"Love and sacrifice are closely linked,
like the sun and the light. We cannot love without suffering and we
cannot suffer without love." - St. Gianna Beretta Molla.
"Every meal should be prepared with love and eaten in peace, because its purpose is to strengthen us for the service of love."- Catherine Doherty
On Saturday evening we enjoyed a beautiful celebration of St. Gianna Beretta Molla with a family dinner: garlic chicken salad, with toasted ramen noodles, red onion and red-wine vinaigrette dressing, bruschetta with freshly-cut basil, and a Brazilian dessert of coconut custard and fresh fruit salad; bright sun-burnt-colored roses made the table shine.
Madge
and Mommy made place cards for the table, and in honor of St. Gianna
they colored Italian flags on them. The underlying adjective of the
meal, fresh, reminds me of new life, and in St. Gianna we are given a
beautiful example of sacrifice through death, which brought forth
freshness, new life: for her eternal life and for her baby girl Gianna
Emannuela, an opportunity to walk an earthly life and share God's gifts
and graces through herself, thanks to her mom's sacrifice in laying down
her own so as to give life, God's gift, to her daughter.
As
I think about the life of St. Gianna I am reminded of how closely
related are St. Gianna's quote and Blessed Mother Teresa's quote on our
daily duties. Mother Teresa says that we ought o be faithful in the
small things for it is in them that our strength lies, and St. Gianna
says that our sanctity, the real stuff, that will help us get to heaven
is in the daily tasks, the dishes, the cleaning, the conversations, the hidden acts of love,
straightening drawers, filling soap dispensers, sweeping, all of the
"necessities" that are hidden. Hidden was Our Lady's life and so bright
was her faithfulness, her love, her humility. These three lives are so
worth contemplating, but more than that, their actions are so worth
mirroring.
"Every meal should be prepared with love and eaten in peace, because its purpose is to strengthen us for the service of love."- Catherine Doherty
On Saturday evening we enjoyed a beautiful celebration of St. Gianna Beretta Molla with a family dinner: garlic chicken salad, with toasted ramen noodles, red onion and red-wine vinaigrette dressing, bruschetta with freshly-cut basil, and a Brazilian dessert of coconut custard and fresh fruit salad; bright sun-burnt-colored roses made the table shine.
Madge
and Mommy made place cards for the table, and in honor of St. Gianna
they colored Italian flags on them. The underlying adjective of the
meal, fresh, reminds me of new life, and in St. Gianna we are given a
beautiful example of sacrifice through death, which brought forth
freshness, new life: for her eternal life and for her baby girl Gianna
Emannuela, an opportunity to walk an earthly life and share God's gifts
and graces through herself, thanks to her mom's sacrifice in laying down
her own so as to give life, God's gift, to her daughter. 
