set it up and we didn't think it was going to be successful. Surprise! Today, after I got back from visiting my sister in Maryland, I went out to check, and the opening was covered with bees. To make the trap I used a bucket and put honey wax and some lemon oil in it and a little propolis. My husband cut a hole in the side for the entrance.  Yippee! We captured a swarm. 

What next? We put a frame of brood, some honey, and some pollen in a hive box and turned the swarm trap bucket upside down over the top entry after covering the entry hole. The bees have no place to go except into the hive box. Now we wait until evening and hopefully all the girls will have gone down and set up their new home. We'll leave them alone for a week or so and then see if the queen is laying.

The Shroud of Turin and the Face of Jesus

When I saw this image of Christ the King, I fell in love with it. One of the main reasons is because it looks so much like the face of Jesus reconstructed from the Shroud of Turin. All of the hoopla from unbelievers trying to say the shroud was a medieval fake has fallen by the wayside. The carbon dating that supposedly proved it wasn't old enough to be authentic was taken from a sample corrupted by the fire of 1532. No one has ever been able to recreate an image like that of Christ on the shroud by artificial means. Certainly, the technology to try to fake it was not available to the ancients. 

Thought for the Day: We All Need Beauty, and Don't Need to go Far to Find It!

 Remember Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz: 

We don't need to go far from home to find incredible beauty with ample reason to praise God. If you can't find God in your home, your yard, and your neighborhood, you probably won't find Him anywhere.

Sunday Meditation: How Can We Be Happy in Heaven if Our Loved Ones Aren't There?

Funerals turn the minds of the faithful to the four last things: death, judgment, heaven or hell. That's not too surprising when you think about it. Even those who have little or no relationship with God must think about "What's next!" when they attend a funeral. "Is this really all there is?... Where is my loved one, friend, acquaintance, colleague now?...What will happen to me after I die?" 

Question for the Day: What is Our First Duty?

 "I must be holy because my Jesus wants it."    

                                    St. Bernadette Soubirous

The Church often reminds us of our obligations according to our state in life. A priest's or nun's duty is not the same as a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a student, an employer, or employee. But one duty in which we all share is to be holy "because my Jesus wants it."

How do we do that? It's not very complicated, but it's anything but easy. Mary showed us how in her "fiat." When she responded to the angel, she gave us the answer. "Be it done to me according to your word." The angel was the the messenger of God's will. If we want to be holy we have to do one thing -- embrace the will of God! It's better to embrace His will out of love than out of fear, but Scripture tells us that the "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A child may behave out of fear of Daddy's anger, but it's better to behave out of love and respect. And as we mature in our faith, that hopefully becomes our default position.

Death has a way of focusing the mind.

My husband and I have experienced two deaths in the past eight months, an older sibling in each family. Reflecting on death and the power of prayer makes me so grateful for the Catholic Church family. Whenever I ask for prayers, dozens of you respond immediately offering Masses and rosaries and who knows what other acts of charity for the requested needs? I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

What Do You Think? Is the Divine Mercy Devotion Legit?

I've always felt a little queasy about the Divine Mercy Devotion. Personally, I don't pray it. Instead I pray the Sacred Heart novena which Padre Pio prayed every day. There are thousands of devotions in the Church. No one Catholic could pray them all. God gave us this abundance because we are like a huge flower garden. What nourishes one flower could kill another. The rosary is certainly a devotion for all that is like putting the best fertilizer on every flower in the garden. Most devotions aren't like that. 

What We Can Learn from the Bees.

Bees have been the subject of countless meditations from the saints over the generations. They are mentioned so often I believe they must have a special place in God's kingdom. And what a privilege to serve as a beekeeper for these tiny creatures of God. They teach me so much.

Yesterday my husband and I inspected our hives to make sure they all have enough room to expand. This time of year we try to prevent swarming.

 Three hives had so many bees and the boxes were so full of nectar and pollen we added a new box to each one. It made me think of the posts I've seen lately about how many people have come into the Church this year. Praise God for all the newbies (and newbees)! 

Can we stop with the circular firing squad already!

I read a post yesterday that set my teeth on edge. It was from a Catholic who had his assault rifle aimed dead center on traditional Catholics. Well, he wouldn't want to call them "traditional" Catholics because the word Catholic should stand alone -- no adjectives. We're all just plain, old Catholics. 

Halleluia, He is Risen! Have a Blessed Easter.

Let us walk with Jesus like the disciples on the road to Emmaus listening and learning from Him. He has the words of eternal life.