Faith

Faith is the most important thing in my life. With faith I can do all things even move mountains.
I want to share the beauty of the Catholic Faith with my family  and in particular, to my beloved grandchildren through my words and deeds and from my joy of living this beautiful life God has given me. I want to teach my family and grandchildren the beautiful family traditions and Catholic Church Traditions  of our faith and how sacred it is and that it is the most important thing in our life. I want to impart to my to them how much Jesus loves each and every one of us and how much good comes from loving Jesus and knowing Him. Everything that I do should be rooted in good morals by teaching our family never to give up hope in God, to always be strong through faith in Jesus Christ, and to fix things when they go wrong with faith, hope and love. It is my hope that will make me a good example to my family and show them that when someone, that is God, loves us so much, that we, in turn, can go through anything in this earthly life. I hope to be supportive and kind to my grandchildren when they receive the blessed sacraments like Holy Communion and Confirmation and continue to show them good moral standards with love, patience and understanding. One of my heartfelt wishes is that I will be able to take my precious grandchildren to Eucharistic Adoration to experience the true presence of Jesus and to talk to Him. My most favorite time with my family is when we all go to Sunday Mass together followed by a good breakfast at our home. Being Catholic and Italian has taught me how beautiful it is to nourish our bodies through wonderful Italian Cooking and to nourish our souls with Holy Communion.  This partaking of food at the Lord's Table and at our Family Table unites us as One with each other and One with The Lord. For Jesus said not to seek for bread that perishes but seek for food that lasts unto eternal life. He told us that He is the living Bread that comes from Heaven and that his flesh is food for the life of the world. I firmly believe that the bread and wine at the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at banquet with my Lord and Savior, is transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus becomes truly substantially present under the appearance of the Eucharistic elements.This is as the Catholic Church states  the source and summit of our Catholic faith. I am so thankful to God for my Catholic faith in this belief of this Sacrament Most Holy,this Sacrament Divine.

Paradiso XXXIII 145

Here is a beautiful idea that everyone should live by that comes from the very last verse of Dante.

“L’amor che move il sol e l’altre stelle,”  ( The love that moves the sun and other stars )

( ParadisoXXXIII, 145 of The Divine Comedy)

In Dante’s time, the sun had not been recognized as the center of the universe, and thus, it was the belief that the sun and stars orbited us. God was viewed as light. Everyone who has ever had a near death experience will tell you they have seen a light and that God exists; but Dante challenges this idea. He tells us that God is not merely a blinding, refulgent vision of glorious light, but that God is the LOVE that moves the sun and other stars. The first thing humans know is light, without it we cannot see which is true but without LOVE we would not exist to see this light. There is so much evidence for God because of this Love that moves us.  Love moves Dante’s desire when he experiences it after a fleeting vision of God and ultimately in this last verse reveals the essence of his entire great work, of God, and of the universe ....that is, that God is Caritas ( Sacrificial Love) who moves all of Creation and all of Humanity! We are made in God's image and likeness and there is so much evidence for this LOVE that moves all of His world and all of His creation.

I recommend a site called http://www.magiscenter.com/

Fr. Spitzer who is a brilliant scholar and scientist has the following mission:

Our Mission:

Magis Center will provide comprehensive and systematic responses to restore, reconstruct, and revitalize belief in God, the transcendent dignity of every person, the significance of virtue, the higher levels of happiness, love, and freedom, and the real presence of Jesus Christ.

MAGIS CENTER Provides Responses to Four Popular Secular Myths  (click on the desired landing page icon below)

1. The false conflict between Faith and Science.
2. The false conflict between Suffering and the Love of God.
3. The false conflict between Virtue and Freedom.
4. The false conflict between the historical Jesus and “the Jesus of the Gospels., ,

In the following article of Pope Benedict of why he wrote his first encyclical Deus Cariitas Est.(God is Love)

is a more concise and scholarly explanation of Paradiso XXXIII 145.

The cosmic excursion in which Dante wants to involve the reader in his Divine Comedy ends before the everlasting light that is God himself, before that light which at the same time is the love “which moves the sun and the other stars” (Paradise XXXIII, verse 145). Light and love are but one thing. They are the primordial creative power that moves the universe.

If these words of the poet reveal the thought of Aristotle, who saw in the eros the power that moves the world, Dante's gaze, however, perceives something totally new and unimaginable for the Greek philosopher.

Eternal light not only is presented with the three circles of which he speaks with those profound verses that we know: “Eternal Light, You only dwell within Yourself, and only You know You; Self-knowing, Self-known, You love and smile upon Yourself!” (Paradise XXXIII, verses 124-126).

In reality, the perception of a human face — the face of Jesus Christ — which Dante sees in the central circle of light is even more overwhelming than this revelation of God as trinitarian circle of knowledge and love.

God, infinite light, whose incommensurable mystery had been intuited by the Greek philosopher, this God has a human face and — we can add — a human heart.

In this vision of Dante is shown, on one hand, the continuity between the Christian faith in God and the search promoted by reason and by the realm of religions; at the same time, however, in it is also appreciated the novelty that exceeds all human search, the novelty that only God himself could reveal to us: the novelty of a love that has led God to assume a human face, more than that, to assume the flesh and blood, the whole of the human being.

God's eros is not only a primordial cosmic force, it is love that has created man and that bends before him, as the Good Samaritan bent before the wounded man, victim of thieves, who was lying on the side of the road that went from Jerusalem to Jericho.

Today the word “love” is so tarnished, so spoiled and so abused, that one is almost afraid to pronounce it with one's lips.

And yet it is a primordial word, expression of the primordial reality; we cannot simply abandon it, we must take it up again, purify it and give back to it its original splendor so that it might illuminate our life and lead it on the right path.

This awareness led me to choose love as the theme of my first encyclical.

I wished to express to our time and to our existence something of what Dante audaciously recapitulated in his vision. He speaks of his “sight” that “was enriched” when looking at it, changing him interiorly (cfr. Paradise XXXIII, verses 112-114).

It is precisely this: that faith might become a vision-comprehension that transforms us. I wished to underline the centrality of faith in God, in that God who has assumed a human face and a human heart.Faith is not a theory that one can take up or lay aside. It is something very concrete: It is the criterion that decides our lifestyle.

In an age in which hostility and greed have become superpowers, an age in which we witness the abuse of religion to the point of culminating in hatred, neutral rationality on its own is unable to protect us. We are in need of the living God who has loved us unto death.

Thus, in this encyclical, the subjects “God,” “Christ” and “love” are welded, as the central guide of the Christian faith. I wished to show the humanity of faith, of which eros forms part, man's “yes” to his corporeal nature created by God, a “yes” that in the indissoluble marriage between man and woman finds its rooting in creation.

And in it, eros is transformed into agape, love for the other that no longer seeks itself but that becomes concern for the other, willingness to sacrifice oneself for him and openness to the gift of a new human life. The Christian agape, love for one's neighbor in the following of Christ, is not something foreign, put to one side or something that even goes against the eros; on the contrary, with the sacrifice Christ made of himself for man he offered a new dimension, which has developed ever more in the history of the charitable dedication of Christians to the poor and the suffering.

A first reading of the encyclical might perhaps give the impression that it is divided in two parts, that it is not greatly related within itself: a first, theoretical part that talks about the essence of love, and a second part that addresses ecclesial charity, with charitable organizations.

However, what interested me was precisely the unity of the two topics, which can only be properly understood if they are seen as only one thing.

Above all, it was necessary to show that man is created to love and that this love, which in the first instance is manifested above all as eros between man and woman, must be transformed interiorly later into agape, in gift of self to the other to respond precisely to the authentic nature of the eros.

With this foundation, it had then to be clarified that the essence of the love of God and of one's neighbor described in the Bible is the center of Christian life, it is the fruit of faith.

Then, it was necessary to underline in a second part that the totally personal act of the agapecannot remain as something merely individual, but, on the contrary, it must also become an essential act of the Church as community: that is, an institutional form is also needed that expresses itself in the communal action of the Church.

The ecclesial organization of charity is not a form of social assistance that is superimposed by accident on the reality of the Church, an initiative that others could also take. On the contrary, it forms part of the nature of the Church.

Just as to the divine Logos corresponds the human announcement, the word of faith, so also to the agape which is God must correspond the agape of the Church, her charitable activity.

This activity, in addition to its first very concrete meaning of help to the neighbor, also communicates to others the love of God, which we ourselves have received. In a certain sense, it must make the living God visible. In the charitable organization, God and Christ must not be strange words; in fact, they indicate the original source of ecclesial charity. The strength of "Caritas" depends on the strength of faith of all its members and collaborators.

The spectacle of suffering man touches our heart. But charitable commitment has a meaning that goes well beyond mere philanthropy. God himself pushes us in our interior to alleviate misery. In this way, in a word, we take him to the suffering world.

The more we take him consciously and clearly as gift, the more effectively will our love change the world and awaken hope, a hope that goes beyond death.

If you would like to read Pope Benedict's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, I recommend going on Marcellino D'Ambrogio's Crossroads Initiative Page which is where I located this article on the encyclical.

Hope you find these resources illuminatingly fascinating and informative.

Healthy Eating

Growing up Italian and traveling to Italy developed in me a very good and healthy palate. Everyday as a child my Mamma would make all her meals from scratch. I vividly remember eating a Primo and Secondo Piatto every day at dinner with the family. The Primo Piatto is the first entree of the meal which always consisted of some grain-based dish such as soup or pasta. We would also have polenta and gnocchi dishes as part of the Primo Piatto. I now love to make homemade soups because of the wonderful soups that my carissima Mamma made for us, her six children such as lentil or minestrone soup. Whenever I now ask my own grown married children what they would like me to  make for them, their response is always .....Minestra! For the Secondo Piatto  which was also always prepared for everyday dinner, not just Sunday ones, consisted of meat, chicken, or fish and a medley of different vegetables that were in season and fresh. My favorite Secondo was  Costolette alla Milanese (Milanese cutlets) accompanied by sautéed broccoli rabe and salad. The food was always fresh, nutritious and delicious! My Papa in America was a humble factory employee unlike in Italy before World War II in which he was the proprietor of a furniture  shop but despite his financial situation, he always made having an abundance of good, healthy food a priority in his home. On Saturdays I would go with him to outdoor markets to get the best produce and fruits and then to the best Italian stores in Chicago to get Italian specialties and other important staples for  my Mamma's unforgettable Italian dishes. Because we had a large family of seven, Papa would find great deals by buying bushelful of fruits and vegetables that my Mamma would then prepare or can. Our dinner table which Papa made because later on, he needed to accommodate my brothers who were married with children. Every Sunday everyone would come for Sunday dinner at one o'clock. The meal was always the same: a primo of pasta in meat sauce (sugo alla bolognese) and a secondo piatto of meatballs and other meats , sautéed greens and salad. Fruit followed by a special pastry with espresso always ended the meal. Wine and Italian bread was always another important part of the meal which had a special connection to our Catholic faith. I remember times at the table (A Tavola) with great tenderness and fondness. I have such a passion for eating healthy and feeding my family in a healthy way because of the full and intimate gastronomic experience I had eating in my Papa and Mamma's loving home. Now that I have tried to emulate them in their cooking and feeding their family, I realize what a labor of love and sacrifice it was for my loving and aging immigrant parents to provide such extraordinary meals for us  everyday of  their lives until they could not due to old age. I am totally indebted to them for teaching me  the art of eating healthy and scrumptious and delectable food. I also learned that my body is a temple of God that I need to safeguard from foreign objects such as too much fast food, GMO's, excessive salt and sugar and as of late, from genetically modified foods. Thinking about eating in my parent's home especially during my adolescence conjures up hundreds of  warm and intimate memories that stimulate to this day long after my carissimi parents' passing all of my senses and makes me so thankful for growing up Italian. I am very grateful to my carissimi genitori, Armando and Vittoria Giannese for teaching and inspiring me how to eat with immense love for good and healthy eating, reverence for quality not quantity and vast appreciation for eating healthy. In an American society that now produces unhealthy food for consumers, it becomes more and more difficult to cook as my Italian parents taught me and this saddens and worries me for  the health and welfare of my children and my grandchildren. We must as responsible citizens of this great land demand from our government that nutrition and good eating be promoted and protected.

il Mio Pranzo Italiano Domenicale (My Italian Sunday Dinner)

When my family celebrates a special day , event or milestone, I quickly begin to plan an Italian Dinner that will unite us all together  for that special day. My dinner generally or almost always reflects my Italian Mamma's Italian Sunday "Pranzo"that I had every single Sunday when I was a child. and even after I was married my husband and I would religiously go to my parent's house to have "Il Pranzo Domenicale" with the rest of my siblings (5 brothers) and their families) . For thirty years of my life I remember only one Sunday when my Mamma did not prepare Sunday dinner when she was ill. For the other ten years before she died at 78 years of age, Mamma would at times cry because she could not make her family the traditional Italian Sunday Dinner because she could not remember the recipes she had made hundreds of other times for us due to her degenerating disease of Altzeimer's and Parkinson's. Now, in honor and in memory of her, Vittoria Giannese, I lovingly try to continue to make meals as she did but certainly, not as naturally, as flawlessly, and as perfectly as she did but as lovingly as she did. I could never prepare meals on every Sunday as she did because I was a teacher and I could barely put a casual meal on the table on Sundays with all of the multitude of things to do on Sundays getting ready for another work week. As a French and Italian high school teacher, I would have six hours or more of paper correction alone. I want to parenthetically say that that does not diminish what my Mamma did but contrastively, augments.and distinguishes her selfless giving in this way to her large Famiglia. Infact, it must be noted that my Mamma made  dinners from scratch , not with processed but real food always,with a "Primo"and "Secondo" every single day. We never went to a restaurant until I was married. When I think back to all of these memories growing up Italian by Italian immigrant parents, I feel so grateful and blessed to have had such a childhood especially when I see how many of my students and children today come from so many broken and dysfunctional   homes. That is not to say that we did not have  our problems but  our faith, our family and our food kept us strong and well grounded. Before I begin to describe what a "Pranzo" would consist of, it must be stated that missing a Sunday "Pranzo" at Papa e Mamma 's was like missing Sunday Mass for me personally. I did not want to dishonor or disrespect my parents ever.!

Well, let's  get started in describing how I plan "Un Pranzo Italiano". First,  I decide on an Antipasto or food that comes before the meal such as Foccaccia with an array of cheeses and deli cuts such as Mortadella, Prosciutto Cotto or Salame all thinly cut and creatively folded on my Bellissimo Italian ceramic plate with "Sottoaceto" and "Sottolio" bowls surrounding the meats. Next, il "Primo Piatto" is served such as fresh Tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce or a Tuscan Ribollita soup with the freshest greens and vegetables in it all drizzled with the best extra-virgin olive oil  and the king of all cheeses as Mario Batalli would say....PARMIGIANO REGGIANO  freshly grated on top! The next part of the "Pranzo" is the "Secondo Piatto" which might be Veal alle Scaloppine with mushrooms and a "Contorno"  (side-dish) of roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary and sautéed broccoli rabe in garlic and EVOO. Certamente, select Italian wines complement each part of the meal such as a San Giovese  from  Emiglia Romagna or a Pinot Grigio from Friuli. To end "Il Bel Pranzo" I would perhaps begin with a dilectable "Macedonia"  (fresh fruit in season cut in small bite-size pieces with a touch of lemony sweetness, followed by a semi-freddo gelato with biscotti and mini Italian pastries accompanied by an espresso and digestive or Italian liqueur such as Amaretto di Saronno to aid the digestion of the sumptuous but wholesome meal." Acqua" wih lemon slices would also be served throughout the meal as well as  "Buonissimo"  Italian  rustic bread. Bread and Wine (Pane e Vino) must always be present  to symbolize  the Christian sacrificial meal of The Lord.

In essence, "Il Pranzo Domenicale" for me through my Catholic and Italian upbringing is a sacred tradition that was truly a gift to me by my dear parents all through my childhood which I remember so fondly that I want to continue replicating it to the best of my ability for my "Famiglia."  I now know that it is just not an Italian tradition but one that stems from the Christian civilization. Daniel Rabourdin states in his "Theology of the Table" that " the family meal is a sacred custom with a real beginning and a real end."  I agree with him that we have to treasure and maintain this social activity and bring it back to our families. I truly believe that if we begin serving our families at the table nightly or as regularly as we can, we will be able to heal little by little our brokenness in our families in this  very secular, relativistic and materialistic world. As Father Peyton said, " A family that prays together stays together." But I would add also that a family that prays and eats together, stays together,

BUON APPETITO!

TWO ORIGINS OF MY HOPE

My blog began with the intention to present all of the hopeful messages and contributions that come from Italy and its civilization and culture but now two years later and after a few challenges and sufferings in my life, I find myself talking more about my greatest hope which comes from Christ and my Catholic faith. I also now realize that my Catholic faith and my Italian cultural upbringing are often times inextricably linked. For example, the Eucharistic banquet of bread and wine ( the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) which is the true body,blood, soul and divinity of Christ which was instituted at the Last Supper can be tied to my daily family suppers which always included bread and wine at the table when I was a child growing up in an Italian home of first generation Italian immigrants. The Eucharist  at mass was my spiritual sustenance as bread and wine at home for supper was part of my corporeal sustenance. Both the earthly and more importantly, the heavenly food fed me like a queen with the best quality of spiritual and bodily nourishment I could ever receive! When I was born my dear Papa wrote a rhyme on a cake which he brought to the hospital which said: "E nata la Regina e la chiameremo Dorina."  (A queen has been born to us and we will call her Dorina.)
Dorina means "little golden one" in Italian but from its Greek and Latin origins, it means  "gift of God". I feel so humble knowing that, but the greatest gift of God to me was sending His only Son, Jesus Christ to give me the greatest hope, that of bringing me eternal life. If we choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can be saved and  receive His true presence  when we receive communion at daily or Sunday Mass or when we go to adore Him at Eucharistic Adoration. If people only knew what the sacrifice of the Mass and Eucharistic Adoration really are......as Heaven on this Earth, we would all fall to our knees in Thanksgiving to God for these most precious gifts. Eucharist means"Thanksgiving". Mass which is the highest form of prayer for Catholics is where I can humbly thank God for sending His only Son to atone for all of my sins.

In future posts I will be talking about other subjects that reflect a spiritual and cultural tie that came to me through grace,experience, wisdom, and knowledge of my Italian and Catholic heritage. The topics are endless and I am excited to continue to talk to you about the two topics of my Italian and Catholic heritages that are now converging to be present in this blog of mine under the overriding theme of HOPE/LA SPERANZA.

Hope Through Difficulties

We want to be self-reliant but we need to take an introspective look and ask for help if we are suffering. Jesus offers us hope so that we can be free. We need to be able to feel and express what we feel whether it is pain,failure or anxiety. We need to look at ourselves and not repeat the same thing or be defensive. When we are suffering, it is a sign to let God in. Be at peace with your self-evaluation and then get help. We are made to work with others. Our crosses draw us near to God so God allows difficulties so that we can get closer to Him. Jesus wants us to come in to our place of wounding and when we are filled with Him then we can  be healed and resolve our problems with strength, hope, determination,drive, and perseverance.
We cannot fix things on our own. We need to be resourceful and use strategies and get help from others as we help others when they need us.
We cannot deny our difficulties. We have to work through them and we need to persevere. We need to be humble and be at peace. In this way, the virtues of the Holy Spirit will be with us with more joy, peace, trust, hope, and courage. We need to have a growth mindset not a fixed mindset in order to succeed or to overcome our obstacles, to never give up! When we fall down in our difficulties and suffering, we need to use it as a process of healing and grace and try again in moving forward little by little.
Galatians 5:22
We need to process our difficulties and sufferings and we can begin to discover and heal them.
Others  can make it through others who have experienced what you have experienced so they can help you better because they have been there where you are at. That  holy person can be a contagion to you.  You can be a Eucharist to others and they can be a Eucharist to you. To doubt is OK to fear is OK. God is always working in us .Life is a process of healing and God's plan will provide continual hope and healing through His grace. To lose hope is a sin. But God does hear the cry of the poor and we must stay strong.
We need to go forward with joy and hope through our challenges of life.

.
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 1-5

Prayer Font of Hope

Prayer is the basis of Hope! Turning to my Catholic faith through the Blessed Mother,devotions and novenas, the communion of Saints,the Bible, Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacraments with the Eucharist as the summit of Catholicism helps me to focus on the promise of Heaven as I go through the joys but especially the trials and tribulations of life. Being Ill is not a punishment or our fault. God  can use it for His glory. By God's power we are made strong from our weakness. God can use our sufferings for His glory. My prayer life  guides everything I do and sustains my faith with  courage, perseverance and most importantly,with  HOPE. My personal relationship with Christ is an ongoing journey that continues to grow especially through the greatest prayer of all...the blessed sacrifice of the mass.  The everlasting love that God has for me and for all of humanity is what sustains me and gives me inexhaustible hope.The Blessed Mother is my intercessor to Jesus through the praying of the rosary daily.  So, the theological virtue of Hope which inspires my every thought and deed springs forth first and foremost from God through unceasing prayer.

 1 Thessalonians 5:17, St. Paul “Pray without ceasing”.  

O Jesus,

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer You my prayers, works,

joys and sufferings

of this day for all the intentions

of Your Sacred Heart,

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

throughout the world,

in thanksgiving for your favors,

in reparation for my sins,

for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,

and in particular

for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

Prayer found in Catholic Exchange .com