Again, no life story here, just a fresh summer salad meal that’s perfect for entertaining Catholics and non-Catholics alike on any given Friday! I’ll just add that the shrimp make this a celebratory kind of Friday unless you can grab those shrimp on sale. Let’s try to exercise austerity in remembrance of Christ’s suffering. Otherwise, you could always skip the shrimp and just do the salad with a little extra protein (I like to use the age-old staple of canned tuna, or you could serve some crispy fried tofu on the side for a little crunch!).
Materials:
2 small bowls
Medium bowl
Skewers
Watertight jar
Large bowl
Ingredients:
1 small red onion, finely diced
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp white sugar
1 pound large shrimp, shelled, tails on
¼ c + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp + ¼ c fresh flat parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic + 1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp + 2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper powder (optional, to taste)
1 tbsp garlic powder (optional)
2c chickpeas (if canned, drain)
1 small green mango, julienned
1 cayenne chilli, thinly sliced on the bias (optional and/or remove seeds/membranes to decrease heat as desired – the more seeds you keep, the hotter it will be)
1 large lebanese cucumber, diced
1 small yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
1c cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 large handful parsley, roughly chopped
1 large firm but ripe avocado, diced
½ tsp Dijon mustard
Prep:
For the pickled onion (can be done ahead of time):
Place onion, white vinegar and sugar into a small bowl and mix. Let sit at least 30 minutes then strain
For the Garlic Shrimp:
Whisk together ¼ c olive oil, cilantro, 2 tbsp parsley, tarragon, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp lemon juice, cayenne pepper powder (optional), a generous pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of pepper in a medium bowl.
Set aside about a quarter of the mixture in a small bowl.
Add the shrimp to the remaining mixture in the medium bowl, cover, and let sit at least 30 minutes.
Thread the shrimp onto the skewers, making sure to get a bunch of the garlic and herbs on each shrimp skewer, and if you like, dust with garlic powder for an extra garlic kick.
For the dressing:
Into a jar, pour the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, oil, and season with salt and pepper.
Close the lid tightly and shake well. Add thyme leaves (if desired) and lightly swirl.
Instructions:
On a grill or grilling pan heated to medium high heat, cook shrimp skewers, about 2 minutes each side. Once all skewers have been cooked, dress with remaining herby garlic mix.
In a large bowl, mix together pickled onion, chickpeas, mango, cayenne pepper (optional), cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes and parsley.
Pour dressing over the mix as desired, and toss.
Add avocado and gently toss.
Enjoy!
I’m interested to know what you thought, so please let me know in the comments! Same goes if you made any changes you’d like to share!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
What a week it has been! You’ll have to excuse the late joys post; the little one is going through a rough patch, so this short post has literally taken me days to write up!
We started with my baby’s birthday party and that was so good on so many counts! A day of joy, despite all the stress in the lead-up and the tiredness in the aftermath.
We went on a neighborhood walk and met a baby who lives a few doors down and whose birthday is the day before our baby’s! We even had a playdate with them! We had fun and we hope to see them again soon!
Our family had a few moments after the Saturday Vigil Mass to socialise with some of the parishioners, which was lovely. We learned that the stained glass windows in our church were entirely done by local volunteers as a gift to the parish didn’t – it took ten years of planning!
So now it’s your turn. What were some of your joys (from last week!)?
Today is World Productivity Day. You know, so much of this world is measured in productivity: objectives, output, KPIs… We fill our schedules to the brim, sometimes to the point that we have things we just cannot do. How often, when asked how you are, has your response been “busy”? Look, there is nothing inherently wrong with being productive. Achieving goals is a good thing! But we mustn’t fall into the glorification of endless productivity.
Take a note from Jesus Himself, who, despite knowing He would not be on Earth long, still took time away from His ministry:
But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
Luke 5:15-16
Christ also calls His apostles to rest right before the feeding of the five thousand:
He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Mark 6:31
Goodness, “no leisure even to eat”… how often do those words ring true in motherhood?!
From these two instances, we can see that Jesus valued rest and taking care of needs, and also that spending time in prayer was an important part of His own ministry. We must also acknowledge that our Lord didn’t withdraw or call His apostles away to simply laze about, but to have time to pray, and address basic needs, such as eating (though I don’t think they had much time to actually do this!).
As mothers (some of us working mothers), there are many demands on our time. We havemany things to do and our own “crowds” clamouring for our time and energy. It is not uncommon to hear about burn-out as a result of detrimental self-sacrifice. Jesus shows us by His example that we cannot spend all our time in service.
I’m not advocating for frequent, extended periods away from our family, or neglect our responsibilities to binge-watch The Chosen (I don’t think my heart or my tear ducts could take that, anyway!). We need to be disciplined in our practice of self-care lest it turn to a practice of me-first selfishness. Let us remember though, that we are both spiritual and corporal beings, and we have to look after both parts of our humanity – after all, it was given to us by God, and what’s more, we were made in His image and likeness. We should honour God’s work by taking care of it.
Self-care is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s not just feel-good activities (although these are not necessarily excluded). Ok, so it’s not frequently indulging in spa days and manicures or sitting around playing candy smashing games on your phone… so what is it?
As a mom, if you pay attention to milestones, you’ll see they are usually grouped into different domains. In my opinion, we do not really outgrow these domains; they remain a part of us. Self-care should address several of these domains, namely the physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual. Self-care, when practiced well, can ensure that your life as a whole is in balance. I’ll add some suggestions below just to prompt your thinking, but please keep in mind that you don’t have to do all of them, and you don’t even have to pick up one from each domain. Just doing a little – even just one thing – and knowing that you’re making a little headway in the self-care department. It’s about filling your own cup so that you have some to give to others.
When we talk about the physical domain, we could talk about rest! Moms are notorious for not getting enough rest. How is sleep? If you’re one of those people who has difficulty falling asleep when you have one of those rare moments to yourself, perhaps you could use your quiet time simply to rest – phone down, lay down, eyes closed. Perhaps you need to exercise more (guilty!). Or maybe you need to make sure you’re getting those five serves of vegetables every day – could a multivitamin help? Are you getting enough water? I like to have a water bottle with a straw in the car and take a sip at every red light (I only remember about half the time, but it helps to up my water intake!).
Emotional self-care can look like processing your day through keeping a journal, or maybe consider committing to sharing your joys of the week on the weekly blog posts here! You might choose to engage in a creative outlet – you could create some art, or write a poem, or even just sing along to a song or a hymn that expresses something you felt during the day. Do you have the time and funds to seek therapy? Alternatively, you could see if your workplace offers an Employee Assistance Program, which usually has a number of free counselling sessions. You could engage in a hobby or simply lean into the mom thing and find an opportunity to be fully present and spend quality time with family – they do bring us so much joy!
Cognitive self-care keeps our minds healthy and flexible. An obvious avenue is reading, (hey, what are you doing right now?!); writing, even just in a journal, is also a way to get those brain waves going. If you have the time, you could learn a new skill. Another suggestion is to take in new information through podcasts – perhaps from school drop-off or on the way to the pick-up!
Socially, it’s important to connect with others and maintain those social bonds. This could take the form of a phone call to family or friends, date night with hubby, or family outings with family friends. Anything that gets you interacting with other humans! This could also take the form of volunteer work (you can see if your local St Vincent de Paul Society has any programs to connect with isolated individuals in the community) – heck, maybe even your paying job allows you to do this!
As Catholics, spiritual self-care is probably the most important domain for us to exercise. It is what is written about in the Gospels every time they talk about Jesus going away to pray, from fasting in the desert, throughout His ministry, and to the agony in the garden of Gethsemane. It is, essentially, what we do to nourish our souls and grow in our faith. Perhaps the most important thing we can do in this domain is to receive Christ in the Eucharist. It is, after all, the source and summit of our faith! Other ideas include attending retreats, going to adoration, meditating on our Lord’s life (hello, holy rosary!), learning through Bible study, joining fellowship groups, reading about the lives of Saints… the list goes on!
When you’re a busy (productive?) mom, a nifty trick is to use one self-care act to cover multiple domains; you can feed two birds with one scone! You could listen to a spiritual podcast while you get some exercise in – that hits your physical, cognitive, and spiritual self-care all at once! And the best thing about self-care is that it will give you a renewed sense of vitality and you will be able to better serve those around you!
What are some ways you practice self-care? What are your busy mom cheats to cover more areas of self-care with fewer activities? And probably most pressingly, how do you manage to set aside time for rest?! Let’s share our tips and tricks in the comments!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Well, it’s that time of the week again… time to share our joys of the week!
I’m getting a bit of clarity on something I’ve been discerning for several weeks, now. I’ve still got some discerning to do, but getting some direction on where to go next is a good feeling!
We have an exclusive conact napper since birth, but just this week, I have managed to transfer my baby to the bed – twice! I’ve only had 10-15 minutes to myself but preparing food in peace has been so appreciated!
Last night, I got to have some food I’ve been wanting to eat for a loooong time. It’s a dish I haven’t had in years… and it did not disappoint!
What about you? What brought you joy last week? Let me know in the comments! Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
I missed posting last week! We had a terribly hectic weekend, so I didn’t get time to write about my joys (well, I needed the rest more than I had the inclination to write). But I’m back this week and I’d love to read about your joys too, so leave them in the comments!
On Sunday, we went to church at a different parish, because our parish Mass schedule was changed and we forgot (oops!). But it was a chance to discover a beautiful, new (to us) church, it was visually stunning! And the priest was on fire for his homily! It was truly a blessing in disguise.
I’ve personally been discerning about a return to the workforce (please pray for me!), but changing up what I do for work in a big way! I started to take some practical steps this week to find out how feasible the idea I’ve been feeling called to would be and got some encouraging news. I know more prayer and more research is to be done, but I’m happy to take it slow.
I’ve been crafting a little for kiddo’s birthday, which always brings me joy. It’s a smaller, let’s say a humbler joy, but a joy nonetheless!
Please put your joys in the comments. I love to hear from you! Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a pretty easy one to talk about to kids, because it pertains to the tender love of our Lord for us. Below is a simple language explanation of the reason for this monthly devotion.
These days, when priests give homilies, we often hear of God’s love and mercy, but this wasn’t always the case. Preachers used to emphasize God’s anger when they spoke to the faithful. But Jesus sent a message of love into the world to change this and that is why we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Sometimes you’ll hear people, both Christian and non-Christian, talk about how God in the Old Testament is violent and angry and how the God in the New Testament is much nicer, but this simply cannot be true. The thing about God is that He is unchanging. He is the same today as He was at the very beginning, and He will be the same every day until the end of time.
If you read the Old Testament carefully, you’ll see how His chosen people turn away from Him, over and over again (and if we are honest about our own hearts, we know there are times when we choose to turn away from God, too). But even though the people keep turning away from God, He keeps giving them more chances and keeps calling them back to Himself. Time and again, God shows them His love and mercy, just like He does for us.
Was God jealous and vengeful? Yes. And He still is. He is jealous because He does not want us to worship any false gods, to lose ourselves to money, power, popularity, or people. Imagine if your best friend one day said to you “you’re not my best friend anymore, I’m going to play with someone else and forget about you”. Wanting them to play with you again is jealousy, and you feel this because you love your friend. We see His vengeance play out when He does not stop the consequences of choosing to make other things gods in our lives. He respects our choice, even though it might hurt him, and allows us to be separated from Him, which leads to spiritual death.
But God was, and is, and will always be loving and merciful too! He offers every single person a loving relationship with Himself, where He will care for us and give us eternal life. He is also willing to forgive all our sins, over and over again.
His mercy is a way to avoid His vengeance, thanks to the perfect sacrifice Jesus made. All we have to do, all we ever had to do, throughout all of history, was to trust in Him.
This month, as we remember the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us remember that God’s love and mercy are generously being poured out for us forever. All we have to do is turn to Him to receive it.
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Alright Moms, it’s time once again to advocate for one another! This post is dedicated to your special intentions for the month of June. Just put your prayer requests into the comments, even as they come up throughout the month, and keep each other in your prayers – that’s all you need to do!
As usual, the pope’s monthly intention is below for us to include in our prayers.
June: for the abolition of torture We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to ensuring the abolition of torture and guarantee support to victims and their families.
Let’s send those prayers up and bring down the blessings!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
I write these “To Such As These” posts every now and then to explain some aspect of the Catholic faith to children. I try to use simple language so you can just read it directly to them instead of having to put it into your own words! The category name is inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
Today, we will be looking at Christ’s last words at the Ascension and how we can be His witnesses.
If you have any topics you’d like me to cover in this category, pop them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!
Today, we remember the Ascension, though many of us will celebrate it on Sunday. This is when Jesus, already risen from the dead, went up into heaven. Ascension is just a fancy word to say “going up”!
In the Bible, Jesus spoke last words to His followers at this event. He said, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
If you’re a follower of Jesus, these words were passed down from the earliest Christians through all the generations because they are for you, too. Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit and tells you to be a witness. But what is a witness?
You might be familiar with scenes from a courthouse. One person makes a claim, and to back up their story, they call someone to be a witness. This is a person who has seen with their own eyes what happened. They can show the rest of the courthouse more about the same story, perhaps in a slightly different way, but ultimately, the witness can strengthen the original message in the minds of everyone there in a powerful way.
Just like a courthouse witness, we are called to strengthen the message of Jesus. And His message is to follow Him, to love God and love other people. Pope Francis said that we are called to do this wherever we are,” right where we live, in our families, at work, everywhere, even just by giving the light of a smile, a light that is not our own – it comes from Jesus.”
The truth is, our world is not an easy place to live for a lot of people. They experience things that make their lives lonely, heavy, and dark. By witnessing to Christ, the pope says that we bring light into the darkness of the world. The pope reminds us to be good when we are given evil, to not give in to violence and lies, to stop hatred in its tracks through obedience to God and love. He says that “in the world’s nights, these witnesses bring God’s dawn.”
What all of that means, is that we are called to share Jesus’ light that is in us, with the rest of the world. We do this through acts of love, just as He taught the first followers, and as they have taught us throughout the years.
It doesn’t have to be big. Maybe you could donate some toys that you don’t play with anymore, maybe you could comfort someone who is sad, or hold a door open for someone who has their hands full, or help other people in the family with their chores if they are tired or even for no reason at all other than to shine the light of Jesus! Like Pope Francis said, it could be as simple as a smile.
Talking points
Can you think of some ways that you can be a witness?
Have you been a witness to Christ without knowing you were a witness? What did you do?
What will you do to be a witness today? What about tomorrow?
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
How was your week? My week was pretty rough, but there are always blessings to be counted. God is good, all the time! Let’s reflect and express gratitude.
Sunday started the week beautifully with a family jam… The little one started it by playing some rhythms on the high chair tray at the end of breakfast, so I broke out a couple of percussive instruments and we spent a little while just jamming together! Thank you God for anticipatory Masses (I’m beginning to understand why that was the timeslot of choice for my parents while I was growing up!).
Hubby and I got some spring cleaning done this week, and while the house isn’t completely spic and span (how often does that realistically happen with young children?), it definitely feels a lot more manageable. It was also nice to be able to donate some of the clothes we don’t use anymore to our parish thrift store. It is too easy to buy into (no pun intended) the materialistic consumerism that is ubiquitously in our faces. Fighting that is hard, but like GK Chesterton says, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” We gotta keep striving to live counter-cultural lives!
A family member had some medical tests that we were waiting on results for, and they all came back clear! All things in God’s time, but that’s still a big relief for me at this point in time.
Alright, that’s enough of me-talk. What about you? What are some of your joys of the week?
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Alright Moms, here is where we stand shoulder to shoulder with one another! This post is dedicated to your special intentions for the month of May. Simply leave your prayer requests in the comments, even as they crop up throughout the month, and pray for each other’s requests – that’s all you need to do!
I’ve also decided to share the pope’s prayer intention for the month, so we can include it in our prayers.
May: For church movements and groups We pray that Church movements and groups may rediscover their mission of evangelization each day, placing their own charisms at the service of needs in the world.
Let’s send those prayers up and bring down the blessings!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Mom Things Through Christ 