Girls' State

We have been missing her this week--from her texts we know she is loving it. :-)

Memorial Day

Like last year, Father said an outdoor mass at the cemetery--weather was perfect and what a beautiful mass.

Sunday morning peace

Happy Birthday, Number One!

Love my job

Workmates

Fashion statement

New job!

Sweet girls

Lilac Season

Laura and Bret's wedding yesterday

Laura's wedding

 Instead of a cake, they asked me to prepare the program with the mass.

Love my girlbies!

Art Show last night

Husband's birthday

This year we got to celebrate together!

Remembering Mamae

Anniversary of Humanae Vitae

I spoke at every mass this weekend. Nice to be finally home! Text below. 

This summer, the Catholic Church celebrates a very special anniversary.

The papal encyclical Humanae vitae was published fiftye yearso ago. The letter was written by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1968, and it provides beautiful and clear teaching about God's plan for married love and the transmission of life. Since that time, the world has gone through many waves, waves that have come to prove how prophetic this letter was. This is a landmark anniversary.

Here at Saint Thomas More parish we have a further reason to celebrate, as we now have an active and recently-trained teacher of Natural Family Planning, the beautiful Mrs. Jody Thomson. Jody and I are up here because we have a very special invitation for you.

My name is Ana Braga-Henebry, I am married to Geoff Henebry who is a scientist and professor on campus, and we joined STM parish almost 5 years ago. I enjoy volunteering here at the parish in a few different ways, but our invitation today reflects, what is I ant most to bring to the parish.

My husband and I have been speaking to the engaged couples here in Brookings about Natural Family Planning for a few years now, as we have done in the past for over twenty years, in different parishes and diocesan programs, from Manhattan Kansas to Manhattan, New York. We used NFP and I taught the Creighton Model method of Natural family Planning developed at Creighton medical school and used worldwide. This is the method that Jody was trained in, and the Brookings community is extremely fortunate to have her as a local teacher!

Through the years, Geoff and I developed a dynamic PowerPoint presentation where we tell the story of our life as we had and raised our kids. As Father Andrew asked us to do, our intention is to show the beauty and wisdom of living the way God has called us to do.

So, taking the opportunity of this important 50th anniversary, and the fact that we have a newly trained teacher, we want to invite you, parishioners, to come Thursday evening. Geoff and I will tell our story and show our pictures, we will explore different points including what Humanae Viate states that was so prophetic, and also how bringing up a family, contrary to popular belief, brings us to be closer to each other, and closer to God. As you can imagine, our life story, as yours may be as well, is not without both drama and some humor.

If you are a married couple in the middle of the chaotic and wonderful time in life of having or raising kids, this is a presentation for you. Perhaps you never hear of NFP, or you have heard of it about it and would like to know more.

If you are my age, having had your children already, and now enjoying grandchildren perhaps, and you never really learned much about Natural Family Planning, this talk is for you! Come learn about this rich and beautiful way to live a Christian marriage and you will be empowered to talk about it to your children, and inspire them!

If you are a high school or college student, or a young professional woman, come to learn about the amazing gift that our human fertility truly is, what is God’s plan for this gift—how can it be used in a healthy and natural way!

Last but not least if you are one of the many StM families that already use NFP in your marriage, you are specially invited to attend, as your witness is will speak loudly..

New Pic

I had professional photos taken of me for the parish magazine as I was asked to write the monthly greeting this time.

Sneak Peek: 

From the Content Coordinator

Dear Readers,

Gregg Selberg kindly asked me to write the greeting for this issue. I must start by saying that writing for Brookings Parish Neighbors magazine has been such a delight! I have learned the stories of so many fellow parish families, admired the gorgeous photographs, and learned about our sponsors’ excellent businesses.

I see my work for this magazine as an opportunity to bring something of value to our parish family. Fostering communication, bringing awareness to parish and volunteer opportunities, as well as providing our sponsors with an ideal space to let readers know of their services. All worthy objectives, and we are happy to say these goals have been decidedly met and will be in future issues!

My prayer is that, through the magazine, we are able to know, love, and serve God better—since as Catholics we know that this is our main purpose in life. By getting to know our parishioners better, learning about new ways to serve, and enjoying spiritual reading as well, this publication can help us grow in our Catholic faith. Our Church is so rich in history, in spiritual clarity, and guidance; by growing in faith we also grow closer to God and to his peace. This desire is what is behind my efforts.

Thank you for all your many supportive and encouraging comments!

May Our Heavenly Father grant that your summer be safe, filled with joyful family time, and blessings!


In His Love,
Ana

Ana Braga-Henebry
Content Coordinator
Brookings Parish Neighbors Magazine
abragahenebry@decidedexcellencemedia.com.

Happy Birthday, Twins!

Happy 23th birthday, Number Five!

Happy 29th Birthday, Number Two!

 

Planting

Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek: I wrote this for the WRM Summer Journal...

Sunday Family Meals: My Culinary School

By Ana Braga-Henebry, M.A.



In his 1998 Apostolic Letter Dies Domini (The Day of the Lord), Saint John Paul II writes:

“Sharing in the Eucharist is the heart of Sunday, but the duty to keep Sunday holy cannot be reduced to this. In fact, the Lord's Day is lived well if it is marked from beginning to end by grateful and active remembrance of God's saving work. This commits each of Christ's disciples to shape the other moments of the day — those outside the liturgical context: family life, social relationships, moments of relaxation — in such a way that the peace and joy of the Risen Lord will emerge in the ordinary events of life.”

There are few opportunities that offer more dynamic and relaxed family time than a family’s sacred time around the table, sharing a meal. Sunday is the Eucharist day par excellence, a day set apart by our heavenly father for rest and the Eucharistic meal. No other activity reflects better that life-giving sacrament than the family meal.

For a busy mother at home, Sundays offer an opportunity to improve and develop a task that is mostly done in a quotidian, hurried and necessary manner. Rare is the weekday when mothers have time to put thought and challenging new skills into play as they make their daily family meal. Hungry kids, limited time, littles underfoot, and the never ending demands of the various family activities, all of these may make a more elaborate daily meal near impossible.

But Sunday comes, every week, to the rescue! On Sundays, a Catholic family is at home, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. Dad’s presence makes such a marking difference. The dining table is set more beautifully; liturgically-colored candles may be lit, and the mother, her many usual chores eased by the restful aspect of the day and the presence of her husband, is able to focus on the making of the family meal.

I could say that the above scenario is the story of my life. For over thirty years, Sundays were to become my culinary school: challenging myself to please the family and our guests, I developed dishes and stories around them. My husband was with my little ones, and we often had guests over. The absence of common chores provided time for me to peruse cookbooks and plan meals that were more festive and reflective of the holiness of the day.

I have always loved cooking. I grew up in different world, in South America, and Cook did not allow us kids in the kitchen much—unless I begged and promised to help, I hadn’t a chance. I remember my first entries into the culinary world: being allowed to peel potatoes or sort beans while observing the meal preparation. What better way to learn? Mother would make our own meals on Sunday evenings and to this day, I make her same pizza crust. She also made all of our many birthday cakes, and that recipe too is my default wedding cake recipe as our kids and godchildren are married.

When I found myself married in the USA, I reveled in reigning in my own kitchen. My poor husband was guinea pig for all sorts of cultural assimilation attempts. The good man never complained, but I know how many failures I served him. Before I had completely adapted, however, the kids, and many of them, were underfoot, growing, always hungry. My ambitious culinary dreams became a work of mercy: feeding the hungry. My challenges consisted in making good-tasting and filling meals out of basic, inexpensive ingredients. No time for sauces, garnishes, or the trying of too many new ingredients.

But the children grew, as children always do. The older ones started saying how they enjoyed “Mom’s” food, and husband tasted fewer failures. Some of the kids were interested in learning, and their daily dinner help allowed me to start developing new things again. Moreover, the Sunday dinner guests, old or young from near and far, were more frequent and brought with them recipes, dishes, and more ideas. They also brought praise, praise for food that was homemade, that was real and made from scratch, and had years of experience behind it. For so many years, Sunday after Sunday, meal after meal, I experimented, tried new recipes and methods, made mistakes, and learned!

Before the youngest reached high school age, I saw myself doing cooking demonstrations and classes in our college-town community. I come up with the themes, recipes, cooked and entertained. I tell stories, of growing up in a world where herbs grow year round and a dry-spice cabinet is not need, and I tell them cooking is not as much about food as about love. My audience is as diverse as you get, but I do use the word “sacredness” and it is consistently well received. I go to school meetings or shopping, and people approach me: “I loved your cooking class! It was so much more than food!”

Once I received a Thank You note: “I haven’t heard about the importance of sitting together as a family since I was a little girl”, my admirer wrote. I kept the note into a drawer of treasures. As I read further, I sensed that the middle-aged writer was moved by coming across something she thought our society had lost forever: the sacredness of a family meal, with friends around the table.

The day of the Lord was my school, and the praise I receive is all His. In His infinite wisdom, He was the one who gave us Sundays! Mothers may use Sundays for the rest they need, and also for developing interests they may not have time for during the week. A good book, needlework, or just conversations they are too busy to have other days. For me, the growing family, the loving support of my husband, the reaching out to dinner guests, and the time Sundays allowed me, all became my culinary school! For my ability to feed delicious food to others, and to have it transformed into a sacred experience, I give thanks and praise to God!



Ana’s Signature Dish:

Frango Catupiry (Herbed Cheesy Chicken)

This is a Brazilian traditional dish that has as many variations as there are cooks. I developed my own through trial and error through the years…

About 3 lbs chicken, diced (I use boneless, skinless)

Sauté in 3-4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add fresh crushed garlic (several cloves) and salt to taste

(Tip: Pan fry for a while until golden and crispy)

Add 2 chopped onions

4 large, ripe, fresh tomatoes, diced (2 Ro-tel or petite-diced cans also work well)

Cover, let it simmer at least 20 minutes

Add two 8 oz packages softened cream cheese, stir to incorporate completely

Garnish with any combination of fresh herbs from the garden: basil, chives, cilantro, parsley, very finely chopped.

Serve over your favorite rice or side dish

Sunshine

We are now a Two-Professor couple

In less than a week, since that trip to the store,  I exchanged email, was interviewed, updated and sent my resume, and was offered a job as an Adjunct Professor here at SDSU. I will be teaching two ESL courses this summer, and they invited me to apply later this summer for the Fall semester as an on-going Adjunct professor.

Husband has always said that once I started working, this would be the perfect position for me. We are celebrating, and now I have a serious summer challenge ahead. One I am excited to tackle!

We celebrated tonight with an Italian dinner date!

I thank God for the opportunities and guidance He never fails to grant!

Number Six will be home on May 14!

We can't wait!!

How this blog saved a military saber, and added to family history

These photos are taken from a post long ago in the beginning of this blog during our last family trip to Brazil. My oldest brother sent an email asking if we knew anything about this sword and I was able to direct him to this post. From here, sister-in-law Maristela (Col. of the Brazilian Army and curator of military history museum in Rio) was able to gather information from a colleague who is a specialist in military historical items, and it turns out he knows everything about the sword, which turned out to be a rare specimen, see below. We also discovered much about this great-great-grandfather, most especially that his son, with the same name as our grandfather, was a priest and Chair of Philosophy at a northwest university and an amateur historian and scientist.

To record things, even very simply, can be crucial sometimes. Number One and I are purchasing the sword and donating it to the Military Museum in the Copacabana Fort in Rio.

Data de nascimento:21/Outubro/1847\

Joaquim Antunes de Oliveira - Conego honorário da extincta Capella Imperial por C. I. de 5 de Abril de 1879 e Vigário da Matriz de Santa Rita, (...) Nasceu em Aracaty a 21 de Outubro de 1847, filho do Capitão Raymundo Antunes de Oliveira e D.a Francisca Joanna da Costa Barros, filha ou neta de Francisco José da Costa Barros.Fez seus estudos no Seminário de Fortaleza, recebendo ordens de Presbytero do 1.o Bispo, D. Luiz, a 30 de Novembro de 1870, e em Janeiro seguinte foi nomeado Parodio de Soure donde foi removido em Dezembro para a Capellania de Jiqui, freguezia de União. A 28 de Abril de 1879 concorreu para a cadeira de Philosophía do Lyceu do Rio Grande do Norte e foi para ella nomeado pelo presidente Marcondes Machado. A' sua iniciativa e expensas se deve a traducção em vernáculo por Carlos de Laet, 1897, da Vita delia Beata Rita de Cássia, escripta pelo Padre Lourenço Tardi. Era membro correspondente do Instituto Geographico e Archeologico de Pernambuco por titulo de 20 de Fevereiro de 1880. Em sessão de 20 de Agosto de 1909 o Conde de Affonso Celso offereceu ao Instituto Histórico Geographico Brazileiro um trabalho sobre historia pátria por elle deixado.Consta também que escrevera uma obra, ainda inédita, sobre Questões de Direito Canónico.Falleceu a 31 de Maio de 1901 na Capital Federal.

"É um sabre de oficial modelo 1851/52.Modelo amplamente usado pelos oficiais na GTA.
Lâmina alemã.
Fabricante PDL de Solingen.
Lâmina produzida em aço carbono com guarda e bainha feitas de alpaca.
Corresponde ao período da GTA.
Valor : 2000,00 /3000,00."