Restoration
Column: One Man's Scrap
This column contains articles which ask for specific donations for the needs of the Madonna House community. (Please pay attention to the article date - you should consider calling us for confirmation before donating anything requested more than a month ago.)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (September 2008) — The events of the summer are leaving us a bit breathless and amazed at all God is doing in the world and in Madonna House. Summer began with the Eucharistic Congress, which a number of us attended, followed shortly by... (September 23, 2008)
Do You Grow Apples? — Here is an unusual request. Since with our soil and climate, we are unable to produce fruit in the quantity our large family needs, we are dependent on donations. For many years a generous monastery has shared its apples with... (September 16, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (July-August 2008) — Dear friends, summer contains many joys for us: listening to the red winged blackbirds that nest in the swamp, swimming in the cold Madawaska River, and receiving visitors, to mention just three. It’s amazing how many people find their... (July 24, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (May-June 2008) — After our white, snowy Easter (plus a long snowy winter), the snows are finally receding and soon we will see a fresh growth of loveliness in the form of grass and flowers. It seems like we waited a long time... (June 26, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (March 2008) — By the time you read this column, we will have passed our Lenten journey. As we move forward in the light of the Resurrection, may all our hearts be wide open to receive the grace that awaits us. If you have never... (March 28, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (February 2008) — "Let us receive the announcement of Lent with joy! For if our forefather Adam had kept the fast, we would not have been deprived of paradise" (Byzantine Vespers). We greet you and pray that you receive an abundant share of... (February 29, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (January 2008) — Celebrating Our Lord’s Incarnation for the twelve days of Christmas is a most wonderful way to enter into a new year of grace. In the beginning of this new year, our hearts are joined with yours, and we are grateful... (January 30, 2008)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (December 2007) — The coming of God as man is a tremendous mystery, and Advent is a time when God invites us to a place of quiet inside where we can ponder this mystery.... (December 31, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (November 2007) — Every year we welcome November as a time of quiet between the busy harvest and food processing season and Advent. We begin the month with prayer for our deceased family, friends, and benefactors, and we end with the festive celebration... (November 30, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (October 2007) — "Earth, sweet earth, sweet landscape, with leaves throng." This line from the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins brings to mind the smells and sights of nature in autumn. We can concur with the sweetness, and as we welcome the change of... (October 29, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (July-August 2007) — For us in the north country, summer seems like a miracle. The transition from bare landscape to lush vegetation never fails to gladden us. Not that winter wasn’t fine, but ah, summer! The summer season is a busy time in... (July 30, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (May-June 2007) — What a delight it is to put away our winter boots and parkas and feel spring’s balmy air! We continue to thank God for the loveliness of nature around us and for all his gifts, which very much include you,... (June 26, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (April 2007) — A blessed, joyous Easter Season to each of you! With gratitude in our hearts for all the care and solicitude you show us, we come once again to present our needs in this humble little column.... (April 30, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (March 2007) — Our foundress Catherine often said, "Lent should fan the desire of men for God into a bonfire." "Day by day," she once said, "we should enter into our hearts and seek that desire, for it is our greatest treasure." That... (March 30, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (February 2007) — In the short span of Ordinary Time before Lent begins, our days marked by ordinariness, winter silence, and fidelity to our Nazareth life, we come to you with the needs and requests of our various departments.... (February 28, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (January 2007) — At the beginning of this new year, we want to take the opportunity to heartily thank you for your generous support during 2006, and to pledge to you our prayers during the coming year.... (January 29, 2007)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (December 2006) — Each year as we approach the holy season of Advent, we become more conscious that Madonna House is Our Lady’s house, modeled on that holy house in Nazareth where simplicity and harmony reigned and where the door was always open... (December 29, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (November 2006) — This month we have written this column differently. Since Cathy Mitchell wrote in "A Beggar’s Dilemma" about our current situation, we decided in this column to just list our needs. We are only doing a list for this one month.... (November 08, 2006)
A Beggar’s Dilemma — by Cathy Mitchell, local director of MH Combermere. I am writing to you, our dearest friends, to share with you a question and concern we are wrestling with here at MH Combermere. What do you do when you live by... (November 06, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (September 2006) — These days our souls and senses are filled with the abundance of summer beauty, summer produce, and summer liturgy, and our life is very full. You, our benefactors, are very much a part of that fullness, and each day our... (September 13, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (July-August 2006) — O Praise the Lord, all you nations; acclaim him all the earth (Ps 116). In summer, all of creation acclaims the Lord. And it’s not only nature that announces his goodness to us, but each day we see that goodness... (August 28, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (May-June 2006) — May and June are special months for our Madonna House family. During May the directors of all our mission houses come to participate in their annual meetings. Then in June, we have the joy of witnessing staff make and renew... (June 01, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (April 2006) — Spring comes late to our northern land. So someone around here was saying that she likes it when Easter is late, as it was this year, because then our weather is apt to be more springlike, more in tune with... (April 28, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (March 2006) — Dear friends, we greet you on the threshold of Lent—a season that, if we but let it permeate our souls, will bring us a hunger for God. Please God, this desire for God will grow in all our hearts as... (March 31, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (February 2006) — February is a quiet month for Madonna House, a month of snow and cold, a month that lies between the festivities of Christmastime and the austerities of Lent. In February there are few signs to give hope that spring is... (February 24, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (January 2006) — In January, the silence of winter’s womb wraps Combermere in its depths. In spite of the darkness the world is facing at this time, the presence of the Infant whose birth we celebrate, gives us expectant hope for this coming... (January 25, 2006)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (December 2005) — In her book, Donkey Bells, Catherine Doherty speaks about Advent: “For me, the word ‘Advent,’ has a double connotation. It means the arrival of a new liturgical season, the preparatory time for Christmas, for the coming of Our Lord as... (December 09, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (November 2005) — “We are beggars for the Lord! Alleluia! We are beggars for the Lord—first for the poor whom we serve everywhere, and secondly for ourselves. This has been God’s desire, his mandate to me, when I first started way back in... (November 30, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (October 2005) — In Combermere in October the cold, bracing nights and the warm, sunny days produce leaves of every shade of red, orange, and yellow. They are so beautiful in this area that busloads of people coming to see them are not... (October 31, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (September 2005) — This summer our celebrations have been more than usual, but whether we are in the midst of celebrations or living our ordinary lives, a grace-filled undercurrent carried us through full days of ordinary little things done with great love.... (September 28, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (July-August 2005) — Summer has arrived, and so have old friends and new, to visit the shops, to have a tour, to live and work with us, or to experience some other facet of our life. Our Lady of Comber-mere has a gift... (July 15, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (May-June 2005) — Spring! Never has that season been so welcome. It was a long, cold winter with lots of snow, which, as of this writing, is still not gone. We will be so glad to see the land filled with warmth and... (May 30, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (April 2005) — Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Having been nourished over the years with Easter life, we come to you with joy and enthusiasm, and we rejoice with you in the incomparable gift of the graces we... (April 29, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (March 2005) — Lent and Easter is a blessed time to deepen our prayer life and carry the suffering of the many people throughout the world whose sorrow is before our eyes via the daily news. As we come to you again as beggars... (March 30, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (February 2005) — Dear friends, we have been especially conscious of you during these past few weeks. For we have just completed several sortings of the donations you have sent us. We are deeply grateful for your friendship and your attentiveness to our... (February 01, 2005)
One Man’s Scrap, Another Man’s Gold (January 2005) — As we enter a brand new year, it is our heartfelt prayer that we live the Gospel more fully this coming year than we ever have. The world needs that from all of us Christians as never before.... (January 01, 2005)
