May 2013

New Evangelists Monthly - May 2013

New Evangelists Monthly - May 2013

Forward

...about this eBook

Saved by Hope

The Back of the World by Ryan McLaughlin

The Scarlett O'Hara School of Devotion

Forget The Roads by Renee Lin

In the Aftermath of Boston: Lessons Relearned By the Wife of a World Trade Center Survivor

Rambling Follower by Allison Salerno

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

The Koala Bear Writer by Bonnie Way

Got Holy Spirit?

A Dreamer's Wife by Stefanie Shick

Full of Grace

Catholic & Crunchy by Stacy Cash

Can we face the truth, deal with reality?

Catholic Deacon by Deacon Scott Dodge

Fr. Ronan Murphy on The Rosary: The Devotion for our Times - CHAPLET Conference

Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool by Allison Girone

Catholic 101: Moral Relativism

call her happy by Jenna Hines

Tough Guys Don't Pitch Tents

Smaller Manhattans by Christian LeBlanc

Seasons of Love: My Thoughts on Natural Family Planning

Shalom Sweet Home by Jessa

As in a Fortress

The Cloistered Heart by Nancy Shuman

A Shower Of Roses

The Hill Country Hermit by Theresa Doyle-Nelson

3 Reasons I Love Catholicism, Vol 1

Revolution of Love Blog by Bobbi

Jesus Exposes Darkness

A Spiritual Journey by David Wong

Review: This Little Light of Mine

This That and the Other Thing by Ruth Curcuru

How To Licitly Use NFP To Postpone Pregnancy

NFP and Me by Katie Falk

Women Speak on NFP: Introducing a New Series

Carrots for Michaelmas by Haley Stewart

I Believe: The Creed and You by James Forsyth

Plot Line and Sinker by Ellen Gable Hrkach

Monday Musings - Stop Searching For Loopholes and Make The Salvation of Souls Priority Number One!

Harvesting The Fruits Of Contemplation by Michael Seagriff

The What Ifs...

The Fisk Files by Britt Fisk

Raising the temperature

Kitchen table chats with a Catholic Matriarch by Denise Hunnell

Spiritual Practices: Examination of Conscience

From the Pulpit of My Life by Ruth Ann Pilney

On Marriage

Lord, Make Me a Saint by Jamie Jo

The Joy of Pope Francis

JOY Alive in our hearts by Nancy Ward

Jesus, I trust in You

Convert Journal by George Sipe

Warden in Lunacy

One Arrow Alone by Eli Stok

Chocolate and Catholicism- Blogging from A-Z

A write a day can keep the writer (relatively) sane

An Evening with Cardinal Schonborn

Dominus mihi adjutor by Fr. Hugh Somerville-Knapman

Southern Baptist Seminarian Turns to Rome, One Year Later

St. Joseph's Vanguard by Devin Rose

The Eternal Key

Journey to Wisdom by Heidi Knofczynski

He Is Not The One

The Veil of Chastity by Cindy Hurla

Persecution: You May Be Be Using That Word the Wrong Way

Aleteia: The news of the world from a Catholic perspective

Teaching Contracts

Ranting Catholic Mom by Suzanne Carl

The Day I Heard the Lord's Voice, The Day I Knew Jesus Is Real

DavidLGray.INFO by David Gray

The Power of the Resurrection

Veritas Lux Mea by Justin Geldart

For the prospective apologist

Washed, Sanctified and Justified... by De Maria

The Pinterest Prayer Book

Equipping Catholic Families by Monica McConkey

So Young

A blog for my mom by Rosie Hill

Could YOU befriend Paul?

makingthetrek by Tracy E

Why Evangelicals should be praying for Pope Francis

Young, Evangelical, and Catholic by Brantly Millegan

Mid Eastertide Reflection on the Resurrection

A Catholic Life by Matthew P

When infertility is a blessing

by Rita Buettner

Fatherless

Prints of Grace by Trisha Niermeyer Potter

Beach Reflections

Jumping In Puddles by Jennifer Cox

Glimpses of Heaven

CHOCOLATE FOR YOUR BRAIN! by Sherry Antonetti

We Cannot Tame the Spirit of Murder, Part II

V for Victory! by Anita Moore

Caricatures of the Catholic Church

Outside the Asylum by Anthony Layne

No Greater Love than This: Part 2

Catholic Sistas by Martina Kreitzer

The Devil is in Comparison

worthy of Agape by Amanda Mortus

Shining a Light: Why Gosnell Matters

Peace Garden Writer by Roxane Salonen

If God Exists

8 Kids And A Business by Terry McDermott

Undoer of Knots

salliesART by Sallie Thayer

Singing Alleluia Through Our Tears

Little Steps Along The Way by Amanda Rose

Divine Mercy and confession

Blog of a Country Priest by Fr. John Corrigan

Children belong at Mass. Period.

fountains of home by Christy

Confessions Of An Imperfect Life: Food, The Scale, & Me

Crinion Clan by Deme Crinion

Jesus: "The Original Hipster"

The Syrophoenician Woman by Bethanie Ryan

Wooed by His Sacred Heart

Imprisoned in my Bones by Anne Bender

Do you care about Dzhokar Tsarnaev?

Evangelical to Catholic by Anthony Ellis

Memoir Monday~ Glacial Peaks, Alpine Creeks, Gunslingers and Gold Miners: How the West Was Lost Part 1

Campfires and Cleats by Chris Capolino

It's OK

Martin Family Moments by Colleen Martin

Take This Seriously {Sunday Tradition}

Glimpse of Peace by Bridget Adams

Social Media in the Marriage and the Family

A Catholic Mom climbing the Pillars by Ebeth Weidner

So You Want To Be A Stay-At-Home Mom (Or Dad)?

Domesticity and Doctrine by Erika Reece

Thoughts on gender hierarchy and roles

Arleen Spenceley by Arleen Spenceley

Thinking About Divine Mercy

Tercets by Elisa Garza

Relics: Snipping Hair and Cutting Habits

Sue Elvis Writes by Sue Elvis

Our Lady, Aqueduct of Grace

The Trenchcoat Introspective by Elizabeth Norton

Body + Soul = A Theology of Discipleship

New Evangelizers by Jennifer Fitzes

End Abortion: It's Simple, Yet Complicated

Designs by Birgit by Birgit Jones

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Forward

New Evangelists Monthly is an informal, dynamic, crowd-sourced “meta-magazine” showcasing the best posts faithful Catholic bloggers publish each month. Here you will find many different, but faithfully Catholic viewpoints, insights and perspectives.

Contributing authors submit their very best piece from the prior month between subsequent first and second Saturdays. Readers are welcome to visit anytime, even while contributions are still being accepted for a new issue. Back issues are available in the archive.

eBook editions such as this are available within a few days following submission deadlines (the second Saturday of each month). eBook formats include .mobi for Kindle users, .epub for most other eBook readers and .pdf for everyone else.

For the latest edition of New Evangelists Monthly, or for more information about this New Evangelization initiative, visit us at:

NewEvangelists.org

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:   Regardless of where you enjoy New Evangelists Monthly, either online or in this format, note that copyright is exclusively retained by the respective contributing authors. If you wish to use or redistribute any of their content, please contact them directly for licensing information.

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Saved by Hope [at The Back of the World]

Some of the most moving experiences in my life have been walking through Gothic cathedrals in Europe. Nothing captures my imagination or lifts my spirits quite like tremendous stained glass, vaulted ceilings, ornately decorated columns, fierce gargoyles… I cried the first time I walked through Notre Dame in Paris (which was when I took the above picture).

Often, the great Gothic cathedrals took far more than one lifetime to build…for instance, when I was in Lausanne, Switzerland, I learned that the cathedral there was begun in 1175, and not consecrated until 1275–a full century later.

I’ve often wondered about the mindset of that first generation that began a cathedral, knowing full-well that they would never live to see the fruits of their labor…and nor, for that matter, would their children, possibly even their grandchildren. How must that have felt? What kind of hope did it take to begin to lay the foundations for a great church, knowing that only generations born in the distant future would have their breath taken away by the streams of light washing through the sanctuary?

***

Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once said: ”Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we are saved by hope.”

I’ve been thinking about that quote a lot the last few weeks. As you may have noticed, posting here has been rather sparse: I’ve had a lot on my mind. The marathon bombings here in Boston through everyone for a loop. A dear friend of mine is dying of cancer. To top it off, work has been brutal the last couple of weeks. I’ve been overwhelmed with everything I’ve had going on. Additionally, I’m discouraged. It’s a long story, but I feel as though a major task I’ve worked on for the last two years hasn’t really shown much fruit. Not yet, at least. And I’m having to walk away before its done, not knowing what the outcome will be.

And really, a lot of us are in this kind of situation. We feel called to a particular vocation, and we set off, guns blazing, ready to change the world and bask in the glory of it all…but then things go slowly. A decade goes by, and we’re still working on the building’s foundations, so to speak, not even coming close to putting up columns yet. We realize, little by little, that the work that Christ calls us to takes years and years…or actually, make that generations and generations.

And yet, we’re called to keep building, brick by brick.

And so it goes with all of us. The Holy Spirit is building the Church, and she’s going to be stunningly beautiful when all is said and done. And all of us are called to work on a part of it: a flying buttress here, or an ornate column there. The bad news is, we may not live to see our part of the building finished. Oh, to be sure, someday we’ll glimpse the finished product… but we have to face the reality that, long before our visions have become a reality, the gravedigger may be covering us with dirt.

Therefore, we’ll have to be saved by hope.

This contribution is available at http://backoftheworld.com/2013/04/30/saved-by-hope/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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The Scarlett O'Hara School of Devotion [at Forget The Roads]

Did you ever wake up to some bad news about yourself? You know, you’re tootling along thinking you’re pretty okay, and then you wake up one morning to a few inconvenient truths. During Lent, I received a distressing insight concerning myself and my motivations. Simply put, I discovered that all of my life I have been a student of the Scarlett O’Hara School of Devotion.

For those of you who have not read Gone With the Wind in donkey’s years, permit me to refresh your memory….

My role model

Scarlett O’Hara loved Ashley Wilkes from the afternoon he first appeared on her porch.  It was puppy love, and she was smitten.  Never mind that she and Ashley were ill-suited for one another, a fact which character after character in the book pointed out to Scarlett.  She was obsessed, and was sure that only Ashley would make her happy.   Alas, Ashley marries his childhood sweetheart, Melanie, a woman with attitudes and interests similar to his – a good match.  Scarlett marries Melanie’s brother in a fit of pique; after he dies, she marries a man much older than herself because she needs his money.  And when he dies, Scarlett marries husband #3 – Rhett Butler.  

Rhett is to Scarlett what Melanie is to Ashley – a good match. Rhett understands Scarlett and can give her everything she needs. Unfortunately, Scarlett does not understand herself. Scarlett believes that what she really needs is Ashley. It is only when she finally obtains him, upon Melanie’s death, that Scarlett realizes what everyone else has known all along – Ashley could never make her happy. Unfortunately, by this point husband #3 has had it with Scarlett and her cheating heart, and famously announces that he no longer gives a good galldurn what she does –he’s leaving.

And this woman is the genius after whose life I have patterned my own….

I was raised as a Christian; I took my beliefs and my relationship with God very seriously. But all my life I have been a second Scarlett – “married” to the right man, yet giving my heart to another. My “Ashley” has always been the concerns of this world: my longing for human affection, financial success and physical comfort. God, who has been wooing me since He created me, has had to take a back seat to my real interests. And He knows it….

It would really help if my Ashley would obligingly kick the bucket….

Strange to say, but a saint, namely St. Paul, actually suggested that we do old Ashley in! Apparently Paul of Tarsus had his own problems with Ashley, and the no-nonsense saint started kicking the useless twit around a little. He confessed to the Corinthians that he tried buffeting Ashley mercilessly, but it apparently wasn’t enough. Ashley, though useless, is a tough old bird. To the Romans the saint complained that Ashley just wasn’t dying fast enough. It was then that he wrote his famous “no more St. Nice Guy!” declaration to the Colossians – in which he proposes murdering Ashley in cold blood!

…those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. (Col 3:5)

“Whatever belongs to your earthly nature” – that’s Ashley, all right. Christians are urged to try starving Ashley into submission, wresting his possessions from his grasp and handing them over to the poor, clothing him in sackcloth and ashes, and if that isn’t enough (and it is never enough) – laying Ashley’s head gently down on a concrete block and taking a few well-aimed swings at it with a blunt instrument. And you thought Christianity was all soppy love and forgiveness! Think again! The Founder Himself straightforwardly advocated the torture of the likes of Ashley Wilkes:

If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

But Scarlett, Duck Dynasty is on at 9!

Unfortunately, though, it isn’t as if the skunk is utterly devoid of redeeming qualities. No, Ashley is respectable. No one is going to think less of me if I work on Sundays to get ahead financially. Ashley needs a new suit! Contracept so that I can maintain my privileged rugrat-free lifestyle? Ashley is allergic to children, and besides, birth control is the responsible choice! Devote my evenings to fasting and prayer for an end to abortion? What? And miss Duck Dynasty??? It’s Ashley’s favorite show!!

All the more reason to sharpen the knife….

But Ashley is a wily one. Even as I measure his size 14 feet for the concrete booties which I hope will sink him to the bottom of the sea, he bats his long, golden eyelashes at me, and I swoon. Sheesh! my heart whispers. Give the weasel a break! What did he ever do??

Oh, not much. He’s just the one thing standing between me and True Love, eternal happiness, all that stuff. Ashley isn’t just being clingy and controlling. He is literally hell-bent on sweet-talking me into spending eternity together with him. Hell-bent. As long as Ashley holds me in his thrall, my eternal happiness is in very real jeopardy. For a sick, enabling co-dependent like me, that’s seriously bad news. The Lover of my soul knows this. The One Who has relentlessly pursued me from all eternity won’t let me go without a fight – but I have to fight with Him. As St. Paul, who knew a thing or two about old Ashley, put it:

…if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Dire straits call for dire measures.

The self-denial St. Paul was constantly preaching is the key here because, of course, my cravings for human affection, financial success and physical comfort are self-love. Ashley isn’t just my paramour – he is literally a part of me. That’s why it hurts so much to let him go. That’s why it’s so hard to watch him die. I must stop my ears to his pleas, thrust him out of my heart, bar the door, change the locks, and call the Police if he ever so much as dares to set foot on the property again.

Or, I could take the easy road and just poison his grits….

Christians are enjoined to get just a little bit mean… make that seriously antagonistic… okay, actually out-and-out bloodthirsty towards the object of our mislaid affections. Because Ashley, the jerk, is ruining my chance at REAL love, God has told me I must take matters into my own hands.

So be it!

Die, Ashley, die!

On the memorial of St. Mark the Evangelist

Deo omnis gloria!

This contribution is available at http://forgettheroads.com/2013/04/25/the-scarlett-ohara-school-of-devotion/%20
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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In the Aftermath of Boston: Lessons Relearned By the Wife of a World Trade Center Survivor [at Rambling Follower]

Given that my husband, Greg, is a survivor of terrorism, I am unable and unwilling to  immerse myself emotionally and intellectually in any news about acts of violence. To that end, I am limiting myself to reading about the massacre in Boston to just once a day, in the morning, on my New York Times newsfeed. 

Last night I took a half hour walk in the dark here in Palm Beach County, Florida, where I am visiting my parents from my home in New Jersey. My heart was full, missing my husband and our now-teenaged sons and grateful that I am still blessed with the presence of my octogenarian parents.

Stepping into the dark, with only the stars and pelicans overhead as my companions, I prayed for the souls of the newly lost and the beloveds they have left behind. I prayed too for those who witnessed the attacks; they will forever be like panes of glass that have been shattered in small places you can only see if the sun hits them in a certain way.

Those of you who know my family know that Greg not only survived the attack on Tower One within 11 minutes of it collapsing, (he escaped from the 68th floor, step by step by step) but also that he worked that very day and for three years in the aftermath of the attacks, doing his job in media relations for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He wrote about the attack's victims, one by one by one, and he also handled media relations for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site. 

What I learned from our long years of immersion in trauma is that terror can find a home in your heart if you enable it.

I learned that evil is real. I learned that the worst kind of terror is the kind you welcome into your heart and let settle in. I learned there is little that separates us from the "bad guys." We all wake up every day with the capacity to give in to despair, and to violence. 

I pray we understand that evil is real. And that love and hope are far more powerful.  

I learned this lesson yet again yesterday afternoon, when I accompanied my mother to a health clinic that was set up 20 years ago to meet the needs of migrant workers in Palm Beach County. The Caridad Center is staffed by volunteer physicians and dentists and interpreters. At 83, my multilingual mother is teaching herself Creole in the hope of volunteering as an interpreter for the Haitian refugees who have found themselves here. 

The work of the Caridad Center isn't going away; it is deepening as Haitian refugees resettle here and the economy in South Florida still falters. Families still reach out for help and strangers keep showing up to grab their hands. 

This is how we build a human society. This is how we knit ourselves to one another in the presence of the immeasurable love that called every soul into being. This is a presence much more powerful that a pressure cooker turned into a killing and maiming machine. 

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a talk at Rutgers University by Father James Martin, S.J. He's written a book about the need for joy in our spiritual lives. A graduate student friend of mine asked him the one thing we can do to welcome joy. He gave a broad smile and said we need to keep one thing in mind: "Christ is risen. So what do we have  to fear?"

This contribution is available at http://ramblingfollower.blogspot.com/2013/04/in-aftermath-of-boston-lessons.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Saint Kateri Tekakwitha [at The Koala Bear Writer]

I'm an avid fan of history and historical fiction.  For me,

history is about the story

and often truth is indeed stranger than fiction.  Yet history is also about more than just crazy or interesting stories; it's also about what those stories can teach us today. 

It's the job of the historian or the author to make those stories relevant to our times, for history does indeed repeat itself and we can learn much from the lessons of the past. 

This is one reason, I believe, that the Catholic Church recognizes the saints, for Christians today can learn much from the lives of Christians of the past.

Three hundred and thirty-three years ago today, a young woman died in a small hut in New York state.  She was only twenty-four years old and she didn't lead a great movement or write a great book or build a great monument.  She simply lived her faith—and suffered for it—and by doing so, inspired the people not only of her own generation, but those of generations since.  Her name was

Kateri Tekakwitha

and today is her feast day.

At her canonization last year in October, there was great rejoicing around the world. 

Kateri is the first Native American to be canonized as a saint.

  Prime Minister Stephen Harper said,"The canonization of Saint Kateri is a great honour and joyous occasion for the many North Americans and Aboriginal peoples who cherish her witness of faith and strength of character.”  AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo said, "This is an emotional occasion for all Catholics around the world, especially in the Indigenous community, as a sister of ours is bestowed with the highest honour given by the Catholic Church."

Even though Kateri died over three hundred years ago, her story continues to resonate with people today.  She was an orphan, was persecuted for her faith and suffered from poor eyesight and poor health. 

She is the patron saint of the environment and ecology

because she often spent time alone in the woods praying and made crosses from sticks and branches to serve as "stations" that reminded her to pray.

As I read her story, one small part stuck out for me.  Kateri's mother was Catholic and her father Mohawk; both died in the smallpox epidemic when she was four.  Kateri was raised by her Mohawk uncle, who hated the Jesuit priests, and didn't have a chance to learn more about Jesus until a Jesuit missionary arrived when she was eighteen.

Yet

Kateri remembered the faith of her mother

and continued to pray throughout her childhood and teen years, and sought out the priest when he arrived, asking for religious instruction.  It was encouragement for me as a mom of two (soon three) little girls who often chatter through bedtime prayers and wiggle through Mass; my efforts to teach them about faith will hopefully be rewarded, just as Kateri's mother's efforts were.

This contribution is available at http://www.thekoalabearwriter.com/2013/04/saint-kateri-tekakwitha.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Got Holy Spirit? [at A Dreamer's Wife]

Like millions of other viewers, I watched the finale of The Bible series on the History Channel last Sunday night. While it was very difficult to watch the re-enactment of the Crucifixion of Jesus, I came away from the series re-energized about the reminder that we all have, or can have, the same Holy Spirit that the apostles were filled with when spreading the truth about Jesus! 

This same Holy Spirit that gave the early Christians wisdom and the courage to risk their lives, is with us now in this day and time! In America, we may not have to risk death to practice our faith, but our beliefs and religious freedom are certainly being threatened in many ways. In other parts of the world, Christians are being persecuted because of their belief in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is very much-needed and very much alive!

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, that I really began to appreciate and seek the Holy Spirit more. In my experience growing up Catholic, the Holy Spirit wasn’t discussed much outside of Pentecost Sunday or the Sacrament of Confirmation. Although I was very familiar with the Holy Spirit, I really didn’t understand the vital role of this third person of the Trinity in my everyday life and the need to continuously ask for His gifts and guidance. 

And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.d 10For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit* to those who ask him.

-Luke 13: 9-13

 If we do not ask, we will not receive the specific blessings that we need from the Holy Spirit for certain situations and circumstances. This is why it is so important to embrace and believe in the promise of the Holy Spirit. For it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to overcome temptation, selflessly love others, and ultimately change the world!

Something else that struck me, when watching the final scenes of The Bible, was that the early Christians didn’t have many attachments. They seemed ready to go anywhere at a moment’s notice and were always prepared to see Jesus in Heaven. The more we seek the  Holy Spirit, the less we desire what this world offers. My husband and I have been talking lately about living a more simple life. I think the Holy Spirit must be working in us!

There are so many wonderful graces to gain from the Holy Spirit! The nine fruits of the Spirit include “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). The seven gifts are understanding, counsel, wisdom, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.  Truly, everything good comes from God!

After I finish typing this post, I will begin writing a letter to the beautiful eighth-grade girl that I am sponsoring for her Confirmation in May. She is going on a retreat next weekend and the Sister that teaches her class has asked all sponsors to write surpise “support letters”. I hope to be able to convey what an important and powerful gift the Holy Spirit is to each one of us (and to her, personally)! The Holy Spirit enables us to be able to grow closer to Jesus and follow God’s will for our lives.

Have a blessed weekend!  And, remember, all you have to do is ask!

This contribution is available at http://adreamerswife.com/2013/04/05/got-holy-spirit/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Full of Grace [at Catholic & Crunchy]

Lately, I've felt this strong pull to name a future hypothetical daughter some version of the name Mary. It's only unfortunate because we already have decided on our first daughter's name (and not budging!) so I hope we can work it in somehow, or have multiple daughters ;). I was sitting wondering why I have been having that feeling for so many months, and where it came from. What's interesting is that I never had any relationship with Mary most of my life. My parents said the Hail Mary with us fairly often, but I just sort of said it. I never really felt a connection to Mary and was always really in awe of people who did.

That all changed during my reversion. I gained an appreciation of Mary and the saints that I had never had before, and with it came a connection to Mary and a few of the saints that has become fairly profound. But then I began thinking of my life and how Mary has always played a gentle, unobtrusive role. Doesn't that just sound like her? When I was in college, and in a period where I was questioning my faith, I worked at a church daycare called St. Mary's. It was an Episcopal church but, during this time, I started attending church more regularly again as I sought out answers for a plethora of questions I had about Catholicism. I think working at St. Mary's gave me the nudge I needed, because I was seeing things that looked and felt familiar, and missing them.

When I decided to move to Raleigh after graduate school, with no job, knowing no one, and into an apartment I had never stepped foot into before, I was mostly excited but a little nervous. I am pretty sure a lot of people thought I was crazy and taking a big risk. The apartment was so perfect for my first 'bachelorette' apartment. It was walking distance to the Cathedral, tons of restaurants and shops, and right outside of downtown. It was an airy, bright, turn of the century apartment with beautiful wood floors and so much character. I felt safe and protected, even though I had no clue what the future held for me. I lived in St. Mary's apartments on St. Mary's Street for a little over a year.

Three months after I moved to Raleigh, I snagged my job (which I am still at 4 years later) using my social work degree at a non-profit.... also on St. Mary's Street, about a mile from my apartment. Fast forward a few years later, newly married and house hunting. We hunted tirelessly for a house for months, and the first house we stepped foot into after our wedding is the house we own and love today. The street outside our neighborhood is St. Mary's Street (this one is in a small town adjacent to Raleigh; there aren't two in one town... but still, what are the chances!?). I later learned that we live in St. Mary's Township, which isn't really used or referred to these days, but still shows up sometimes on my weather app and makes me giddy. Our church that is 2 miles down the street from our house, our humble little parish we joined a few months after moving in? Yes, St. Mary, Mother of the Church Catholic Church. I can probably take a lot of examples from Mary who has quietly been there through my life, not being pushy or bossy or coercive, just waiting for me to open my heart to her.

I hear you, Mary. Loud and clear.

This contribution is available at http://www.catholicandcrunchy.com/2013/04/full-of-grace.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Can we face the truth, deal with reality? [at Catholic Deacon]

My good friend Frank Weathers, who is scribe over at

Why I Am Catholic

, in his post

"Anderson Cooper Tacks To Windward, Asks Hard Questions About the Gosnell Case,"

makes an important point, namely that given the refusal of our failed fourth estate to provide coverage of the Gosnell case (I

posted about this

more than two years ago, when it first came to my attention), it is important to give credit where credit is due. I'm glad Anderson Cooper took up the Gosnell case (it's horrifying) and did ask some of the hard questions. However, I think by focusing mainly on questions about where the regulatory officials were, he rather misses the point, which is that abortion is murder and late term procedures are, as anyone who cares to pay attention now knows (if they didn't before), infanticide. To wit: Gosnell's house of horrors is NOT an isolated incident.

Here's a newflash for my fellow Christians: yes we should be Christ-like when discussing these issues, speaking the truth in love, especially to pregnant women in difficult circumstances. We need to do more than speak to them, we need to materially help them - BUT if you think abortion and legalized infanticide are Christian issues you're wrong and being reductive. These are human issues, life is the most fundamental human rights issue in the world! If you don't have a right to life all of your other rights are pretty meaningless.

The prophet Jeremiah, by Michelangelo

Speaking the truth in love is not about letting your mouth, or your fingers typing on a keyboard, become dispensaries of cheap grace. What it means to speak the truth in love depends on who you are speaking to and the forum you are speaking in. I think of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the truth in love to power, which means he said a lot of things that weren't "nice." I am not assuming the prophetic mantle, but merely pointing out that sometimes just telling the unvarnished truth is the most loving thing we can do. When we speak the truth in love to power it is often that way. I have no qualms about challenging any member of Congress, either in the House or the Senate (or any state legislator) who has voted to keep partial birth abortion (i.e., infanticide) legal to read the transcripts of the Gosnell trial and then contemplate your complicity in this evil. Don't kid yourself,

you're complict!

I also challenge those who think and vote this way to do the same. I write this as someone who is not on-board with the whole right-wing agenda. I have written plenty of things critical of that as well on these pages- though I post much less about political matters these days.

This morning I came across something that struck me, by that I mean had the the effect of hitting me in the chest, by Jack Shafer, writing for Reuters:

Our national pastime: Press criticism

. I am an unapologetic critic of the news media. I truly believe the U.S. has a failed fourth estate, one that, with some exceptions, is ideologically driven and blind, that is, not all that interested in the truth. I would be happy to debate anyone on the issue.

Warning:

if you take me up on the challenge it'll be no-holds-barred because it is too important an issue to beat around the bush  (to give you an indication- instead of Gosnell we get Rainbow flags outside the Supreme Court and Jodi Arias porn from a Phoenix courthouse). Shafer draws attention to a conversation that my beloved Camus, who was not a professing Christian, had way back in 1946 with press critic A.J. Liebling.

In the conversation about which Shafer writes, Camus spoke of an idea he had for a newspaper, one that would be published an hour after the other newspapers and "would evaluate the probable element of truth in the other papers’ main stories, with due regard to editorial policies and the past performances of the correspondents. Once equipped with card-indexed dossiers on the correspondents, a critical newspaper could work very fast. After a few weeks the whole tone of the press would conform more closely to reality." If anyone could've pulled this off it was Camus, who was relentless in the face of reality. So relentless, in fact, that he wondered this about his own idea- "But do people really want to know how much truth there is in what they read? Would they buy the control paper? That’s the most difficult problem."

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Fr. Ronan Murphy on The Rosary: The Devotion for our Times - CHAPLET Conference [at Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool]

The well-organized

C.H.A.P.L.E.T. Catholic homeschool conference

at

Mater Ecclesiae Church

in NJ was

another occasion for me to hear Father Ronan Murphy

. He is always compelling and dynamic, a courageous priest.

Father spoke on the topic of

"The Rosary: The Devotion for Our Times."

He began with an impassioned

retelling of the Fatima history and apparition

. My notes from his talk, taken while listening are below.

* There is NO problem that can't be solved with the prayer of the rosary.

* After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the rosary is the greatest transforming power in universe.

* Fr. Peyton said that a world at prayer would equal a world at peace and Bl. JPII said that by its very nature the rosary is a prayer of peace.

* At the Fatima apparition Our Lady asked 6x that we pray the rosary daily. There are

promises

for those that do so.

And, this blog post from 2010 on how praying the rosary only takes 2% of your day - http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2010/10/just-2-of-day.html

* The Rosary will help you live out your baptismal promises.

* Padre Pio called the rosary his

weapon

.

* While Padre Pio prayed 36 of them all day long, he said it is not about #'s but about devotion of the individual. Pray one well...slowly... better than many in haste.

* Being holy is not just avoiding sins and the rosary can destroy vice and decrease sin. Our 3 mortal enemies are (1) the devil (2) the flesh and (3) the world.

* You go to the doctor when you are sick for healing medicine. A priest is the doctor of the soul for moral sickness. His antidote, prescription to those who come to him for spiritual direction and confession is to pray the rosary, daily.

* Sin is saying "no" to God ... and yes to self.

* The rosary is the Bible on a string. It catechizes using scripture. 

It's the chain that binds satan.

More posts on The Rosary 

and the CHAPLET site, linked at the top, will post a video of this talk.

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Pope Benedict XVI said, “Relativism, which considers all opinions true even if they are contradictory, is the greatest problem for our time.”

On this same subject, Matthew Kelly explains that relativists believe that if something cannot be scientifically verified, it is subject to relativism. But, as Catholics, we are called to challenge this idea.

Relativism is often disguised in our society as being open-minded and tolerant

Relativism is often disguised in our society as being open-minded and tolerant, but there are many instances in life where it is good to be closed-minded and intolerant.

Kelly continues this idea by saying that relativists say we cannot impose our morality on others, but we do this each and every day. Can you think of an instance where this happens?

If you saw someone beating a child?
If you watched a drunk woman climbing behind the driver’s seat?
If you heard a man verbally abusing his girlfriend?

Challenge the idea of moral relativism. There is a right and a wrong in many situations, despite what society tells you. Believing this is called “standing up for what is right”.

Before commenting, please read the guidelines for this series.  And, check out the rest of the series here.

**Catholic 101 posts are designed to be short snippets of our faith. Please consider emailing this to one person who might be seeking an answer.**

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Tough Guys Don't Pitch Tents [at Smaller Manhattans]

not too shabby

About 30 years ago I read the Norman Mailer novel,

Tough Guys Don't Dance

. It's about a son, Tim Madden, who simply will never be as tough a guy as his father Dougy. Tim must be about 40, but still feels he's a wimpy disappointment to Dougy, now an old man. In one passage (IIRC), Tim recollects a scene from his childhood: Dougy is silently parked in front of the TV, Tim's mom stands in the doorway to the kitchen. Not complaining, but just making the observation, she says to Dougy, "You never tell me that you love me." Dougy doesn't miss a beat or take his eyes off the TV: "I'm here, ain't I?"

As the story develops we learn that Dougy indeed loves both his wife and his son; but he is in no way affectionate. Too tough I guess.

In catechism class, we learn lots about God's

love

, which I find examples of all over the Bible; but less about God's

affection

, which is harder to suss out and communicate to the kids. It's important for all Christians, but especially kids, to understand God's affection for his children. Like Tim Madden, we think of affection as something physical, and among the Trinity only Jesus has a body. But even having one, Scripture doesn't show Jesus using it to hug, kiss, tousle hair, or hold babies. The closest we get in the Bible may be Jesus laying his hands on the little kids; but that's a formal, ritual gesture.

So anyway, in class I elaborate on verses that to me are implicitly affectionate so the kids can get the emotional message. Here are a quick few:

"Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands..."  (Isaiah 49)

 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Luke 12)

"God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 21)

I don't plan ahead for affectionate verses, but I talk them up when they come around during the year. And I keep an eye out for new ones.

Any of you know Mary Renault? She wrote historical fiction about ancient Greece some decades ago, including

The King Must Die

and

The Persian Boy;

and also

The Mask of Apollo,

about Greek theater.

In that last book she spelled the English word

scene

the Greek way,

skene

:

 "That evening we were summoned back to meet the chorus-master, the flute-player and the

skene

-painter...When we heard who were doing the masks and costumes, painting the

skene

and training the chorus, and for how much, even the Persian-backed play at Delphi looked like a fit-up...The

skeneroom

was just a flat-topped shed, with a crazyladder to the god-walk on its roof."

In Greek,

skēnē/σκηνη is not a uniquely theatrical term. It means tent; what the Romans and the King James Bible would also call a tabernacle, or a booth, a plain little shelter. I imagine that itinerant Greek theater troupes would set up a skene, a tent to house their stuff; have one side painted, and would act in front of that painted side.Speaking of tents, y'all already know that the wandering Israelites lived in them; and that God dwelled among his people in a tent, too. Considering that a tent's primary function is to provide shade, to overshadow, it's no surprise that the Greek word skene is a cognate of skia/σκιά/shadow. I like to think of skene in its literal sense of shader, or shadower.   

Next Wednesday is the last class of the year, and the last class on the Mass. We'll cover how the Mass fuses with the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb. We'll look again at Revelation 21, especially, "

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." This verse will get special attention because it shows not only God's love, but as it turns out, his affection. The last few chapters of Revelations tie up every loose end in the Bible: bodies are reunited with souls; the saints are reunited with God; there's a New Jerusalem in which to live. Of course the New Jerusalem is no mean burg: "The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass."Yet amid this splendid city God doesn't live in temple, or even a nice house; but a tabernacle, a little house. But can't a little house be spectacular? Not this one. Look at this bit again, and notice the verb: "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them." Uh-huh. So?
So, the English word dwell is used in the New Testament to translate an assortment of charming Greek verbs. Most of them are based on οἶκος/ oikos/ house, as in economics and ecology:οικέω/ oikeo/ to house oneself, to dwell. ἐνοικέω/ en-oikeo/ to in-dwell;κατοικέω/ kat(a)-oikeo/ to thoroughly dwell (you know: kata as in Catholic and catalog); andσυνοικέω/ syn-oikeō/ that's right, to dwell together (you knew that).But none of those verbs tell us that God will dwell with his people in the New Jerusalem. This verb does:  σκηνόω/ skēnoō. Not to house oneself; not to dwell per se; but to shade oneself: that is, to set up a skene, to pitch one's tent. Amid the wonder of the City of Gold, God is happy to pitch his tent among his people as he once did in the desert.Dwelling with us shows God's love; pitching his tent among us shows his affection.

photo from ArmenianHouse.org 

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Seasons of Love: My Thoughts on Natural Family Planning [at Shalom Sweet Home]

April 26, 2013 · 10:00 am

I had a guest post about Natural Family Planning on Carrots for Michaelmas yesterday! Check it out!

(I must warn you ahead of time that this post totally contains the phrase “nonchalantly shouting about cervical mucus.” Twice. In addition to a good healthy dose of TMI. But just in case you’re one of the dear people I mention who “thinks we’re totally nuts,” this may shed a little light on our decision to not use birth control, and I am definitely here if anyone has questions. Just leave me a comment or drop me a line!)

women speak on nfp buttonBeep. Beep. Beep. You’re off on a girls’ weekend and everyone had a late night, but you have to wake up at 8am to take your temperature and then have to explain why. Congratulations, all your friends think you’re nuts. And then it’s the bachelorette party of a dear friend you met at the University Catholic Center, and you, married without children, are sitting in a bar with one very pregnant friend and another postpartum breastfeeding friend, nonchalantly shouting about cervical mucus with the newly charting fiance over the din of the karaoke… Read more at Carrots for Michaelmas.

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As in a Fortress [at The Cloistered Heart]

In light of today's events, I feel drawn to concentrate on one particular aspect of heart-cloister.  So I'm re-running an earlier post looking at what can be, for us, a place of refuge.... There is change in the air as a storm approaches.  The wind picks up, clouds gather, there may be a distant clap of thunder.  As lightning flashes around us, we race for shelter.Monastery grounds and walls are as subject to storms as those of any other building.  They get slapped with rain, pelted with sleet, covered in snow.  Inhabitants of the cloister might find themselves standing at a window looking out, maybe with a touch of concern.  What are those chunks of hail doing to the roof?  Are the windows secure against the wind?  The monastery of my life is vulnerable, too.  I face storms, at times, of great magnitude.  Sickness, sudden disaster, an unnerving news report.  It helps me then to remember that I’m in the strongest cloister possible – the cloister of God’s loving embrace.  Everything that touches me must first come through His hands, through His “permissive will.”  I can do as St. Francis de Sales advised, and say amid my contradictions: “this is the very road to heaven.  I see the door, and I am certain the storms cannot prevent us from getting there.” "The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs to it and is safe.”  (Proverbs 18:10)

“Happy is the soul established in God ... The winds of the storm are powerless to shake her.” (St. Jane de Chantal)

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28)
"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

"God keeps his promise. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength.  Along with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

"You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears."  (1 Peter 1:6-7)
"When you hear about wars and threats of war, do not yield to panic.  Such things are bound to happen, but this is not the end.  Nation will rise against nation, one kingdom against another.  There will be earthquakes in various places and there will be famine.  This is but the onset of labor.  Be constantly on your guard.... because of My Name, you will be hated by everyone.  Nonetheless, the man who holds out till the end is the one who will come through safe."  (Mark 13:5-13)"O Jesus, I am locking myself in Your most merciful heart as in a fortress, impregnable against the missiles of my enemies.” (St. Faustina Kowalska, Diary, #1535)Click here to leave comments in the Parlor
Text not in quotes is © 2013 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org   This post is linked to New Evangelists Monthly 

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A Shower Of Roses [at The Hill Country Hermit]

It's rose season at the Nelson house (thanks to my husband's patient green thumb!).  Each year, it seems that all the bushes orchestrate their first buds to bloom at the same time.  After that, it's sporadic blossoming for the rest of the season.  But for now, we can enjoy seeing our rose garden in full concert!  The cross on the cabin is on loan to us from a dear friend.  It comes from a French vineyard.

St. Therese & A Shower Of Roses

By the way ... have you ever heard the quote of St. Therese: "I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses."?  Well, that quote is paraphrased a bit.  Here's what St. Therese said on June 9, 1897, just a few months before her death ...

Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart (Therese's older sister, Marie):

What sorrow we'll experience when you leave us!

Sr. Therese:

Oh, no, you will see; it will be like a shower of roses.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

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3 Reasons I Love Catholicism, Vol 1 [at Revolution of Love Blog]

Thanks to Cari’s Theme Thursdays, I met the blogger Micaela over at California to Korea. She has a great blog and on Friday she started a fun link-up called  3 Reasons I Love Catholicism. Kim writes:

Catholicism gets a pretty bad rap these days.  I’ve seen it written in many a comment box: How can anyone remain Catholic in the light of [insert heinous event/practice/teaching here]?! 

I can sympathize.  If you’re on the outside (or even the outskirts) of Catholicism, you may only really know what the media tells you.  It can be repulsive to non-Catholics, and confusing and disheartening for all of us Catholics.  The uncomfortable truth is that there are lots of negative things that have been done in the name of the Catholic Church.  But there are also many intelligent, beautiful, joyful, even wondrous reasons to love Catholicism.

There will be a link-up every First Friday of the month where you can share three reasons you love Catholicism. What a great idea! Here are my three reasons for April.

~~ 1 ~~

The Eucharist

Years ago in my 20′s, when I was contemplating leaving the Catholic Church, I heard Scott Hahn give a talk about the Eucharist and his words never left me. He spoke of Fulton Sheen and a lesson he was giving about the Incarnation. Sheen was trying to help us grasp the depth of humility Jesus undertook by taking the form of a human. He compared it to a human taking the form of a dog. I have been searching google to find the quote and I finally came upon TransitusTiber.net Blog that talked about the Life Is Worth Living episode. She summarizes it here:

You are a human. You have intellect to do great things, and you can do things that other animals that God created cannot do. Now, imagine that you traded places with a dog, but still had the experiences of being human. You, as a dog; act like a dog and associate with other dogs; but you know that at one point you were able to reason science, write poetry, love each other, appreciate a sunset, and listen to a beautiful symphony. You must remain being in a dog’s body and doing dog things and associating with other dogs.

Scott Hahn then took it a step further. He went on to explain that after imagining what it would be like if we were to take on the nature of a dog, while still retaining our human intellect, now imagine if we took on the nature of a dog biscuit for dogs to consume. That barely touches the surface of the magnitude of  the Son of God being present in the Eucharist – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Our Lord loved us so much that he did not want the apostles to be the last humans to physically embrace him. He comes down from the heavens at the beckon of the words of consecration, day in and day out, waiting and longing to enter into our hearts and embrace us once again. There is no greater miracle in life than that. There is no greater display of love than that. Love for you. Love for me. In my eyes, that alone trumps everything else.

~~ 2 ~~

The Communion of Saints

Growing up in a family of 11, you can’t help but learn how to live, love and lean on one another. We all have different personalities, strengthens and weaknesses and we may not always see eye to eye but one thing is certain, we always have each others’ back. So it is with the Communion of Saints. We are all linked together. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains it as such:

The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices.

As one of the faithful on earth, I know that we are sinners and we don’t always work together but when we put aside our pride and allow the grace of God to work, we can see that we are all one big family with our own talents and gifts working towards the same goal. And once a person dies, they are not gone and forgotten. The souls in purgatory are in our daily prayers. The saints in heaven are even more alive in the family because they can intercede for us and help us on our journey towards heaven. We have each others’ back.

~~ 3 ~~

Catholic Media

I love that Catholic media not only shares, teaches and brings the Gospel of Jesus to all who will listen, but it also keeps brothers and sisters in Christ close to one another. Whether you are blogging with fellow Catholic moms, researching online Church documents, emailing a convent on the other side of the world, reading the Holy Father’s tweets, or watching Fulton Sheen on YouTube, the Church is using modern means to preach a timeless Message. It makes the world smaller and the ability to reach out greater.

As an added bonus to #3, I found the Life Is Worth Living episode from Fulton Sheen that I was mentioning.

Part 1 – The section about the dog is at the end near minute 8:00.

Part 2

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Jesus Exposes Darkness [at A Spiritual Journey]

        The more you know Jesus, the more you see darkness in the world. Those who do not know Jesus do not see darkness in the world, for they walk in darkness and no longer know where they are going. (Read 1 John 2:11.)

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Review: This Little Light of Mine [at This That and the Other Thing]

This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes makes ordinary time extraordinary! This book explores the foundations of a child's faith through the Beatitudes and the 10 Commandments. Through this connection, children can learn the true way to live a Christian life. Topics range from gifts and fruits of the spirit to learning about Saints. This book of faith formation helps children learn the values of their Catholic faith in their everyday lives. They can learn to live out their faith throughout Ordinary Time, focusing on everyday faith instead of only during the Holiday seasons.

Most Catholic parents who are intent on passing on the faith have favorite family religious traditions during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.  However, those weeks cover less than half the year.  The rest of the year is Ordinary Time, green vestment time.  How can parents use those weeks to help children live the faith?  That is the question that Kathleen Basi attempts to answer in 

This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes

.

In a nine chapter book Basi uses the framework of the Beatitudes to cover the topics of Living in Humility, Suffering Freedom and Sin, The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Liturgy and the Liturgical Year, Putting the Focus on Mercy, Sacraments and Private Devotions, Celebrating the Saints, Persecution in the Modern World and Putting It All Together.  Each chapter has a section for adults, a section for children and a section called "Just Live It" which gives ideas for family activities based on the topic at hand.  For example, the chapter on Putting the Focus on Mercy deals with the fourth through the tenth commandments.  Dealing with the commandment on adultery, Basi admits that most of us will never commit adultery, but she points out that fidelity in marriage does not end with staying out of other people's beds but includes honoring each other and treating each other during conflict with the respect we want to receive.  The "Just Live It" section includes a suggestion to devote one or two nights to couple time, turning off the TV, computers and phones after the kids go to bed and spending couple time together working puzzles, talking, or reading together.  The kids' section says that adultery is when married people break their promise to be faithful to their spouse.  It tells the kids that they can practice by being faithful to friends and family members, and that when you talk about them, say only things you wouldn't mind them hearing.

I liked Katheen's concrete ways to make the faith relevant to today's life.  I liked her adult explanations of the Beatitudes and the Commandments.  The book is a good basic guide to Catholicism, easy to read, hits the highlights and relates them to daily life.  I'm less fond of the instructional sections for kids.  I just can't see reading that much verbiage to my nine year old or to a younger child, especially as there are no pictures in the book.  I can easily see incorporating some of the "Just Do It" ideas in our lives.

I'd like to thank Kathleen and her publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.  Kathleen is a regular participant in Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival, which is a weekly gathering of Catholic bloggers which is hosted here.  I've previously reviewed her books on

Advent

and

Lent

and you can read

her blog here

.  Grade:  B.

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How To Licitly Use NFP To Postpone Pregnancy [at NFP and Me]

I've heard a lot of talk about the serious reasons needed for avoiding a pregnancy in a Catholic marriage but not much about what actually passes as a serious reason. So I took this inquiry of mine to the most trusted Catholic source online: Cathsorority and here's what we found out:

We're trying to postpone pregnancy because...I started medical school two days before our wedding. Just 1 day before medical school started I moved out of my parents home for the first time ever and into an apartment in a city hours away from family. Oh and my spouse was unemployed at that time.
then we would be able to let my spouse absorb a paycut that comes with a job that works more sane hours.
I'm currently on a medication that is beneficial to my health that has not tested in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
after the birth of our daughter I was overwhelmed and suffered from postpartum depression and could barely get through the day.
I had a very difficult birth that included major surgery and my body and spirit need time to heal before I could be physically or mentally ready for another pregnancy and birth.
I needed serious dental work to repair damage from my first pregnancy. I needed 7 fillings, 2 root canals, and 1 crown which cost a total of $10,000.
my husband is in the military and would be deployed when I gave birth to our first child.
because I am in graduate school, living off my husband's salary. We have no family around us to help with watching a baby while he's at work and I'm at school, so I would have to stop my (unpaid) rotations for the newborn weeks. If I had to stop my rotations halfway through, I would have to pay for that semester as well as an additional semester to get my degree completed, adding more to the heap of student loans.
because my 4th baby was born at 30 weeks gestation when I suffered a placental abruption. This is when the placenta detaches from the uterine wall and is a life threatening emergency for mother and baby. Having a placental abruption raises your risk of having another one, and with my bicorunate uterus and partial uterine septum, my chances of another are possibly even higher.
I have terrible seasonal affective disorder and the idea of being stuck in my house with a newborn in the snowiest month made me want to hurt my husband for even considering it. 
we live in a roughly 750-800 square foot house, and we are currently avoiding because our baby twins' room is just barely big enough to fit their two cribs, and our bedroom is barely big enough for our bed and my husband's work-at-home desk.
I have hyperemesis gravidarum. My husband simply can't handle another 9 months of me on the couch and in the bathroom right now with 5 other children. 
recovering from a difficult pregnancy/birth, a C-section, and having cervical length issues that required bed rest and would make it next to impossible to care for my twin girls without help if they recurred.
my husband is severely underemployed and we are already under so much stress that the added stress of providing for another baby would be too much for us to handle. In addition, we live with parents who would not be supportive.
that I am the bread winner right now while my husband finishes his doctorate. If I had a difficult pregnancy and could not work for a time we would have literally no income. We also live in a one bedroom apartment and have no room
for financial stability. No, I'm not talking about having college funds set up- I'm talking about being able to pay our bills on time each month and knowing that we will be able to do it consistently.
being pregnant and nursing has rendered me "touched-out." I have no room left at the end of the day to be affectionate with my husband.
I don't want to know going in that I'd need to be on public assistance.
we already pay $350/week for daycare, and if we pay any more than that we won't be able to pay our mortgage. Or our student loan debt.
I have to interview for residency programs in 8-11 months and in order to do this will have to fly all around the country which isn't such a fantastic idea in the 3rd trimester.
I'd like to work a year before actually having a baby. We'll be trying to conceive in about 8-9 months or so... There is also the issue that we have insurance issues and that my parents are still contributing a decent amount to our finanial well being.
our first baby came 9 months after our wedding, and then they came fast and furious up to last year. I have 5 children and just turned 30. My body needs a break, I have never been not nursing or pregnant for 9 years, with the exception being the last month and a half. We have no health insurance. My kids are 8 and under and I homeschool. I feel like I can't meet everyone's needs, and educational needs are getting quite serious.
my husband has bipolar disorder. He manages it well with medication, but stress exacerbates it, and with 4 kids ages 8 and under (one of whom has high-functioning autism), we both feel pretty much stretched to our limit meeting their needs.
my husband was laid off six months after our wedding, and couldn't find a job for almost a year and a half. I didn't want to get PG as the breadwinner/insurance holder, especially as my company didn't offer disability or paid maternity leave.
because I have a special needs kid and I have a high risk of pre-eclampsia.
I needed at least 6 months at a new job before I qualified for maternity leave, & also because I had crap insurance with only the barest maternity "coverage."

Who are we to ask these couples who are already suffering to further justify their reasoning to postpone pregnancy to us? Do we not trust husbands and wives enough to know whether they being called to welcome another life better than we would know? I'm sick of the list making, the judgy eyes, and the overall disdain for people who use Natural Family Planning to actually, ya know, plan their families. If people are using NFP selfishly then they are pretty crappy at being selfish and we've got a lot of other things to worry about.

The Church in Her infinite wisdom did not make a list for no other reason than that it is impossible to make a list containing all of the reasons. Instead She has instructed us to use what we have be taught about faith and love to discern our call. The foundation has been set for us to use our heads and hearts to best listen to God and as long as that's the aim then we have nothing else to justify.

So here's what it comes down to, the foolproof way to use NFP: be honest with yourself, your spouse, and God, pray to know His will, and have the strength to follow it.

That's it.

As long as you're doing that, you my friend, are an NFP rockstar!

This contribution is available at http://nfpandme.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-licitly-use-nfp-to-postpone.html
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Women Speak on NFP: Introducing a New Series [at Carrots for Michaelmas]

As a Catholic woman seeking to follow Church teaching about marriage, fertility, and sexuality, I’m concerned about the lack of resources for couples to become equipped to practice Natural Family Planning (NFP). So many faithful and well-intentional Catholic couples have either been inadequately educated and encouraged in Church teaching regarding contraception and do not know how to implement those truths in their marriage, or their diocese (like mine) has no NFP classes or resources readily available to help them learn NFP. If we truly believe that Church teachings about marriage, fertility, and contraception are true, good, and beautiful, we need to help couples embrace those truths by giving them the education they need to practice it.

Since our conversion to the Catholic faith in 2010, we haven’t been avoiding pregnancy (we call it Awesome Family Planning, or AFP) and have been blessed with two little girls (one 18 months and one arriving this May) in addition to our 4-year-old son. Apart from very severe morning sickness, my pregnancies have had no complications and we’ve been able to provide for our children financially. In our current situation, there are no grave circumstances that would prompt us to avoid pregnancy and we embrace ecological breastfeeding as natural child spacing. However, what if there was a grave concern? What if a health crisis made a subsequent pregnancy highly dangerous? What if my husband lost his job?

A Catholic marriage is called to always be open to life, but the Church does provide families with the option to space children through natural family planning in cases of severe physical or financial strain. If we were in a situation prompting us to avoid pregnancy, I wouldn’t know how to begin learning a method of NFP! I wouldn’t know which method to be trained in! Since there’s no classes offered within a two hour drive, I would want to be sure that the method we chose was the right one for our family since it would be a big commitment to pursue training. I have spoken to so many women in a similar situation and this is why I wanted to run this series of women speaking about their experience with various methods of NFP to provide some resources in order to learn more.

In this series you will hear from women using various methods of NFP -some to avoid pregnancy, some trying to conceive- and their experiences. Some began using NFP for religious reasons, some for health reasons. Some are Catholic and some are not. I’m excited to hear from some of our Protestant sisters about why they find NFP valuable to their marriages and spiritual life and to share and celebrate this commonality with them!

IMPORTANT! Disclaimer: This series is not meant to be a substitute for any method of training in NFP! If you are interested in one of the methods introduced in this series, please contact a certified instructor for information about training in that method of NFP. For some women, learning NFP is a piece of cake, for others it’s very tricky. In other words, don’t simply read this series, assume you’ve got the idea and then send me angry emails because your attempt at NFP was unsuccessful. This series is merely meant to give you an idea of several women’s experiences and point you in the right direction for further resources!

I’ve got some great posts lined up from some inspiring women and I can’t wait to share them with you!

If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about with Catholics not contracepting, you might want to look into some posts from the archives:

This contribution is available at http://carrotsformichaelmas.com/2013/04/01/women-speak-on-nfp-introducing-a-new-series/
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I Believe: The Creed and You by James Forsyth

April 25, 2013 by Ellen Gable Hrkach

I Believe The Creed and YouMy recent review for The Catholic Register:

In this Year of Faith, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has encouraged Catholics to learn more about what they believe. What better way to do this than start with the basic prayer of our beliefs, the Creed.

Have you ever said a prayer without feeling or conviction, perhaps because it’s an ancient prayer? James Forsyth has written a book that will help Catholics recite the Apostles’ Creed meaningfully.

“Faith is man’s response to God, who reveals Himself and gives Himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Forsyth challenges us to take the Creed and make it ours personally. To do so we must first understand it better. This, I believe (pun intended), is the purpose of this useful and timely new book.

Like the Creed itself, this book should be read carefully and reflectively. In this way, the reader can more fully understand the faith as “he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life,” and how to personally live faith as a response to God. Forsyth uses two guiding principles in explaining the Creed. First, the idea of “the reciprocal relationship between human nature and divine grace,” from Thomas Aquinas.

Simply put, “the more fully human we become, the better equipped we are to respond to the grace of God.” The next step is “the more we respond to the grace of God, the more fully human we become.”

Secondly, Forsyth asserts,“the principle of the analogy of being between the human and the divine…” that “we can understand something about God by examining our human life and experience.” The more we understand these principles, the better our response — and faith — can be.

For Forsyth, belief has consequences. “I believe, therefore I am a somebody,” he writes.

“For all of us, the Creed is a voice that is well worth listening to. Of all the voices vying for our attention, the Creed tells us, at the most fundamental level, who we are and how we should live, what we should do and what is important. The Creed gives us as believers an identity,” argues Forsyth. Now, more than ever, with secularism, its subjective truth and a lack of the sense of sin, Catholics need this sense of identity.

Connecting our beliefs to our experience can improve our understanding of the Apostles’ Creed, as well as our Catholic faith.

“We must take personal responsibility for our belief in God and our personal belief in God implies that we are making God the most important thing in our lives,” he writes.

The new evangelization challenges us not only to learn more about our faith, but to share our faith. While we can try to understand in an academic way, it is only when we apply our faith to our personal lives (as a response to God) that we begin to live it. Lived faith is always shared with others.

Readers of I Believe: The Creed and You will never recite the words of the Apostles’ Creed without thinking of the importance of the Catholic faith in their lives. It is an ideal and timely book for this Year of Faith.

This contribution is available at http://ellengable.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/i-believe-the-creed-and-you-by-james-forsyth/
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Monday Musings - Stop Searching For Loopholes and Make The Salvation of Souls Priority Number One! [at Harvesting The Fruits Of Contemplation]

If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic postings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month (God willing) generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.

(Image from Biblebios.com)

More than fourteen months ago, I offered my few cents on the unprecedented attack on our religious liberty. Sad to say, not much has changed since I wrote those words. If you not already done so, I suggest you

read those comments here

if the rest of this entry is to make sense.

The current Administration still refuses to acknowledge our God-given right to freely practice our religion. In fact, it has expressed frustration and annoyance with our on-going verbal refusal to acquiesce to its intrinsically evil regulations and our stated unwillingness to bow down to their “god” of reproductive rights. One of its agencies had actually classified Catholics as terrorists. Litigation, though not yet finalized, has resulted in mixed and unsatisfactory results.

Despite the on-going exposure to the reality of abortion in the Philadelphia house of horrors, the intent of New York’s self-proclaimed Catholic governor to remove virtually all restrictions on abortions performed in that State, and the unwillingness of Planned Parenthood representatives to publicly condemn the practices exposed at the Gosnell clinic and elsewhere, our President continues to attack those who stand up and defend the life of the unborn and vows his allegiance to Planned Parenthood. He has even publicly asked “god’ to bless this evil, earthly arm of the Great Deceiver.

The defeat of evil will not occur through litigation or legislation. The unending battle against the dark forces roaming this earth is, has been, and always will be a spiritual one. It will cease only by God's grace and power and in His time. Until then, we must individually and as His Church battle this evil through prayer, fasting, and the courageous proclamation, assent, defense and faithfulness to God's Truth. We may even be asked to suffer civil and economic punishment for defending that Truth. How many of us are ready to do so?

Only God knows but I suspect that number will not be huge. Why? Let me offer a few reasons.

First, there is no indication that fewer Catholics oppose abortion, contraception, embryonic stem cell research, and sterilization now, for example, than when this public battle began.

Secondly, there is little evidence that many Catholic Dioceses and parishes in this country have done much of anything since I last visited this issue to instruct their flock on what the Catholic Church teaches about these intrinsic evils, why it does so, and what the eternal consequences are to those who personally engage in or acquiesce to these evils.

Thirdly, there are few public corrections of, or consequence to, Catholic politicians and public figures who publicly dissent from the Church's teaching on these intrinsic evils. So why should the person in the pew feel he or she needs to adjust their conduct in these areas or get excited about federal regulations they don't really oppose?

Fourthly, the prevalent unwillingness of far too many of the Church's Shepherds and priests to defend the integrity and sacredness of the Holy Eucharist by withholding it from the mouths of notorious and long-standing dissenting Catholics just reinforces the mistaken and eternally deadly opinion of ill-formed Catholics that none of these issues are that important. In centuries past, bishops, priests, lay men and women died defending the Faith, attempting to save souls and preventing sacrilegious treatment of the Most Precious Blessed Sacrament. Not so much now.

In the end, whether we win or lose the ongoing legislative and litigation battles is of no consequence for those whose souls have already been lost and will be lost because they have chosen to ignore God’s law while most of His Church has remained hesitant or unwilling to remind them that their personal decision to disobey God will result in their eternal damnation. It’s apparently more important not to offend feelings than to lead them away from the never ending inferno that awaits them and any of us who have been complicit by our action, inaction or silence.

Will we ever remove ourselves from the lure of political maneuvering where we are just one of many competing interests begging for a few crumbs from corrupt civil leaders? How much longer will Satan succeed in diverting our attention from the real issue – the salvation of souls?

We Catholics must stop looking for loopholes around God’s Absolute Truth! There are none. Nothing can be more important than winning the war for the salvation of souls. Nothing! Not even our earthly lives!

This contribution is available at http://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2013/04/monday-musings-stop-searching-for.html
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The What Ifs... [at The Fisk Files]

Do you ever wonder, "What If..."?

I've found myself thinking about the past a lot lately.  Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I decided to go to college in MA rather than run for National FFA office.  Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I stayed in DC a bit longer.  Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing now had I taken grad school a bit more seriously.  I even wonder if I would have liked Norman, OK more had I not been working for a child abuse response center.

I will never know.   I didn't go to Harvard.  I left DC before I'd even been there a year.  During the first semester of grad school, my grandfather passed away and I never could quite get back into the swing of things.  After seeing child after child who had been physically or sexually abused (some four years old and younger), I couldn't trust anyone in that new town.

I don't think back and wish my life would have taken a different route.  And, rarely do I regret any decisions made.  However, what I often wish is that I could replay some of the events...not to choose something other than what I did, but more so, to respond to life in a different way.  I feel like in every situation mentioned (and many others unmentioned), I have been planning for a new day instead of living in that very day.

I couldn't really choose a college path until I knew what was going to happen with National FFA office.  Why get really involved with school if I was just going to have to take a year off to serve with FFA?  I stayed in my dorm, almost the entire first semester, preparing to run for office (when I wasn't in class) instead of getting involved in all that Texas A&M had to offer.  When November rolled around, I wasn't elected.  And, I came back to a school of 40,000+ where I really hadn't made a place.  The future I was living for didn't come to pass, and I seemed to have wasted a lot of the present along with an opportunity to establish a good start my first semester away from home.

In DC, I loved most every minute.  I worked long hours and stayed out with friends many nights of the week.  If I wasn't giving tours, I was going to neat events, and being in awe of my surroundings.  However, I quickly began to see the environment in which I worked (where children new their au pairs better than their mamas) wasn't one I wanted to be in forever.  I could see myself getting "addicted" to the thrills of The District life and suddenly thought, "I better get out" because I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.  At 23, I left DC, without a real plan, without a boyfriend, and without a true reason.  When I could have stayed on a bit longer, enjoying an opportunity of a lifetime, I convinced myself that I needed to "get out while I could."

Grad school...I basically gave up.  I got through the classes and graduated in an average position.  There again, I didn't know what I was going to do with a master's in public administration.  I thought the nonprofit world would be interesting, but I was buying time until I could be a mom (something I didn't know was for certain).  I went to class and then home to study.  I rarely interacted with many of my classmates.  I didn't take advantage of the unbelievable speaker series hosted by the school.  I did what I needed to do in order to get by fairly well.  Sure, some classes I put more effort into, thus getting more out of.  However, I did it half-way.  I wasn't me and who I knew I needed to be...but a lazy, unhappy version of myself.

I did find a job in the nonprofit arena...doing development work for a child abuse response agency in Oklahoma.  It was my job to secure funding.  It started well.  I loved the grant-writing.  Every day got a bit tougher.  I was in a new community, and I was tasked with making myself known in order to gain support for our organization.  With every new child that walked in that door, having been abused, I grew more and more leery of the community.  I began to not trust anyone.  I saw so much more of the evil side of communities/people than I ever knew existed.  While there was so much good to be found, instead of finding it, I stayed in my safe haven of home with my new husband and rarely ventured out for work, much less play.  I failed to do my job well, once again.  Worrying what different situations may arise, I did "good enough" to get by while hoping for a career change in the not-too-distant future.

Blah blah blah.  All of that to say, I'm a wife and mom now.  I get to stay home with my kids!  And, every single one of those experiences helped shape me.  I just wish I could do things a bit differently.  Would I have loved Harvard?  Who knows.  I do know that I grew to love Texas A&M...enough to go back!  And, I have the best friends from my time there.  Would I have stayed in DC longer if I wasn't so future-thinking?  Maybe. I do know I would have enjoyed it more.  Would it have been a better experience at grad school had I graduated at the top of my class?  Probably not.  But, if I would have put just a tiny bit more into it, I would have felt better about it today.  Would I have made it in the nonprofit area of child abuse response?  No.  I am so thankful there are people who are gifted to help others in that way.  I know it wasn't for me, and I'm glad I didn't do it much longer, but I do wish I would have been a better employee while I was there.

Hindsight is 20/20, right?  I can say all of this now and not change a thing.  I can't change where I went to school or a wasted first semester.  I can't change the amount of time I spent in DC.  I can't change the experience of grad school.  And, I cannot re-do my time in Norman.  I can't go back.  In fact, I probably have learned more by the decisions I did make than others I could have made.  More than anything, I can look back to all of these situations and see them for what they're worth today.  They all scream, "Live in the now!"

Yes, it's important to be responsible and to plan for the future.  But, not so much that you completely miss the present.  Right now, I am married to the man of my dreams.  I am living out a vocation that I always hoped for.  I have three babies and each of them are a miracle.  I love my life.  Love it!

If any of those "what ifs" had happened, I might not be where I am right now.  And, I believe I am here for a reason.  That questioning has helped me grow and appreciate my life just as it is now.  Soon, these babies will be grown, and I'll be wishing for days where I am interrupted by tiny voices, laughing with my husband at the thoughts that can only come from a child's mind, and giving anything for a baby to be curled up on my chest.

The "what ifs" prevent us from relishing the now.  Instead, I vow to enjoy today, and all that it brings so that it doesn't soon become a "what if."

This contribution is available at http://thefiskfiles.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-what-ifs.html
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Raising the temperature [at Kitchen table chats with a Catholic Matriarch]

Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power. 

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen. 

Reading much of the news can be dizzying. How did we end up in this state?

College students

are seeking to have a Catholic priest fired because he offered sound Catholic teaching.

The Army warns soldiers

to avoid being involved with religious extremists like Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews, and Al Quaeda.

We did not end up here because the enemies of the Church are so strong. We are here because we the faithful became lukewarm. We lost our fervor for God. We became complacent. Religion became something personal but not something we talk about out loud. We certainly are not going to bring it up in polite company.

Reading the notes on slide 24 of the Army briefing that labels Catholics as extremists, this statement stood out to me: 

However, religious extremism is not limited to any single religion, ethnic group, or region of the world; every religion has some followers that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only “right way” and that all others are practicing their faith the “wrong way,” seeing and believing that their faith/religion superior to all others.

Shouldn't all true believers think that their way is the right way? Does believing that the Catholic Church is the one true Church founded by Christ on the Rock of Peter and promised by Christ that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against Her make Catholics dangerous extremists? If I believe that there are lots of "right" ways and my way is no better than any other religion, then why am I a Catholic? It would certainly be much easier to take up with one of the denominations that is much less demanding.

When I taught seventh-grade CCD, one of my students was incredulous: "It sounds like you are saying that the Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and others are all wrong!" She was even more astounded when I said that, yes, that is exactly what I am saying. While they may have some elements of holiness consistent with the Christian life, they are in error. I believe that all those who reject the teaching authority of the Pope on matters of faith and morals are also in error. I do not hate those who are in error. I pray constantly that they will eventually come home to Rome! I cannot expect them to see their errors if all I do is avoid facing the differences in our beliefs. The buzz word of our day is dialogue, but it is a dialogue without persuasion. You have your say. I have my say. There can be no debate. No analysis. No defense. No conversion. If you dare to disagree, then you are a hater and a bigot.

The Year of Faith and the call to the New Evangelization is about relighting the fire of our faith. No more cold to lukewarm believers. We need to courageously speak the Truth of the Gospel without apology. We must speak with charity. But we must also make sure we are heard. Of course, that also means we must know the Truth of the Gospel ourselves. Time to brush up on what we really believe and how we best persuade others of the veracity of our faith. 

On this final day of the Divine Mercy Novena, may we all feel the heat of ardent faith. As St. Catherine of Siena said, "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!"

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Spiritual Practices: Examination of Conscience [at From the Pulpit of My Life]

As a Christian I am bound to follow my conscience, my inner guide to doing good and to avoiding evil.    Every Evening, as the day winds down, I spend about  ten minutes at the beginning of "Night Prayer" to review my day by examining my conscience.  The guide that I have found most helpful lately is called "An Examen."

I like this way of reflecting on my day because it is balanced.  It helps me see both the times I practiced virtue as well as the times I sinned.  This is in contrast to other examinations I have used which emphasize only the sinful acts.  Noticing God's goodness and appreciating his providence is another outcome that has helped me.  I feel a strong impulse to give God glory and praise as a result.

First I remember that I am in God's presence. Heavenly Father, I know you are with me, looking at me with love and caring for my every need.  Then I review my day and express gratitude.Loving Father, thank you for this day.  Thank you for the gifts and graces you have given me.  Thank you for life itself.  Thank you for the people who have grace me and touched me.

Between each sentence I pause and recall something for which I am specifically grateful about the day, the graces, the people that God has placed on my path.  Today, for example, I was grateful for the gift of understanding a section of a piece of guitar music that has been a challenge to learn.  I also thanked God for unexpectedly meeting a friend and her son at the frozen yogurt store.

Next, I ask the Holy Spirit for help.Come, Holy Spirit, my dear advocate and guide.  Help me appreciate and understand what has been happening in my life today.  Instill in my heart a deep appreciation of God's presence in the people, happenings, and events of today.

I wait to see if something surfaces.  If so, I rest in that for a short time.  It may be a realization that the patience for which I've prayed has improved my relationship with a difficult person.

Then I review how I lived today. 

I do this by recalling various scenes from morning afternoon, and earlier in the evening.  Usually I can remember just one or two incidents, although there are times when I remember many things.  Here I pay attention to the emotions these scenes elicit.

Sometimes the memory leaves me with feelings of contentment, fulfillment, joy or serenity.  In other words there is a positive feeling.  I have learned to see these as God loving me through them.

At times the memory elicits from me feelings of hurt, emptiness, frustration or anger.  These are unsettling memories.  Such emotions alert me to areas where God is inviting me to grow through repentance or a change of heart.  I may need to give a person or something within me more attention.

Finally, I look forward to tomorrow with hope.

In the light of the review I talk with God about my future hope of following his will and growing closer to him.  I may make specific resolutions and ask God to help me remember them and to enlighten me when opportunities to fulfill them come my way.

"The Examen" is part of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.  I recommend it for those who are serious about living their faith and growing in holiness.  You can learn much more about this form of prayer at "The Daily Examen" page of

Ignatian Spirituality

.

This contribution is available at http://fromthepulpitofmylife.blogspot.com/2013/04/spiritual-practices-examination-of.html
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On Marriage [at Lord, Make Me a Saint]

I've been wanting to write about marriage for a long time now.

I've been praying about it.

I feel as if I won't be able to do it justice, 

it's such an important subject.

I also am humbling myself by writing about it,

as so many people will see the imperfect,

the private,

 but maybe they will also 

see themselves.

Which is why I post this.

We've had a very hard year and a half.

Now with Simeon's last surgery (for a while) completed,

we are playing "catch-up" on every aspect of our lives.

Let's look back on our year to two years:

High risk pregnancy

(6th C-section, over 40, type one diabetic)

up to 5 doctor appointments per week during the pregnancy

Special needs baby born

Special feeding

4 surgeries plus an extra hospital stay

Pumping breastmilk (big timesucker)

6 Kids and all that goes with that!

One child diagnosed with ADD and ODD and Anxiety issues

Counseling and numerous issues

 that go along with that diagnosis

Homeschooling with a special needs baby and a toddler

Tom suffers from depression, 

and this winter has been his worst year yet.

Tom has a really bad back, with constant pain,

preventing him from doing exercises

Tom has a bad knee, causing constant pain

He also has a really painful jaw thing--his jaw is out of joint

(seeking help for all of these--with little/no relief)

(Gosh I love my husband, he never complains)

I'm sure I've missed a few things

To say the least, we are happy to have this past year behind us!

This past year has, though, 

caused some stresses in our marriage.

It has also helped us to realize there were 

stresses already there, and ignored.

for a long time.

We're talking years.

All these stresses have, believe it or not, 

made our marriage stronger than ever.

My husband and I have been going to Christian marriage counseling

since January.

As I explain it, we need to learn how to communicate better.

Up to that point, I'd say looking back, 

I didn't really think anything was wrong.

My husband, on the other hand, was ready for the big D

I see now, how wrong I was.

How much better life is now.

We were co-existing.

Taking care of a family with 6 kids and all that goes with that.

We were not taking care of eachother, not our relationship.  

Our love, our friendship.  

He is my best friend, yet I was not acting like he was.
He is the love of my life.
I don't want to wake one day
when all the kids are grown and gone
and not be in love or feel love any more
for this man, the man I promised to
love and cherish.

I believe that our priorities should be in this order:

God

Marriage/husband

 Children

I had the kids and Tom mixed up.

I had a very hard time changing that, 

learning to put Tom before the kids.

It's still a constant struggle.

They are needy and demanding.

We need to pray and beg God for those Graces

 from our Sacrament of Marriage.

Oh, the blessings and Graces from this.  

They are immediate when asked for.

We are so blessed to have a Sacramental marriage.

To be able to see that Love in action.

We were lonely.

Isn't that something?

8 people living in this house and we, 

the grown ups, 

were lonely.

There's a difference in asking

"How was your day?"

or asking,

"How are  you doing today?" 

(and looking him in the eye,

 touching his back and waiting for an answer)

 We have learned some things these past few months.

We try to meet every day for at least a half hour, alone, 

with no kids, to just talk and kiss and touch, and just be together.

(now this doesn't happen every day, but we try, 

and when it doesn't happen, we can tell, we need it,

we miss it)

I have to say this is KEY.

I wish someone would have told us before we were married,

that if at all possible, to take a half hour each day, 

even when you start having kids and it seems impossible,

(they sleep sometime)

to take that time, to TALK.

My husband comes up with questions like

"What 3 places would you pick to go for vacation, one with the kids and 2 without?"

Or

"What is heaviest on  your mind right now?"

or

"What is the one thing you'd like to do this week?"

We have never run out of things to talk about.

One rule:  We can't talk only about the kids.

He's teaching me how to play Cribbage.  

We used to watch movies or a show after the kids went to bed,

but that's not the same thing as actually talking.

We've changed some things, 

He's staying a little later in the morning, 

so I can go to daily Mass 

(when there are no sick kids or icy roads)

so I can have some "me" time.  (Jesus and me time)

And

I am making lunch on Saturdays, 

I'm talking a real cooked meal, 

not a kid meal of corn dogs or chicken nuggets.

And

I'm making Brunch every Sunday 

after Mass

He's helping me write out the menus,

every 2 weeks, we look on the computer and pin away!

Love in action

( And food is the key to a man's heart sometimes)

We are trying, now that the kids are older,

to run errands together whenever we can

to touch each other more.

to go on a "date" outside the home

every other week.

(it's not much, about an hour and a half)

Every little bit helps.

Trying to spend as much time together as possible.

And I mean together, not just by each other.

It's a constant work in progress, 

but it's so worth it.

My husband is my best friend

I love him and can't wait til he's home every day.

And I tell him that.

My best advice?

Spend time together
and

Pray together

Every day.

This contribution is available at http://makemeasaint.blogspot.com/2013/04/on-marriage.html
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 “And this is the first word that I want to tell you: 'Joy!' Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!

“Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us. It comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! This is the moment when the enemy comes, when the devil, often times dressed as an angel, comes and insidiously tells us his word. Don't listen to him!

“Follow Jesus! We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This is our joy; this is the hope that we must bring to this world of ours.”

Excerpt from his first homily as Pope, Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013

The humility and joy of Pope Francis catches us off guard. We have a certain mind-set in approaching what a Pope says. We expect to be educated and inspired, but not with such an obvious truth! Not in the depth of simple words. We expect theology, not practicality; complicated discourses to ponder, not our immediate heart reaction of “I get it!”

Like Mary, he points us to Jesus, telling us Jesus brings us joy as he walks among us. Pope Francis tells us to follow Jesus so closely that we are never alone, sad or disappointed. We are never defeated by the enemy even when the devil hides behind an angelic facade.

Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus carries us on his shoulders. How lamb-like is that? To follow Jesus so intimately that we wrap around his neck!

I see Pope Francis, our new Shepherd, carrying us wounded lambs on his shoulders wherever he goes. He caresses us with his every healing word as he caresses the disabled man, kisses the babies and washes the feet of the prisoners.

He declares that Jesus is our hope, and cautions us that hope is vulnerable to the deceptive arguments of the enemy. We are to guard that hope that Jesus gives us. Why? So we will know his joy and banish discouragement. So we will bring this joy to our world, as our dear Pope Francis brings joy to us.  

How can we not follow Jesus with so unpretentious a model?

(© 2013 Nancy H C Ward) 

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Jesus, I trust in You [at Convert Journal]

On the Sunday after Easter, the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy. Especially on this day, we remember God’s amazing love for us all and His desire that we all share in His joy. His mercy easily exceeds our sins and is offered to all who ask for it, are merciful to others and trust in Jesus.

Public revelation – binding on all Christians – of God’s Word ended with the death of the Apostles, closing the deposit of faith. Private revelations, which illuminate more fully (but never change) the definitive and binding public ones, continue. Such gifts are for the people who receive them. In rare circumstances, the Magisterium of the Church recognizes private revelations as authentic calls from Christ or His saints to we His people (the Church Militant).

This is one of those cases. The Divine Mercy revelations were received in 1931 by a young Polish nun named Sister Faustina. She was canonized by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 2000. Later that year, Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted as Jesus had asked of her on 14 different occasions.

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.

Also revealed to St. Faustina was a prayer known as the Diviner Mercy Chaplet which may be prayed using Rosary beads. Jesus said to her:

“Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy.”

[...]

“When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior.”

The Diviner Mercy Chaplet is prayed as follows:

Start with the Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary and Apostles Creed.

Then on the Our Father beads, pray as follows:  “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

On the 10 Hail Mary Beads pray:  “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

Steps 2 and 3 are repeated for all five decades.

Conclude with (3 times):  “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

When praying the Rosary, we meditate on the mysteries of Jesus’ life, passion, death and resurrection. Similarly when praying this chaplet, reflect on Jesus’ mercy. Compared to the Rosary, the DM Chaplet can be prayed in about half the time of one set of Rosary mysteries. It is a particularly good devotion (IMHO) on Friday (first Fridays in particular). It is also integral to the Divine Mercy Novena prayed from Good Friday up to Easter Sunday.

Whereas the Rosary can be prayed counting on your fingers, I recommend using actual Rosary beads for the DM Chaplet since the same prayers are prayed on each decade and you otherwise would lose count. Trust me, I tried!

Most days I am working on my computer at 3pm (the Hour of Mercy), so I have set a little alarm that softly chimes one time. I stop whatever I am doing, clear my head and pray a mini-chaplet (as I call it) – each of the DM Chaplet prayers (#2 thru #4 above) once. This takes about 1 minute and is easily integrated into my daily routine.

What I have written here is but a brief introduction to Divine Mercy. Read more about its beauty, depth and history at these online resources:

Finally…   Jesus revealed a specific, beautiful image of Himself, with his right hand raised in blessing. His left hand is over His heart, from which a pale ray shines representing the Water of righteousness and a red ray shines representing the Blood which is the life of souls.

“I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature ‘Jesus, I trust in You‘.”

This contribution is available at http://www.convertjournal.com/2013/04/jesus-i-trust-in-you/
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Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Warden in Lunacy

Almost a year ago (how time flies!), I read The Greater Trumps by Charles Williams. It is a book about the glorious movement of the Fool on the edge of the abyss. About Tarot cards, domination and surrender. About rising to adore the mystery of Love.

It is also specifically about people. And these people are like Tarot cards: once you get to know them, you do not easily forget them. There is Nancy, the girl who has fallen in love. There is her brother (or not, because he’s mostly absent). And their aunt Sybil, who is holy, but in such a way that you don’t really notice it unless you know the signs. And their father. He is the one to whom the title of this post refers, and the one with whom the book starts – as follows:

“…perfect Babel,” Mr. Coningsby said peevishly, threw himself into a chair, and took up the evening paper.

He then proceeds to ignore his smart-alecky daughter (whispering that Babel never was perfect); to disturb his sister, Aunt Sybil, because she looks comfortable and interested in her book; and to complain about the government raising taxes. He forbids Nancy from telling her brother to ‘Go to hell’, at least within his house. He also forbids her from answering back to Aunt Sybil, who at least is ‘a lady’ – at which Nancy throws back, in a spirit of hyperbole, that she’s a saint.

Lothair Coningsby does not like to be disturbed. Mania, whether heavenly or chaotic, is not allowed a place in his house. How appropriate, therefore, that he is ‘a legal officer of standing, a Warden in Lunacy’ (with the privilege of going in to dinner before the elder sons of younger sons of peers). He has an interest in trivial arguments. His hand’s line of life stops at forty, but (as Nancy remarks) ‘here he is still alive’. He also happens to be the legatee of the original pack of Tarot cards, which draws his family into a mystery tale that he never becomes conscious of.

Mr. Coningsby is a creature of habit. He happens to have the laudable religious habit of going to church on Christmas Day. Fortunately, when the family spends Christmas elsewhere, his host provides a car and chauffeur to enable him to go:

Mr. Coningsby held strongly that going to church, if and when he did go, ought to be as much a part of normal life as possible, and ought not to demand any peculiar demonstration of energy on the part of the churchgoer.

Sybil, he understood, had the same view; she agreed that religion and love should be a part of normal life.

One should read The Greater Trumps if only to sharpen one’s dialectical sense. The church scene, by the way, is unforgettable; a marvellous example of that ecstastic ‘actual.participation’ which a recent Council has encouraged. Put more simply, reading this book might make your heart larger.

And if it does, perhaps you will even come to appreciate the Warden in Lunacy. For the author views him several times through Aunt Sybil’s eyes, and then affirms that he is ‘as generous as he knew how to be’ – which would be damning with faint praise if it were damning. But his generosity is real. And at church Nancy sees him in a different Light:

He seemed no more the absurd, slightly despicable, affected and pompous and irritating elderly man whom she had known; all that was unimportant. He walked alone, a genie from some other world, demanding of her something which she had not troubled to give. If she would not find out what that was, it was no good blaming him for the failure of their proper relation. She, she only, was to blame; the sin lay in her heart whenever that heart set itself against any other.

This contribution is available at http://turgonian.blogspot.nl/2013/04/warden-in-lunacy.html
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Chocolate and Catholicism- Blogging from A-Z [at A write a day can keep the writer (relatively) sane]

‘C’ Day for the Blogging from A-Z Challenge. So many things that I like that start with a ‘c’. Children, cats, caffeine, calm, clarity, Chaucer, Covecrest to name a few. I was seriously torn between chocolate and Catholicism though. Then a (perhaps divine?) inspiration struck. Why not both? Oh, YEAH!!!

Chocolate and Catholicism are both very important to me. Both keep me somewhat sane some days, lend me new energy, lead me to mental leaps, restore my soul. I have gone to cities in Belgium and the Netherlands in search of both a beautiful cathedral or basilica and a kick-butt chocolate store. And searched all over til I found both. In Maastricht, the search for chocolate also led me to a few great shopping streets.

I can do without chocolate, though. I mean, it makes me gain weight too quickly! And if I eat too much of it, I will get sick or even form new ¥€££ kidney stones. True, chocolate can make a bad day better. But I have never hungered for chocolate the way I have hungered for Holy Hour with God. Been known to drag my heels to Mass, but to scheduled one-on-one time with God, not so much. My Catholic religion lets me get rid of my sins, get absolved of them, and gives me the strength to get up and try again. My Catholicism gives me Mary to intercede for me. At Mass, I receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. The best chocolate anywhere fails to come within continents of this. I have given up chocolate for Lent, for my Catholic faith. Ain’t no how, no way I’d swap my religion on in for chocolate.

Sorry, Godiva. Thank you, and hello God.

This contribution is available at http://vftmom247.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/chocolate-and-catholicism-blogging-from-a-z/
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An Evening with Cardinal Schonborn [at Dominus mihi adjutor]

Last night, as a result of a very kind and unmerited (by me) invitation, I had the enormous privilege of hearing His Eminence, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn OP, Archbishop of Vienna, speak at the National Gallery in London. I had the good fortune to team up with Dr Stephen Bullivant of St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, for the occasion. The evening began with wine and canapés Room 8, now The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Room, at the National Gallery.

This was a felicitous siting of the pre-lecture gathering, and not just because this room holds some wonderful religious works from the Italian Renaissance, by such masters as Raphael and Michelangelo, but because Mr Michael Hintze, of the room’s new name, was in effect the host for the evening. Mr Hintze is a wealthy Catholic businessman who gives almost as much as he gets. Apart from a large benefaction to the National Gallery, he has also donated to the Church, not least to the restoration of frescoes in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel. He is an alumnus of my old college, St John’s at the University of Sydney, where he recently funded the building of a new residential wing. He thoroughly merits the recognition he received when Pope Benedict XVI made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory. He is one of that now-too-rare breed of wealthy people who share their wealth with good causes. Thankfully, they do exist – my invitation came through the kind services of another Catholic philanthropist, Mr Graham Hutton… but I digress.

So far I have not had the front to drop Douai Abbey’s name to Mr Hintze – our Library and Archive is still in need of money as it expands to encompass the archives of other monasteries and religious orders, and we could certainly do with a sacristy!

The great and the good present for the evening were way above my station, but I did recognise Lord Williams, until recently Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and ecumenical confrater of Douai Abbey,  Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, former Master General of the Dominicans, Mr Richard Fitzalan Howard of the Order of Malta, and Fr John Saward, the eminent theologian. There were a goodly number of younger Catholic servants of the Church present as well, and it all made for a lovely buzz of bonhomie and conversation.

Then, after a brief pitch by the Gallery director, we moved to the Theatre for the Cardinal’s lecture. His subject was the place of Christianity in an increasingly and predominantly secularised Europe. He spoke from notes, of which I do not have a transcript, though a copy of the speech would not have been adequate given that His Eminence made frequent asides and off-the-cuff remarks.

So I am largely working from a weak memory in what follows. What does stay clearly in the memory is that his lecture was accessible and insightful. He spoke mainly from a Germano-Austrian perspective, not surprisingly, but the relevance to all of Europe, including the UK, was obvious. He peppered his lecture with references to the thought and ministry of Benedict XVI, quondam Joseph Ratzinger. The Cardinal was a student of Ratzinger and the influence of Ratzinger on his own thought is explicit. Another feature which marked the lecture was the Cardinal’s strong emphasis on pro-life issues. He spoke frequently against euthanasia and abortion, occasionally as an impassioned aside.

His principal focus was not on a Europe facing the prospect of increased Islamization. Rather he focused on the more burning issue facing Europe, secularization. It was clear that the Cardinal saw the force of secularization as the greatest threat to European culture and society. He noted the reaction of one young Muslim to the attempts in many countries to marginalize or remove Christian symbolism and content from society: she had no objection to seeing a European country make explicit its Christian foundations – indeed it reassured her that she was in a society that believed in God in the first place. The attempt by some governments to de-Christianize European society in the name of pluralism actually offends a vast number of those they seek to placate. Apart from the militant extremist fringe of Islam, most Muslims would prefer a tolerant but explicitly Christian society over an atheistic, pluralist secular society any day.

The Cardinal also fired a warning shot across the Church’s bow on this matter. He saw a Church that in many places was conforming itself to the world, accommodating itself to its secular milieu. Such a Church, the Cardinal warned, would have nothing worthwhile to say to society, and in fact the world is far better at being secular than the Church: “A secularized Church is of no interest to a secularized world”. Amen.

One of his asides arose from his treatment of the recent controversy in Germany over infant circumcision, when there was an attempt to ban circumcision. The attempt arose from a denial that circumcision had a religious meaning, and was made in the name of preserving children’s “bodily integrity”. His Eminence then wryly noted the irony that this same deference to bodily integrity is not extended by these people to children not yet born.

The Cardinal’s approach to the issue of same-sex relationships was less robust, or one might say it was more nuanced. He felt that same sex-relationships were a fact in modern European and deserved “respect”. That seemed a little too generous. Certainly in civil terms they should be conceded tolerance: there is no room in Catholic teaching for what could legitimately be called ‘hate crimes’ (in contrast to the expression of an opinion which questions such relationships on moral grounds, so often illegitimately lumped in with ‘hate crimes’ and ‘homophobia’). However tolerance does not equate to respect, and in Catholic terms it is hard to see how to respect something that is more often than not contrary to Christian morality. That said, the Cardinal did mention that when visiting schools he is often asked why the Church opposed “gay marriage”. His reply is always to tell them that the Church does not oppose “gay marriage”, for it cannot oppose something that does not exist! The Cardinal was clear that while civil protections might be accorded same-sex relationships, there can be no question of same-sex marriage. On that point he was unequivocal.

When asked at the end of the lecture what he might have to say to families in light of what he had said about the promotion of life and of authentic marriage, the Cardinal offered a ready and succinct reply: “Grow and multiply”! In this exhortation, which he said was the first commandment we received from God and can be found on page 1 on the Bible, can be found a critique of the shockingly low European birthrate resulting from the contraceptive and abortion culture of modern secular Europe, as well as a reaffirmation that the health of both marriage and society lies in their openness to new life.

His Eminence’s acknowledgement of Benedict XVI’s teaching was frequently evident and explicit, and emerged especially at the end as he answered questions. In response to a question about ecumenism, His Eminence referred to the Ratzinger Schülerkreis, or holiday symposium, that Benedict XVI/Cardinal Ratzinger has held each summer with his former students for 33 years. Himself a former student, Cardinal Schönborn attends these, and least year’s was on ecumenism. At the end Benedict offered a sort of synthesis of and reflection on the opinions aired by his students. Benedict reflected that perhaps a new approach was needed to the ecumenical venture, one that put doctrinal issues in second place and put Christian witness in the first place. Cardinal Schönborn found Benedict’s proposal remarkable: that ecumenism today should focus first on how we can be Christians together and offer a common Christian witness to a largely hostile and secularized society. The corollary becomes clear with a little thought: there will be no ecumenical progress of substance until Christians can unite in what they have in common: obedience to Christ’s principal commandment of charity and of moral living. Only when we live and act like Christians will we offer anything like a true Christian witness to the world, and only then can we talk fruitfully about the doctrines that separate us. Without the common ground of Christian witness in action ecumenical dialogue has no firm ground on which all parties can stand. While there can be no true love without truth, he seems to suggest that if we concentrate on love first, the truth will make itself clear as a result.

His Eminence also offered an interesting insight in relation to the new pope. Rather than set Pope Francis against Pope Benedict as the secular media and certain elements in the Church are trying to do, the Cardinal said that he saw it quite clearly that Pope Francis is a living “illustration” of the teaching of Pope Benedict. What Pope Benedict taught, Pope Francis is embodying with crystal clarity. In the is light, it is as if the election of Francis was divinely delayed so that the ground for his ministry could be laid in the profound yet accessible teaching of Pope Benedict. Pope Francis himself has made abundant reference to Benedict in his first few weeks. Even Pope Francis’ reluctance to speak about the Second Vatican Council could be seen to reflect Benedict’s call to rediscover the true Council; Pope Francis will engage in this task more by actions than by words. Pope Benedict has provided all the words and tools of thought necessary already.

Talking after the lecture with Fr John Saward, he made the point that even Pope Francis’ general liturgical style could be said to reflect Benedict’s essential teaching on the centrality of Christ and his Cross in the liturgy, as opposed to an unhealthy focus on priest or people. Pope Francis has maintained the Benedictine altar arrangement as far as I can tell, and even his resumption of the Scorzelli papal staff, introduced by Pope Paul VI but made famous by Blessed John Paul II, can be seen to reflect Pope Francis’ repeated emphasis on Christ crucified at the heart of the liturgy, and of the Church herself. In this emphasis he is at one with Benedict. So too his relative sobriety in vesture can be seen as attempting to take the focus off the celebrant. It is a method not everyone might approve but it is at least consistent with his theology. It is an insight that should colour our interpretation of Pope Francis’ spare liturgical style.

May the Lord uphold Cardinal Schönborn in his episcopal ministry in the very difficult environment of modern Austria.

**It was a great way to make a long-overdue first visit to the National Gallery.**

**PS I have received a couple of emails that make me realise I have been a little tough on Archbishop Marini. For one thing, it is true that sometimes one has to wear what is provided in the sacristy. This was apparently the case with the blue and yellow horrors shown in the picture in my post on the two Marinis. This is what was provided by the organisers at Mariazell, not by Archbishop Marini. Fair enough. However, given that Pope Francis is making very clear choices of his own in liturgical vesture, this will be an excuse that might not hold for much longer! There are other issues at which I find myself at odds with Marini primo, but no one can question the lengthy and devoted service he rendered as papal MC.**

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Southern Baptist Seminarian Turns to Rome, One Year Later [at St. Joseph's Vanguard]

sbcsignThis is a guest post by Anthony, who one year ago made the announcement that he was leaving an SBC seminary to become Catholic.

I was scared. Wouldn’t you be? Jobless, living with my parents, gritting my teeth through physical therapy after rotator cuff surgery and . . . Catholic. Now, a year later, I can look back on my conversion and reflect on my awkward but necessary transition to the Catholic Church.

The early days were a thrill, like the adrenaline I used to get from breaking rules at school. I watched Harry Potter and drank a Corona each night for a few days, not because I liked beer but to repudiate Southern’s policy against students drinking alcohol. I stopped reading the Bible for a few weeks too—it had just become too confusing. Even though I’d memorized three books and countless verses, every epistle seemed to cry out against the supposed clarity or “perpiscuity” of scripture, and I needed a break. My parents were gracious enough to lend me their car so I could take a two-week trip to see my grandpa in Arkansas and try to stop thinking.

I visited parishes and priests throughout the trip—Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri—though my most pleasant memories came from Arkansas. A janitor with an Irish accent saw me praying in a dark sanctuary and asked if she could help. An RCIA Director was called and listened intently in her office.  Soon she was handing me a YouCat, Catechism, and  rosary. (I get tears in my eyes thinking about it–I was so vulnerable and the kindness meant so much.) I read beautiful prayers and ate delicious Italian food, cooked by my Catholic grandfather.

Coming home was like stubbing my toe, a jarring call to reality. A futile job search began between pain pills and rotator cuff therapy. After Devin posted my story Elizabeth Scalia quipped, “I bet he becomes a priest,” and I wanted to respond, “You’re probably right.” Becoming Catholic for aspiring evangelical pastors is certainly confusing, because each of us has imagined his vocation including leading a church and being a husband. This tension was on display as I signed up for CatholicMatch.com in June, days after officially being received into the Catholic Church, but immediately stopped using it after being accepted into a program to serve the poor in Harlem for a year. This would be my year to explore and consider being a priest in the future.

Everything changed in July when a young woman responded to my CatholicMatch message, five weeks after I had sent it. Intrigued by the fact that we each had been chaperones at a recent Steubenville conference, we talked and set up a date. “What if you fall in love and then have to leave for Harlem?” a Catholic mentor asked. “I’ll write letters from Harlem, it will be romantic,” I promised.

On our third date, August 2, we sat on the beach and she said “yes” when I asked for permission to pursue her in a godly relationship. Her face filled with shock when I said I was going to cancel Harlem, a week before my flight left, and take my chances on a long-shot job close to home because she was simply stunning and wonderful. Four weeks later I got the job. A month after that I proposed. On June 1st Jackie will be my bride and I swear I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

When I was a freshman in college our Bible study leaders would gather us together at 7pm on Wednesdays and have us share “highs and lows” of the week. Here are my highs and lows in the Catholic Church over the last year.

High- Ecumenism. I still pray “off-the-cuff evangelical style,” read my Protestant ESV Bible, and have grown to appreciate men like Mark Driscoll and Lecrae for the clarity of their message and the courage to preach truth, especially to young men. I’ve stayed close to my evangelical friends too, and there is a mutual respect and trust between us.

Low- Cognitive dissonance. I was unprepared for the extent that basic Catholic truths would not be followed in the day-to-day life of the Catholic Church. It’s bizarre when church-going Catholics don’t consider Holy Days of Obligation obligatory, when virtually everyone in every Mass takes the Eucharist despite plain Catechism teaching against receiving when in mortal sin.

High- Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. What a blessing to live at the same time as these men. The papal conclave was a thrill and I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction of so many non-Catholics to Francis.

Low- Media outreach. Discussions over whether to use social media, put homily audio/video online, or have a decent website are questions of the last decade. Pope Benedict has invited Christians to use the Internet for God’s glory, while still maintaining time for silence and reflection.

High- Mass. In a world where nothing is revered, where people tweet obscenities at the President and Pope, the Mass is a sanctuary of reverence, of focusing on Christ. The Mass is like a mustache—so counter-cultural it’s cool.

Low- Evangelism. It took me months before I could find a Catholic who sheepishly admitted we should want other people to be Catholic. The leaders have been talking about the New Evangelization for half a century, yet many look at their feet and quote something St. Francis never said.

High- The Catholic Church. For all of it’s weakness, the gates of Hell will not overcome the Church. I’m here because I love Jesus, and I believe this is where He wants me, taking in the fullness of the Christian faith.

Connect with Anthony on Facebook www.facebook.com/evangelicaltocatholic , Twitter www.twitter.com/evangtocatholic , and www.evangelicaltocatholic.com

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The Eternal Key [at Journey to Wisdom]

The second reading for this Sunday (April 7, 2013) is from the Book of Revelation. In verse 18 we read that the Lord Jesus has conquered death forever and offers us the gift of eternal life.

⁹ I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus.

¹⁰ I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet,

¹¹ which said, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands

¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.

¹⁷ When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,

¹⁸ the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.

¹⁹ Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards. – Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-9 N.A.B.

In reflecting on this reading I am reminded of a story about Shelly, a young professional woman, who was having car trouble.

Briefcase in hand, Shelly aimed a frustrated kick at the front tire of her shiny red BMW. She turned away from her car, glared angrily at rush hour traffic and wondered how long it would take AAA to arrive. She felt her face flush at the thought of being late for another board meeting.

Within minutes the AAA Roadside Assistance van arrived. The driver said, “Miss, did you call for assistance?”

“This stupid key fob isn’t working. I can’t get into my car and I’m going to be late for an important meeting!”

“Can I see your key fob?”

Wiping beads of perspiration from her forehead, she handed him the key fob and watched him insert the key into the door lock and open the door. She smiled sheepishly and thanked him profusely. Now thoroughly embarrassed Shelly sped away thinking, I’m never going to tell anyone about this incident!

What was her real obstacle? Shelly lost sight of her goal. She needed to get to the board meeting, but the key fob battery was dead. When the dime sized fob battery failed she became distracted and forgot that the key fob had a built-in key – a key to be used in the event of battery failure. The means to open the car door and get to the board meeting on time was in her hand all along.

I wonder how many times I have kicked the front tire of my life’s vehicle in frustration at my own inadequacies, or because things weren’t going according to my plan? How many times have I become sidetracked and lost sight of the objective – that of spending eternity with our Lord? It’s deceptively easy to get off target in a society that is fixed on worldly possessions; in a technology driven culture; in a country with a warped sense of values; in a world that seems to be in apostasy.

On this second Sunday of Easter I am reminded that through the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, his struggle under the weight of the crossbeam, the crucifixion, and resurrection Jesus placed the key to spending eternity with him in my hand; I simply have to use it, and I never have to be concerned about a dead battery.

Larry T

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He Is Not The One [at The Veil of Chastity]

Not The OneIt is my belief that if you even are asking the question, “Is he the one?” then he is, unfortunately, not the one.  I draw this conclusion as a result of hindsight from my own past relationships and from what I have observed in other people’s relationships. 

Green lightCertainty Is A Sign

Certainty is a big green light from God.  It is a gift from Him that He wants to give us.  He wants us to know His will.  Why would He make us struggle with such an important question like our vocation and our spouse?  He doesn’t.  The struggle is instead manufactured by us humans. 

Men manufacture this struggle when they present excuses for not being certain about the girl they are dating. Women manufacture this struggle when they make excuses for a guy who is either Mr. Wrong or Mr. Almost Right. 

Mr WrongMr. Wrong

You know what I am referring to, right?  His words and his action do not match.  He sees you every once in a while rather than consistently making you part of his life.  He texts you rather than calls you to hear your voice.  He leaves you guessing about the future (even the near future).  And you, patient you, are hoping that, given time, the relationship will blossom into something serious.

He likes you but he is biding his time in the hopes of finding the girl of his dreams.  Sadly, you are not his dream girl.

Mr. Almost Right

Now, there are some guys who are pretty good at the pursuit role.  They say and do almost all the right things.  Almost.  The key to figuring them out is their lack of moving the relationship forward in a timely manner.  They are content with “dating.”  Marriage is not even on the radar and if there is a marriage blip on the radar screen, it is distant and small.  This is not a good sign.  The one that God has for you will want to move things forward to marriage quickly. 

Again, Mr. Almost Right likes you but he is biding his time in the hopes of finding the girl of his dreams.  Sadly, you are not his dream girl.

The Veil

Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with you.  You are covered by a veil which protects you from Mr. Wrong and Mr. Almost Right.  However, the one that God has for you is the only guy that will be able to see you.  You will be his dream girl.  So, don’t allow yourself to stay in these wrong relationships.  Just move on. If he happens to be the one, he will quickly change when you tell him you are moving on.  He will not want to lose you and he will move things forward toward marriage.

Chastity

Emotional and physical Chastity will weed out every guy except for the one that God has for you.  Guaranteed. 

What Staying Will Do

Staying in a dating relationship with Mr. Wrong or Mr. Almost Right will lead you to feel bad about yourself.  You will be tempted to compromise on your rightful  desire to be pursued.  You will start to believe and act as if you are not worthy of a real pursuit.  You will start to fantasize about Mr. Wrong and your future together. But the fantasy will be better than the reality he is showing you.  And, you will most likely be tempted to start chasing him.

Again, his wishy-washy behavior will lead you to feel bad about yourself and the more you allow it the less you will be able to respond to the one that God has for you in a positive, confident, happy and appreciative manner.

Blatantly ObviousIt Will Be Obvious

The difference between ‘the one’ and ‘not the one’ is not a fine line that you need a magnifying glass to ponder over and analyze.  Instead, it will be extremely and blatantly obvious! If you are even asking the question “Is he the one?” then you know that he is not.

Special CircumstanceBut, But, But

I can hear your objections to my radical and one- size-fits-all analysis of your situation and special circumstance which keeps your guy from marrying you and making you feel loved and cherished.  Believe me, I know it is hard to accept.  Please feel free to continue to write to me so we can talk about your situation.  I promise I am more compassionate than I may seem. Over the next couple of weeks, I will share more insights on why “He is not the one.”

What I have found is that the old adage “you will know” is so true.  In a couple of weeks, I will help you answer the question “How will I know?”

God love and bless you!

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Persecution: You May Be Be Using That Word the Wrong Way [at Aleteia: The news of the world from a Catholic perspective]

When I read the news about

Archbishop André-Joseph Leonard being attacked by a group of feminist berserkers

, my initial reaction was one of profound respect for the man.  The picture that accompanied the article is one of those images that speak volumes:  an elderly, white-haired gentleman with hands folded, head bowed, eyes closed in fervent prayer while four twenty-something women surround him.  The women’s mouths are contorted in anger and the water they’re throwing on him blurs into whip-like shapes.  It is a study in intensity.  The women’s intensity is fueled by rage and violence, while the bishop’s speaks of an intensity rooted in love of God.  

The news account says that once the women were removed by security, the archbishop picked up one of the bottles the protestors had used and looked it over.  Seeing that it was the sort of container generally used for holding holy water, the plastic formed in the shape of the

Virgin Mary

, Leonard reverently kissed the image, as an act of reparation on behalf of the women who had just accosted him.  

Years ago, when we still lived outside Memphis

, my husband and I went down to Beale Street one night during “Memphis in May”, a city-wide festival that features road races, live music and a world-famous barbeque competition.  As dark falls, people mill about Beale Street, drinking beer out of giant plastic cups and enjoying the performers that come out to earn some money through feats of gymnastics, magic, and music.   

We were idly talking to a group of strangers who’d asked if we had any cigarettes they could bum, enjoying the atmosphere and the happy, low-key vibe of the crowd.   Then the parade started.  

From the banks of the Mississippi, walking up Beale Street toward the city

, a dozen very large signs could be seen, giant banners floating above the crowd.  As they were carried nearer, you could read them: “YOU WILL BURN IN HELL” and “GOD HATES SINNERS” and several primitive paintings of Jesus being scourged and dying on the Cross.  The banner-holders were accompanied by people holding bullhorns or Chick Tracts.  Next to me, one of the men we’d been talking to sighed wearily.   

“Here come the Jesus freaks,” he said.  I looked at the Jesus freaks, then back at the man.  

“Who are they?”  I asked.  As a nice mid-Western girl, extreme displays of religious sentiment didn’t happen in public.  Political protest, yes; religious outrage, no.

“They’re some

Pentecostal

church that always marches down Beale Street whenever us sinners are out in number,” the man said, and then took one last drink from his beer.  He waved goodbye to us, threw his cup in the garbage, and walked off into the night, muttering about “getting out before the Jesus Freaks burn him at the stake.”  

I turned my attention back to the street preachers

.  They’d stopped about fifty yards from where my husband and I were standing, and the ones not holding up the banners spread out among the crowd, passing out little booklets that offered grotesque cartoons about why everyone was going to go to hell.   

Then, from the center of the banner-bearers stepped a middle-aged man in a hat.  He put his bullhorn to his lips and began the sinner roll call: “Drunkards.  Fornicators.  Divorcees.  Homosexuals.  Communists.  Catholics.  Jews.  Muslims.  Harlots.  All you will go to hell.”  As he spoke, he’d point to people in the crowd, a crowd which had given the preachers wide berth, but were growing visibly irritated with the shouting.  

One man peeled away from us observers

.  He was obviously drunk, and as he staggered over to the preacher with the bullhorn, he almost spilled the beer in his hand.  Without even breaking stumbling stride, the man took a big mouthful of beer, spit it all over the preacher’s face, and then melted back into the crowd.  The crowd just stared, momentarily silent.  The preacher stood there, making sure everyone in the crowd could see him.  

I asked my husband for the napkins he was holding, and walked over to the preacher.  He was personally repellant to me, but for Pete’s sake, you can’t just leave someone like that dripping in spit and beer. I held the napkins out to him, but he shook his head in refusal.  

“Take them,” I said stupidly,  “for your face.”  The man shook his head again, and looked past me, putting his bullhorn up to his mouth again and resuming his litany of hell’s inhabitants, a self-styled suffering servant, dripping beer for the Lord.   

As I backed away from him, I couldn’t help think how very dramatic it all was

, how much the preacher obviously delighted in this chance to prove that he was in the right, since “Blessed are you when people hate you”.  

Seeing the picture of Archbishop Leonard brought this story back to mind because it was such a lesson in contrasts.  Where the street preacher used his public humiliation to bring more attention to himself, the archbishop, by kissing the discarded image of Jesus’ mother, returned the focus to God.   

I see people using the beatitude about the “blessed are the persecuted” all the time.  Frequently, when someone experiences something on the “persecution spectrum” with “You’re not supporting my pet cause, that’s mean!” on the one end and “death” on the other, they use this as proof that they’re suffering for God and his cause.   

This is categorically wrong

.  Sometimes you’re persecuted because you’re a jerk.  Or perhaps you’ve simply acted like one. That unpleasant great-uncle who insists on employing racist jokes at every family reunion is not “suffering persecution for the Kingdom” when people get up and leave his company; he’s suffering persecution because he’s a jerk who’s telling jerk jokes.  Likewise, your gay co-worker is not being persecuted in Jesus’ name when you inform her that you don’t support gay “marriage” and suggest that perhaps the workplace is not the best arena for discussions of that sort.  If we’ve come to the point in our society where lack of approval equates “persecution”, then we all need a collective kick in the pants.  

So how do you know?  How can you tell if you’re experiencing genuine persecution for the sake of Christ and when you’re simply being shown that your behaviors are not acceptable?  

I think the litmus test for this lies in where you put your focus.  Once eyes are on you as a possible victim of persecution in the name of God, what do you do?  Do you, like the Memphis street preacher, refuse help from strangers, the better to present a dramatic picture to the eyes you’re desperately hoping to fix on you?  Or, like Archbishop Leonard, do you direct the focus back to God, in humility, seeking to stand in the breech for those who wronged you?

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Teaching Contracts [at Ranting Catholic Mom]

For many Catholic schools we are at the tail end of contract season.  The season generally begins in early March with teachers being asked to declare whether they intend to return, and in April, they are either presented with a contract for the next year, or not.  The timing of these contract offers is significant when looking at

stories like this one

.

I would expect many stories like this during our current season, but I'm probably going to be disappointed. Why the expectation?  Why the disappointment?

First I should say, I wasn't expecting every person with same-sex attraction to be outed and denied a contract at Catholic schools.  Some live celibate lives, teach from a solid Catholic faith, and are wonderful teachers.  This isn't a gay witch-hunt.  It really shouldn't be.  It needs to be something deeper.

My expectation, or maybe hope is more accurate, is a feeble thing.  I pray that Catholic schools will become bastions of passing on the Magisterium of the Catholic Faith.  I pray the the teachers in our schools will by thought, word and deed, transmit the faith to young people in a way that weaves it into the very fabric of their young souls.  I hoped that the real discrimination Catholics are experiencing under our government at this time would awaken the strength of the hidden saint in all of us, especially teachers.  But that isn't what is happening.

The HHS mandate as it is written requires all employees of Catholic schools to be profoundly Catholic, or the entire school, and in most cases the parish, must contribute with school and parish dollars, to the culture of death.  If they refuse to comply, they must either close the school or submit.  My expectation was that schools would be holding onto their contracts, or including a caveat that if the mandate is not undone, there would be no jobs for heretics.

Wouldn't that be a powerful testament to our faith?  What if a bishop somewhere announced that the Catholic schools in an entire diocese would close if they didn't stand against the HHS mandate in hiring practices?   Wouldn't that be the ultimate throw-down?

Instead, too many of our Catholic school children will continue to hear from their teachers about how they voted for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Biden, or any of the other advocates of death.  These nice men and women will explain that they did it because they want to help the poor.  These nice teachers will be attractive young mothers and fathers, or maybe grandparents with pictures of the 1.8 grandchildren on their desks.  They may never have discussed their votes with the pastor, but they sure do mention it in class.  They will be the Eucharistic Ministers that give Communion to students at school Masses.

My expectation, my feeble hope was that the media would be buzzing with stories of hundreds of teachers who did not have their contracts renewed.  The Catholic blogs would be going  nuts with stories of beloved teachers who are being denied Communion in front of their students.  These teachers would take to Facebook and Twitter talking about the big-bad-pastor who told them they couldn't be Eucharistic Ministers at school Masses.

My disappointment is that, by not seeing these stories, Catholic schools are no longer any different from public schools. 

And I think Pope Francis agrees with me

in this article.

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The Day I Heard the Lord's Voice, The Day I Knew Jesus Is Real [at DavidLGray.INFO]

This Sunday’s Gospel Reading at the Sacrifice of the Mass comes from John 10:27-30:

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”

When I read this verse of sacred Scripture last night two things came to mind. The first was Psalm 95:7-8 which we rephrase in the Responsorial Psalm of the Church to say, “If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.” The second thing that came to mind was the day that I did hear my Shepherd’s voice, and how it changed my life forever. I’ve shared the story of my definitive encounter with Jesus and what He said to me on a couple of Catholic television and radio shows that I have been invited on, and a portion of the story is my blog article Losing, and Finding it All, but this full story comes from Chapter Three of my book Cooperating with God: Life with the Cross. This is a partial excerpt from the section subtitled ‘The Way of Repentance’:

The Day I Heard the Lord’s Voice; The Day I Knew Jesus Is Real

.
“I woke up on the morning of October 31, 2003 as the same agnostic/deist that I had been for most of my adult life, but by the end of that day I would actually end up praying to the God who I was unsure even existed.

“Although I had committed awful offenses against God and neighbor, there was one sin, more than all of the others that I had fallen into the addiction of doing, which continually bothered my deformed conscience. Over the course of my employment as a senior accountant at a public university, I had developed a three year addiction to embezzling money from my employer. It is true that I had tried everything on my own to stop stealing their money. David L. GrayEven earlier in 2003 I had gone on a book tour out of the country, hoping that the hiatus from my job would break my addiction to theft and, also, from a certain woman who I had fallen in an adulterous relationship with. After being gone for a little over four weeks, I was back home for less than three weeks before I was back to doing all my old tricks again.

“After staring at my daughter Daeja for a very long time, as she played peacefully with herself on the floor in my office at home, I got on my knees there at my desk and asked God to help me stop stealing my employer’s money. The next morning when I awoke I not only had no desire to steal, but God had actually given me an aversion to theft altogether. Soon thereafter, I had even gotten a promotion at the same job, which paid me more money and got me completely away from the temptation of wiring money into my bank account. God had heard my prayer and healed my conscience – to a degree. I say only to a degree, because my adulterous behavior actually got worse, and neither did I turn my will completely over to God, but I did acknowledge His help and existence. I was no longer juggling between agnosticism and deism. I now had a sufficient amount of evidence to become a committed Deist.

“About a year later from that day in October, after I had been in the county jail on a three quarters of million dollars bond for about six months, and I had come to grips with the fact that I was going away to prison for probably a longtime, I realized that I had failed; that everything I had accomplished in life – all my education, my connections, my Masonic fame, prestige, good deeds, wealth, women, material possessions, and my fancy defense attorney – none of these things mattered anymore – none of these things could help me or get me out of this situation. My system – what I had believed in had utterly collapsed, and for the first time in my life I was in the type of trouble that I could not charm or bully myself out of. I was nothing and no one at the same time. My false self, the pretence, the mask that I had worn most of my life was shattered and I hated the image that I saw looking back at me in the broken mirror. I smelled the stench of self and became nauseous. It was then that I realized that I did not know who the hell I was. Who was I?

“That night, after calling my loved ones for the last time, I put a plastic bag over my head, placed a twisted bed sheet around my neck, covered myself with a blanket, and proceeded to tighten it by rolling over, so that I could kill myself by asphyxiation. It was after two or three turns to tighten the knot that I heard His voice; Christ Jesus told me, “I Love You. I Am Here.” Upon hearing Him speaking those words I did not simultaneously know it to be Him, but it was immediately after I asked the question in my head, ‘Who was that?’ that I knew. The Spirit of God moved upon my heart with His name, and just as the sheep always knows its Shepherd’s voice so did I.

“A few days before that Holy night, Marco, an old friend from college who was an ordained minister and Godfather to my oldest daughter Daeleon, came to visit me, as was our usual custom before he attended his Masonic lodge meetings, to check in on me and to talk to me about God. By this time I was close to finally realizing that my system had failed and that I needed to try something new. Always being pragmatic, I needed to find something that truly worked for me. In other words, at that time I was on the fringes of the Circle of Hate and was looking for a way out. So, I asked my friend to pray for me and I got on my knees as I held onto the phone. When Marco told Jesus that I was ready for Him to come into my heart I was confused, because I didn’t know if I was actually ready for that. What I was looking for was a miracle to get me out of this situation of possibly being sent to prison for a very long time. What I was not looking for was some new complicated relationship with some invisible friend. However, a small part of me actually did want to believe and did want to be ready, so from the other side of the glass in the county jail I agreed with Marco’s prayer and said, “Amen.”

“The same guy who use to go into all of those Masonic lodges and tell all those men that they could not pray in the name of Jesus. The same guy who would not let his daughters go to church, because they were told that only Christians would go to Heaven. The same guy who told everyone who could hear him that Jesus did not exist; that the Bible was only fiction. The same guy who mocked, hated, and crucified Jesus, is the same guy who Christ Jesus told that He loves him and that He is here for him. This was when I first learned that God’s mercy cannot be merited. It is freely given and freely received. There is nothing that we can do to earn it, and it is often given to us when we least deserve or expect it. The depth of His mercy is abundantly more fathomless than any of us can ever dream of or imagine!

“I do not pretend to know how everyone moves from the Circle of Hate and into the Circle of Grace, but this I do know (from my own Life with the Cross), that (1) Even though I was not praying for myself, there were people praying for me, asking God to have mercy on me; (2) I had come to some sort of understanding that I was nothing; that my way had led only to failure in life and that my narcissism had led to innocent people being harmed; and (3) God offered me a glimpse of the Circle of Grace when He spoke to me and I said ‘Yes’.”

~ end exceprt
.

PSALM 100:1-2, 3, 5

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

serve the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful song.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.

The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

..

Scripture texts in this blog are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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The Power of the Resurrection [at Veritas Lux Mea]

The Season of Lent and the celebration of the Easter Triduum, leading up to the Easter Vigil, are important observances for us as Catholics. But we can sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that they are simply commemorations of historical events that transpired 2,000 years ago. They are so much more than that...and they can be powerfully effective in our lives.

Consider the Season of Lent. Through this observance, we are called to remember and draw strength from the strength of our Lord Jesus who overcame His temptations. But when we think how many times we fail in our Lenten commitments, rather than give in we should allow ourselves to be reminded that we are not strong enough to fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil alone. No! We can only overcome insofar as we are strengthened by the power of God’s grace. We should also learn that when we fall, God the Good Father in all His graciousness is there to pick us up, to forgive us, and to set us on our way again.

After this extended time of Preparation, we come to Holy Week and specifically the beginning of the Easter Triduum. On Holy Thursday, we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in which we are reminded of the events on the night that the Lord was betrayed. The Mass concludes with the stripping of the altar and the Blessed Sacrament being transferred to the Altar of Repose. The Procession itself is quite moving because it signifies the Lord and His disciples leaving the Upper Room – departing for the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. The sombreness of the Holy Thursday Mass is intensified by the fact that after Mass all the lights in the church are extinguished and the faithful leave the church in total silence. Then there are also those who remain with the Lord to watch and pray.

Good Friday follows – with the devotion of the Stations of the Cross in the morning, and the celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3pm (being the hour at which Jesus gave up His spirit).  

In all of these events, Holy Mother Church is calling us to do more than simply remember what our Lord went through. Rather, we are being called to unite ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ by being immersed completely in all of these events, and so be transformed through them.

But all of these sombre events – Lent, Holy Thursday, the Passion, etc. – would be useless if it wasn’t for that greatest celebration of all – the celebration which all these things prepare us for...the celebration of the Resurrection and Easter!

Easter Sunday marks the highest day in the Catholic Church’s Liturgical Calendar. Why? Because Easter Sunday is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; and His glorious Resurrection is the whole basis for our faith. As St. Paul reminds us in his first epistle to the Corinthians – if Christ is not risen, then our faith is empty and pointless (1 Cor 15:14). Or as the Catechism states:

“The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross...” – (CCC # 638, emphasis mine)

As Catholics, we are quite familiar with the idea of being united with Christ in our sufferings (Col 1:24). When we are sick or struggling with some sort of hardship, we often hear the advice to “offer it up”. Now, this is great advice, because when we unite the sufferings that we endure with those of Christ, they are given redemptive value [see here,  here, and here  for more on this]. But this isn’t the whole story...

Just as we are called to unite ourselves with our Lord in His Passion and Death, what we are called to during the Season of Easter is to unite ourselves with His Resurrection. In other words, it is not just about being united to His sufferings – it is about being united with Him in His fullness.

This was such an important theme for St. Paul that he went so far as to say that he counted all things as nothing more than dung for the sake of gaining the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 3:8). He went on to explain what he meant by saying that his desire was “to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death” (Phil 3:10, NRSV).

What did St. Paul mean when he said that he wanted to share in Christ’s sufferings, and to know Him and the power of His resurrection? The word that St. Paul uses for “sharing” in Phil 3:10 (i.e. koinonia) is the same word that he uses in 1 Cor 10:16 to speaks about our “communion” in the Eucharist is our being united completely with the Lord Jesus [e.g. see here ].

So, for St. Paul, to share in Christ’s sufferings and know Him and the power of His Resurrection was more than having a theoretical knowledge. Rather, his desire was an intimate knowledge of Christ – an experiential knowledge that comes only from being completely united and immersed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But, what does it mean to “know the power of Christ’s Resurrection”? To understand this, we need to understand what St. Paul meant by “the power of the Resurrection”.  In Eph 1:20, St. Paul talks about this “power of the Resurrection” when he says that “God put His power to work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead”. But what is so amazing is that he also says in Eph 1:19 that it is this same “power of the Resurrection” which is at work in the lives of the faithful.

How is this so? Well, it all starts with our baptism when, by the power of God, we are born again and raised to new life in Christ [see here and  here].

St. Paul says as much when he tells us that “all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death” and that “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father”, so we too have been raised to “walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3-5, see also Col 2:11-12).

St. Paul reminds us that if we have been raised to Christ in baptism (Col 2:11-12), we are called to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated, at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1). This means that as new creations, we are called to walk in a way that is worthy of the name “Christian”. And this means to walk in holiness and obedience as imitators of Jesus Christ; it means to live in the way of self-denial for the love of God and of our neighbour.

In this respect, we see that the Seasons of Lent and Easter are not mutually exclusive. Whilst the “flavour” of each Season may be different, the goal of conformity to Christ is always the same. Lent is what prepares us for Easter, and Easter is fruition of what has taken place during Lent. So, whilst our fasting has given way to feasting, may we continue this Easter Season with the same spirit of faith, hope, and love that we sought to cultivate during the Lenten Season.

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For the prospective apologist [at Washed, Sanctified and Justified...]

For the prospective apologist, I’d like to mention one thing. Maybe two. Well, a bunch of things. As I’m writing this, I’m getting a bunch of ideas. Anyway…

1. The importance of prayer. Catholics are famous for making the sign of the Cross before we endeavor to do anything serious or dangerous. That little prayer is the least we should do before we begin to fight against the dominions and powers with whom we begin to wage war when we begin to practice apologetics.

2. We all have different gifts. For example, myself. You’ll find my apologetics all over the internet. Why? Because, before I respond to anyone, I need to consider their argument, break it down into its smallest parts, look up the Catholic Doctrine and Scriptures which are relevant, etc. etc.

Street Evangelists don’t have that luxury. They have to be quick on the draw, humorous, thick skinned, calm, and over all skilled at verbal repartee. All gifts which are absent from my personality. Therefore, I stick to written, deliberate responses.

3. Make friends. Its easier to talk to friends. As I said above, I’m not good at street evangelization. I have about 20 years of experience at written apologetics and that has made it easier for me to talk to say, Jehova Witnesses and Mormons who come to my door.

But friends are a different matter. I have many Protestant friends. And after they get over the shock of realizing that there are actually Catholic explanations for the Scriptures, we have many excellent discussions.

4. Plant a seed. I learned long ago that my eloquence has nothing to do with whether a person will be converted or not. In twenty years, I know of one couple that emailed me and said they were going to investigate the Catholic Church based upon my responses. I never heard anything from them again.

So, don’t set out to convert anyone. Leave that to God. Your job is to give people reasons for your hope. Tell them why you believe what you believe.

4. How I talk to strangers. I do talk to stingers, occasionally. When they come to my door. The first few times that I tried that, it ended miserably bad. Angry arguments and yelling.

So, I did what I’m best at. I wrote out a plan. I’ve got it sort of memorized now, so I don’t need to refer to it, anymore.

When I was younger, I played sports and my coaches had a very important lesson for apologetics. Stick to your game plan. It doesn’t matter what question they bring or what they say, I always turn their attention to 

Matt 16:18-19

. Let’s say for instance, that a JW or Mormon asks, “Sir, have you received one of our pamphlets?” I’ll say, “No. But there’s a reason for that. Do you have your Bible? (They always do.) Please turn to 

Matt 16:18-19

. You see, Jesus Christ did not write any Scripture. He established a Church with authority and He promised that this Church would never succumb to the gates of hell. I searched everywhere and the only Church I found that has been around since the time of Christ is the Catholic Church.”

Then they might bring some objection about the time of Constantine or the great apostasy or something. But I’ll dismiss it by saying, “I believe the promise of Jesus Christ, that His Church will last forever.”

Anyway, I’ve added more to it in the many years since I started doing that. Normally, they’ll read a Scripture and I’ll listen to it. Then, when I’m ready to end the discussion, I’ll turn their attention to 

Gal 1:8

. And I’ll explain why I can’t listen to their strange gospel which was not taught by the Apostles.

I’ll do my best to end on a polite note and thank them for their visit. And I always tell them that I admire their courage for coming out to evangelize their faith.

I’ve had no more shouting arguments with anyone.

Sincerely,

De Maria

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The Pinterest Prayer Book [at Equipping Catholic Families]

Isn’t Pinterest fun? My only challenge about pinterest…is how to really use it to create things to help my family!  It’s so easy to pin pretty pictures, but sometimes they just gather on my pinboards and I don’t actually try the craft or recipe.  I have been delighted to discover awesome artists who I would not have found without pinterest, but I don’t always remember to visit my ‘artwork’ pinboard to admire all of the work.  Together with prayers I have managed to find and pin, I have created a new, but this time…I have an action plan!  This collection will be used to build something!

My friend Jeanette inspired me with her custom prayer book. It’s a little photo album packed with her favorite prayers and quotes from spiritual reading and it’s light enough to keep with her, wherever she goes.

I also have favorite prayers that I have gathered over the years…prayer share

some are hand-written by my Grandma, others have been shared by other family, friends…and websites!

I actually started a link-up called the Favorite Prayer Share where you can add your own favorite prayers!  It has been a little neglected, but I have re-opened the link-up, in case you have any treasure prayers to add!

I thought that this little Pinterest Prayer Book could be a neat little collection of favorite prayers and awesome, inspiring artwork.  I purchased the little photo album at Walmart…but a dollar store one would work just as well.

I visited the pictures I had pinned to my  I contacted a few of the artists and I hope to feature them with direct links… in a blog post soon.

In the meantime…I collected the images in my own document and had them printed at Staples.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I formatted as many prayers and images as I could on each 8.5″x11″ sheet and cut them out to fit the 4″x6″ pages.  I made sure that the text was large enough to be easily read and I used colored paper stock (cut to 4″x6″ ‘pages) to fit the little travel-size photo album.

Hey, would you like to find all of your favorite prayers…easily printable in one file?  Our new All Season Prayer Bank has 74 prayer cards plus 28 prayer card templates! That’s where I grabbed the Anima Christi prayer.

I think that this little album might help keep Adam quieter at Mass  (OK, maybe wishful thinking, but I can dream) and if that doesn’t work, at least I have a neat little Pinterest Prayer Book that I can add to, with our special family prayers…and appreciate awesome artwork that artists have been generous enough to share online. Finally, an excuse and a venue to appreciate the artwork I have admired …and let it inspire a richer prayer life.

Are you NEW to Pinterest?  Check out the first ever Catholic Pinboard Share…where you can discover over 100 other Catholics and awesome Catholic Pinboards to follow!  OR…you can for a shortcut to these Catholic Pinboards.  I already follow these Catholic pinners who also think it’s cool 2B Catholic!

Linked to the Pinisher Link-Up…acting on a PIN!  I think the link-up is actually about food, but I’m just so excited that I made something using Pinterest. Pinisher-Pinterest-food-linkup

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So Young [at A blog for my mom]

We were on a rare family outing to Costco the other day when I was reminded of just how different the world is when we're outside of our church bubble. 

Normally the only place we take all 4 kids is Mass, where we're greeted with a chorus of "You have your hands full!"  or "You're so blessed!" or "You have a beautiful family!" or (my favorite) "Aw, it gets easier!" with a knowing smile.

John Paul and Cecilia were both sitting in the cart, happily munching away on cupcake liners full of hemp seed (worst. sample. ever) when we spotted another sample cart!  Andrew, wearing Mary Claire on his back in the Ergo, was in another aisle.  I had Elizabeth in a wrap on my chest and was pushing the (very full) cart with John Paul and Cecilia when I heard it:

"Are they ALL yours? You look so YOUNG!"  In that incredulous and slightly disapproving tone."Yup. And my husband's in the next aisle with the other baby!"

  We grabbed our sample and kept moving, not needing to start

that

conversation.

I get that I look 17 (or maybe older by now???  One can only hope!).  And John Paul looks older than 3.5, so maybe it

does

look like I started having children when I was 12 and am shamelessly flaunting them around the prepared foods aisle at Costco.  But really, is it any of her business, this lady serving carnitas in paper cups, how old I am or whether

ALL

those children are actually mine? 

I was so tempted to answer, "No, we borrowed a couple of babies just to look impressive!"

But is this really the mentality of the outside world?  The strangers who don't already KNOW that I'm Catholic, 26 years old, with 4 children under the age of 4 and no end in sight - am I going to keep getting this judgment from them for the rest of my life?

I had another conversation with an older man, a father of adult twins with another high-school-aged child.  He found out I had twins, as well as a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old and of course, I got the inevitable question:

"So, are you done now?"

Done?  Um...  No.  I explained to him that our family still didn't really

feel

complete, that I was only 26 and couldn't see stopping already, and then I pulled the Catholic card. 

That usually helps people understand - all I have to say is, "Well, we're Catholic."  And I get the knowing head nod, the inevitable reference to the Duggars (yes, I'm on pace to have 20 children by the time I'm 42.  I have a feeling we will have slowed down a little by then...), and the conversation moves on:

"So what does your husband do?"

Because I'm a part-time public school teacher.  I'm not raking in the dough, but I love what I do and, right now, it's the perfect work/home balance for me.  So now they're thinking, "Well let's hope her husband makes a lot of money so at least they can AFFORD all these kids, right?"

"He's a lawyer.""Ohhhh, okay!"

In that knowing tone of voice, as though "lawyer" is the magic word, the fantastical solution to raising all these children.  It's

okay

for me to have more than 2.5 children as long as my husband makes a good living, right?  I don't tell them he doesn't make the "typical" lawyer salary they probably envision, that right now I

have

to work or we wouldn't be able to pay off student loans and still have health insurance, and that our children are the least of our expenses!

But still, why does the perception that we're "well off" give us permission to have a large family?  What about those families with 3 or more children where the dad is in graduate school, or he's a teacher, or (heaven forbid!)

BOTH

parents work?  Is it unacceptable, irresponsible even, for those families to have more children than society arbitrarily deems as acceptable?

This is where I think secular society fails to understand the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception, on sexuality, on the value of family.  We're not all out here

trying

to repopulate the planet.  Yes, some of us may be well on our way...  But it's not like I'm trying desperately to procreate because I think that's what God wants!  And my financial status, or anyone else's, should not give you license to judge whether or not I can have another child (or several more). 

I should not have to justify my choice to have more children

.  Just as I don't look at your perfect 2.5 children and ask you WHY you're not having any more (it's absolutely none of my business - how am I to know whether you're infertile, or suffered from several miscarriages, or simply do not have the mental stability to raise more children than you have).

We, Catholic couples who follow church teaching, are simply allowing God to do His thing.  If He sees fit to bless us with children, we accept them lovingly and with complete trust.  We're not out to put barriers between our love life and our fertility.  I had a pro-life Christian friend in college who was about to get married but wasn't ready to have children, so she was going on the mini-pill because, she told me, "That way if God REALLY wants us to have children, the hormones aren't so plentiful so we could still get pregnant anyway, right?"  I wish I had had my wits about me and could have explained to her that yes, breakthrough ovulation is more likely on the mini-pill, as is fertilization, but the pill won't let implantation occur in most cases, effectively aborting her baby (because the MOMENT that egg and sperm meet,

that's when you became YOU

). 

We don't put up as many barriers as possible and tell ourselves that, "Hey, God is all-powerful, so if He REALLY wants me to get pregnant, I'll get pregnant!"  No, we allow our natural love lives to occur, abstaining when not trying to conceive, allowing the ultimate decision to be God's. 

So yes, I may be 26 years old with 4 children already.  And yes, I very likely will have more children.  And yes, my next car will be a cargo van.  But please, trust that God has given us these children knowing full well that we can handle them.  Some couples may have one, or ten, or none at all.  But we're all ready to accept the next gift of life that God gives us.  And the answer to your question, for at least the next 20-some years, is going to be:

"We're probably not done yet.  We're Catholic."

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Could YOU befriend Paul? [at makingthetrek]

My sweet friend sent me a small booklet to read a little bit ago and for a gagillion reasons I’ve not been able to get into it.  Until this morning.  You see, I had a wedding to go to last night in St. Augustine for two former co-workers (just seriously the sweetest couple) and this morning I awoke before my friends did and had 2 HOURS OF TOTAL QUIET.  Unheard of, people.  Unheard.  Of.  Just me and my coffee and after working on my 1000 Gifts book I dove into the booklet:  Uniformity with God’s Will by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.    

I can see why I couldn’t get into it initially.  God wanted my full and undivided attention.  Focused.  Small bits.  It is powerful.  I’ll share with you my insight this morning…all 2 pages in.

Some back story:  in talking about Saul, who persecuted Christians for their faith.  Not only persecuted, but hunted down and killed Christians, routinely.  Until…….God got his attention with a little episode of blindness.  Enlightening Saul and converting him to Paul.  (God often likes to change your name when He drafts you to His team).

Paul asks God, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Acts 9:6

The Lord calls him a vessel of election and apostle to the Gentiles:  ”This man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles.”  Acts 9:15

So, Paul, previously Saul, is a huge player in the Bible and on Team God.  He’s a huge instrument of God in spreading the Word, instructing Christians in how to live and love according to God’s will.  And….Paul has a past.  A really bad past.  Yet, God USES him.  Mightily.  Over and over again.  Amongst the very people he previously persecuted.

Think about it.  We ALL know a modern-day Paul.  People who have failed us, who have fallen, who have a past.  Shoot, realistically we ALL have our Saul-seasons.  With God’s grace we can ALL enjoy our Paul-seasons as well.  The best thing is, God can and does use Paul.  Mightily.  Over and over again.  Among the very people they have wronged.  However, how many of us fail to see the Paul and only see the Saul?  How many of us fail to see the blessings and instructions of the Paul because we can’t move beyond the Saul?

God forgives.  God moves on.  Beyond the “Sauls”.  God uses ALL things.  May we be more like God and focused on the “Pauls” in the world,  God’s new creations and let us let go of  the “Sauls”.

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Why Evangelicals should be praying for Pope Francis [at Young, Evangelical, and Catholic]

It’s been about a month since the election of Pope Francis, and so I'd like to ask my evangelical brothers and sisters:

have you been praying for him?Some evangelicals may be hoping

he’ll finally lead the Catholic Church to repent of her errors and accept certain aspects (depending on their denominational affiliation) of the Protestant Reformation.

The hope of any such evangelicals is the same as mainstream secular liberals, just with different demands. While secular liberals are hoping the Church will finally yield to contraception, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, and womenpriests, the evangelicals mentioned above probably have things in mind like

transubstantiation

, the Church’s veneration of Mary and the saints, and the institution of the papacy in the first place.

Neither should hold their breath: even for those who reject the Catholic dogma that

the Pope is protected by the Holy Spirit from error when teaching definitively on matters of faith and morals

, the Church’s track record should be strong enough evidence for one to expect both groups to be disappointed. The Catholic Church has maintained her doctrines through such catastrophes as the fall of the Roman Empire, the Protestant Reformation, and 20th century Communism - often crowning martyrs in the process. There’s little reason to think the Church will suddenly falter now.

Further, many of the teachings which those in the first group wish the next Pope would change are dogmas, which means the Church has taught them, in her view, infallibly and therefore irrevocably. So it’s not just that the Pope probably won’t change these teachings, it’s that the Pope cannot change them - he doesn’t have the authority. To use an example, transubstantiation was dogmatically defined at the

Fourth Lateran Council

in 1215: that’s it, the Church can’t take that back, not even the Pope. On doctrinal matters previously settled in the Church, the Pope is just as constrained as everybody else.

Then there are also those evangelicals

who just don’t really care who the Pope is. With the cooling of Protestant-Catholic polemics in the last few decades, my guess is most evangelicals are in this group. They’re not particularly pro- or anti-Catholic or have an agenda for the Catholic Church; they just don’t really have strong feelings about it all. For them it’s like hearing about an important political election in a foreign country. The results may elicit some curiosity, but the Pope isn’t their Pope, so why should they care too much?

This is also misguided, and here’s why: though they may believe the Pope has no authority over them, the Pope is, nonetheless, far and above the most visible and influential Christian leader in the world, and one who stands for most of those things held dear by evangelicals and that are under attack in our day and age.

So the Church won’t be turning back

from the

Fourth Lateran Council

any time soon. But neither will she be turning back from another one of her ecumenical councils: the

Council of Nicaea

(325). Or her councils at

Constantinople

(381),

Ephesus

(431), or any of her

other seventeen councils for that matter

. In our day, when basic elements of Christological orthodoxy are increasingly challenged by those claiming to be Christian, one major Christian organization that hasn’t flinched is the Catholic Church. The very same stubbornness the Church has, e.g., for her use of religious images in worship (upheld at the

Second Nicene Council

in 787), the Church has for the dual-nature of Christ, the historicity of the resurrection, and the necessity of grace for salvation. The Pope, as the primary representative of what is by far the largest body of Christians in the world, is the most important preacher of this unchanging faith among Christians of any denominational stripe.

And what about the great moral-cultural battles of our time? While more and more Christians, including many of the long-established mainline Protestant denominations, yield to the increasingly popular moral perversion, one of the most important exceptions has been the

magisterium of the Catholic Church

. Indeed, the last few Popes have been some of the world’s strongest and most articulate defenders of traditional Christian morality (and with regards to maintaining the

previously long-standing, pan-denominational Christian opposition to contraception

, the Catholic magisterium actually bests most evangelicals).

So the Church won’t be changing her teachings any time soon, and the Pope is the most visible and influential Christian preacher in the world. But there’s at least one important variable of which we cannot take for granted: that the man who holds the office of the papacy will be good at his job.

And this is where I’d like to invite all evangelicals

to consider their approach to Pope Francis. The Church has been blessed of late with a number of very good Popes, and Pope Francis seems to be a good man. But even Catholics don’t believe God absolutely prevents bad men from attaining the office – or good men from faltering while in the office. Indeed, history has abundant evidence that it’s always a live possibility. So to my evangelical brothers and sisters: please be praying for Pope Francis

Keys are a symbol of the papal authority
given by Jesus to Peter (cf. Mt 16.19)

Because if the current successor of St Peter is courageous, holy, and an effective communicator, Catholics won’t be the only ones who benefit: with his unique position of influence, Pope Francis will also provide evangelicals cover and support as no Protestant leader could. But if he ends up being cowardly, particularly sinful, or an otherwise poor communicator (all possible), evangelicals would lose a great supporter they may have been taking for granted.

One of the important texts for the Catholic understanding

of the role of the successor of St Peter is Luke 22.32 in which Jesus, on the eve of His passion, tells Peter: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” A Pope who is able to fulfill this part of his mission for the Catholic faithful will also be able to strengthen our evangelical brothers and sisters.

Given the continued ascendancy of aggressive secularism, theological liberalism, and moral perversion, the bishop of Rome - yes, the office which was declared by the Protestants Reformers to be the anti-Christ and, in a way, represents all that evangelicals hold in contempt about the Catholic Church - could be evangelicals’ biggest ally. So please join with Catholics in praying that Pope Francis will be a good one.

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Mid Eastertide Reflection on the Resurrection [at A Catholic Life]

Our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered the chains of death. For forty days we fasted and prayed during Lent and now we partake of the fifty days of celebration for Easter. The Alleluia from the 1962 Missal so beautifully sings of the hope and victory still deserving to be proclaimed on the mountaintops: “Alleluia, Alleluia. The Lord hath sent redemption to His people. Alleluia. It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the death, and so to enter into His glory. Alleluia.”

What is truly profound is that Jesus Christ really and physically rose from the dead! It is a historical event. Not just His soul rose, but also He bodily rose from the dead after dying on the Cross and descending into Hell. As is stated in the visions recorded in "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ", our Lord, at the instance of His death on the Cross, descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, Purgatory, and Hell. In the Limbo of the Fathers, He preached to the patriarchs, prophets, and holy people that had died before Heaven was opened by His death (1 Peter 4:6). Included among these people was Adam and Eve. What many people are not taught is that the exact place of Jesus' Crucifixion on Mt. Calvary is exactly above the spot where the first Adam was interred. The Body of the New Adam (Jesus) covered that of the Old Adam! Jesus also went to Purgatory and gazed upon Hell. According to "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," Jesus spoke with Judas, who was in Hell.

According to the previously mentioned book, Jesus also commanded nearly 100 of the holy people in the Limbo of the Fathers to re-enter their bodies temporarily. He then commanded them to visit their relatives and preach the truth - that Jesus Christ was the salvation of the world. With the darkness and earthquakes too, many people were converted and believed after the Crucifixion. All of this took place roughly 1 hour after Jesus died on the Cross. Yet, the patriarchs, prophets, etc in their bodies did not look like Jesus' glorified bodies. They merely re-entered their bodies temporarily to fulfill the command of Jesus. Afterwards, their souls again left their bodies. On that day, the Limbo of the Fathers was forever closed. Heaven was opened by the death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ (CCC 1026).

Concerning Jesus, Scripture attests, "He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. 15:12). With His glorified Body, He is no longer bound by the limitations of time, space, or physics. As we believe as part of the Faith also, Mother Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. They remain the only two people to have a glorified body. But we too shall follow! That is our hope! The very same Body we have now will be raised again at Judgment. For we, unlike Mary (e.g. Immaculate Conception) and Jesus, are sinners, so our Resurrection is yet to come. At the time of Judgment, all people will be united with their bodies. At that time, the prophets, patriarchs, saints, etc will all receive a glorified body.

Source (used with permission):

CatechismClass.com

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When infertility is a blessing

When I was growing up, all I ever wanted to be was a mother.

Not a veterinarian.

Not an astronaut.

Not a writer.

I wanted to be a mother.

That never changed. I grew up and met the most wonderful, giving man. We fell in love, got married, and waited to become parents.

It didn't happen.

As we realized we were dealing with infertility, I felt so helpless. I couldn’t understand why two people who were so ready and eager to welcome a child couldn’t become parents. Yet there we were, perfectly happy in our marriage, but experiencing the sadness and disappointment that comes with not being able to bear children.

Being open to God’s plan seems easy until you realize it doesn’t match yours.

From the beginning, we trusted in Him completely. We never considered IVF. After all, I thought, if He could place a child in the womb of a virgin in Nazareth, He could certainly send us a child, no matter what miracle was needed.

Then our miracle came. It wasn’t a flash of light or a vision. It was more of a gentle, nudging whisper. It was one small sign after another. Tiny points of light popped up through the darkness, growing brighter as they lit the road to our becoming parents.

Even before marriage John and I had spoken about adoption casually as a “maybe someday” sort of thing. But in our fourth year of marriage we noticed that adoption just kept coming up. As we started paying more attention, it seemed to be everywhere.

One day I came across the question, “Do you want to be pregnant or do you want to be a mother?”

The answer was obvious.

I kept thinking of that line in

Sound of Music

when Julie Andrews says, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he

opens a window

.”

We climbed through that open window, and a new journey began. We found ourselves exploring questions about birth histories, medical needs, orphanage behavior, grieving and attachment, international travel, and piles and piles of paperwork. A little more than a year later we flew to China to meet our first son.

As I share this during

National Infertility Awareness Week

, I know our story is nothing unusual. But as I look back on those days of disappointment today, I see them in a much different light.

Years ago

our infertility seemed like such a heavy burden.

Today, I see infertility as a blessing. Having children by birth was just another door that God gently closed. He asked us to trust, hope, and pray. As we waited, I never imagined that His plan would be so magnificent—so perfect for John and me. Our Creator knew us far better than we knew ourselves.

Last night after dinner our 3-year-old was sitting at the table, his bare feet draped over the arm of the chair. He grinned as he pointed to each of us and said our names, his big brother first “…and Mama and Baba and me! My family!”

Yes, little one. We are your family. Your father and I have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams. And we are so tremendously grateful for the journey that brought us to your brother and to you.

4/24/2013 9:39:59 PM
By Rita Buettner

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Fatherless [at Prints of Grace]

     Frighteningly realistic and suspenseful,

Fatherless

is the first book in what has been perfectly labeled as “the American tragedy in trilogy.”  It immediately grabbed my attention and kept me intrigued throughout.  I know it’s good when I don’t want to get to the end of the first book before the next one is available and ready to be read.

     I can empathize with and at the same time be horrified by many of the decisions we make as Christians in the world today when it comes to our families, our friends, our workplace, our faith community.  It’s all-too-easy to get lost on that slippery slope of moral relativity rather than seeking the Gospel Truth, which doesn’t change according to modern opinion or current trends.    

      The stories powerfully illustrate and verify the authenticity of many descriptions and assessments included about the mainstream media, corporate America, the popular culture, and watered down Catholic teachings most prominent in our times.  The other main characters are mostly laity with families of their own to care for and shepherd.  The people in these novels vary quite a bit when it comes to their knowledge of Church teachings (or lack thereof), their devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, their practice of the faith, and the life choices they make as a result.    

     Some of the family struggles and situations are familiar enough to make me uncomfortable and reflective.  Having two parents who were cradle Catholics and practiced the faith throughout their lives while also knowing a number of people who have fallen away from the Church for a variety of reasons helped me identify with a number of the characters and families in

Fatherless

.  My father used to be a high-level sales executive for major pharmaceutical corporation, so the ethical, moral, and faith questions raised in this book through many of the situations and characters really hit home. 

     John Sweeney, one of the main characters and narrators who serves as a primary link connecting the many families in these books, is a Roman Catholic priest.  Fr. Sweeney is young, fresh out of seminary, and in many ways inexperienced in pastoral care at the start of the first book, but this adds quite a bit of interest and insight into the life of the consecrated religious, particularly priests, and the unique opportunities and challenges they face in their vocation to shepherd the flock entrusted to their care.  A major crisis of faith inspires him to take some time away to discern if the vocation he’s chosen is really where God wants and needs him to be.

     When I read that the author Brian J. Gail is a former semi-pro athlete, Madison Ave. ad man, and Fortune 500 senior executive, I was completely blown away that a man so steeped in the culture of corporate America, mainstream media, and all that comes with it has been incredibly vulnerable, honest, and even critical of the world he has been a part of for so long, even under the veil of fiction. 

     In some ways, I feel that these books tell part of my dad’s life story.  They have given me a much deeper insight into the professional and personal challenges he and countless others in his generation (and the following one) struggle with.  Brian J. Gail gives voice to the questions, concerns, and torments whirling about in the hearts of many men and women of faith.  Clearly, this author is someone who understands companies that regularly tempt people to compromise their values and/or change them under pressure.

     So much of what’s in these pages has actually happened, is happening now, and/or will take place in the not-too-distant future.  The truth pharmaceutical companies hide about the side effects of their products, the lies promoted and promulgated through advertising, the media, and government, along with the permanent scars left by a rampant culture of death that embraces everything from abortion to euthanasia as convenient, revolutionary, advanced, and scariest of all they tout these scientific discoveries and technologies as being: humane, moral, and ethical.  This skewed view of Creation and man’s manipulation of what God has made shows that the interconnectedness of people, their influence on others, and their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ (or lack thereof) are of greater consequence in time and eternity than appears at first glance. 

     Reading

these novels

has reminded me that we have so many opportunities to do the right thing, to choose life, to bring about healing where there is great pain, possibly even suffering that we have unintentionally caused.  What seems like the end of a relationship, a calling, a career, a dream can so often be a new beginning.      

     This trilogy raises some vital questions: Who determines our worth?  Who do we trust and what does that say about who we are and what matters most to us?  Who do we turn to for answers, guidance, and advice?

     Depending on the answers to those questions and the choices made because of them we have a responsibility and accountability to others and to God.  Our choices have consequences for others as well as ourselves.  Are we true to ourselves or are we more devoted to discovering and upholding Truth=God?

     What’s worth putting everything on the line for?  No need to answer with words.  The choices we make and actions we take show clearly what or whom we value above everything and everyone else.  What example, what values, what legacy are you leaving by the way you live your life?  What impact is it having on those around you?  What impact will it have on the generations to come?     For more information about Fatherless, to purchase a copy of this book (paperback or Kindle), or read more about the author, or "the American tragedy in Trilogy," check out this website.      This post is linked to the May 2013 issue of New Evangelists Monthly.  

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Beach Reflections [at Jumping In Puddles]

Beautiful, right?

Got up early and went to the 7am Mass this morning (How? I have no idea. But, I work tonight, so I had to be up early anyway.) and it was very nice.  Not as many people.  Quiet.  And I had some great prayer time.  I just love that.

I came home and decided to go for a bike ride... TO THE BEACH!  Yes, I can do that.  I am THAT close.  Did I mention that I really love living down here?  Well... I do. :)

I love the beach.  I really, really do.  There is nothing like the sand between your toes and the sound of the waves.  Nothing.  It's beautiful.  Majestic.  Godly.  

As I was standing there, gazing at the seemingly unending gulf, I watched the waves come close to my feet, but then quickly recede right back into the water.  Over and over.  Again and again.  This is something that happens all of the time.  Twenty-four hours a day.  No one ever thinks of it NOT happening, right?  

And then I thought... maybe this is how God feels sometimes.  He is standing there waiting for us; looking out for us; watching us come so close we could touch Him, but then recede quickly, just as the waves do.  And He is there all of the time.  Twenty-four hours a day.  Yet we are the ones who think He isn't around or doesn't care sometimes.  We desire to be so close to Him, but are the ones to turn away.

Why?  Why do we do this?  Fear?  Uncertainty?  Worry you will be taken out of your comfort zone?  Afraid to be loved in a way that is sometimes hard to explain?

There are so many reasons why we don't reach out fully.  But, God is always there.  He has never left you.  Never.  He waits patiently as you move towards him, ebbing and flowing.  He waits until the day the wave crashes on your feet and you pour your heart, mind and soul to Him.  He will rejoice and be glad because YOU desire Him.  Just as He desires you.

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Glimpses of Heaven [at CHOCOLATE FOR YOUR BRAIN!]

Sitting around the table after singing "Happy Birthday," someone asked my daughter what her favorite point of the day had been.  She looked around and talked about going to the baseball game with her father.  I looked about and my favorite moment was that one, with everyone around the table.  Even on Easter, we hadn't quite captured the knowing moment of being together, despite going to mass, despite breakfast lunch and dinner.  Today, Easter Monday, for a moment, we caught the experience of being at the wedding feast, when all whether eating or not, were present to each other.

Then someone asked for milk and another, a fork, a text message came which demanded an immediate response, one child vanished to the basement with her kindle while another two raced to finish the video game they'd paused and the birthday girl finished her cake and asked to go plunge back into her new book. The babies needed washing and the moment of communion over pink cake and candles fell into memory, blanketed over by the need to get one back to school, to do the dishes, to fold the laundry, to organize, to clean up the crumbs and keep moving.

If Catholics need a reason for weekly mass, it is that we live in an age that seems forever on the edge of dissolving into permanent rage. The Internet especially trades on the commodity of outrage that can never be resolved or absolved.  Any pockets of peace or tranquility have a singular quality to them, they are unique to the moment, to the post, to the writer or the reader.   Rage against the other side. Rage against the rich. Rage against those in power. Rage over what we do not have. Rage against what others do or do not do. Rage against what is being demanded or not.

Top that with the demand for instant access to our brains via emails and cell phones, i-pads and blackberries and we live in a busy busy angry exhausting world.  Carving out an hour, where we only need be present, we only need come with our needs, our wants, ourselves and all we love, seems like so very little for God to ask. Especially when doing so, would give us His peace even if we're stuck in the cry room with two children who have perfected the art of being both dead weight and oddly boneless while screaming. It is sufficient, God counts if we show up, if we are present, if we come to the table.

But we're busy crazy forgetful creatures, so he gives us moments to remind us, like sunsets, early spring flowers, snow falling and those few minutes after the cake.

And I think to myself, it's a good thing we have 12 birthdays to celebrate, we will perhaps be able to experience a few more slivers of what it is to be in Heaven and remember that the goal of this life is not to die tired and busy, but to be still and live presently.  

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We Cannot Tame the Spirit of Murder, Part II [at V for Victory!]

Is it possible that the reason for the media's failure to cover arch-abortionist Kermit Gosnell's murder trial is that the details are too shocking and disgusting?  Seems hard to believe in an age when kids spend their days and nights parked in front of gory video games, women regale the United States Congress with details about their promiscuity, liberals bring a peculiar gay sex practice out of the shadows to denigrate the Tea Party movement, and a popular television drama portrays a serial killer as the good guy.  American culture these days sets the bar pretty high on disgusting.

So how has the Gosnell story proven to be too much for a media gluttonous for sensation?  Is it over the top that Gosnell targeted the children of poor women, immigrants and minorities for extermination?  That he plunged scissors into the necks of babies to sever their spinal cords?  That he was in the habit of finishing the job once they were outside the womb?  That he kept chopped-off baby feet around the office?  That he ran his "practice" amid conditions of unspeakable filth?  That he forced patients to undergo abortions after they had changed their minds?  That mothers died or were seriously wounded under his gentle ministrations?  That he employed a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore as part of a school work-study program to assist in actual abortion procedures?  That he got into the abortion industry in the first place?  

Or is it that Gosnell has committed the iniquitous crime of embarrassing the abortion industry by failing to maintain a facade of smiling, healthy, sanitary professionalism?  After all, Roe v. Wade was supposed to eliminate clothes-hanger abortions and put the back-alley butchers out of business.

The ugly truth is that this is what the abortion industry is all about.  An abortion mill can be cleaned and sterilized and cheerful and sunlit, with brightly colored curtains, friendly receptionists and a phalanx of the world's best doctors and nurses; but at least -- at least -- fifty per cent of all those who enter an abortion mill leave it as corpses.  Zero per cent leave unscarred.  Dead, mutilated babies and haunted mothers are what abortion is all about, with or without lab coats, antiseptics and medical degrees.  Abortionists themselves acknowledge that abortion means killing children.

No, the Gosnell blackout probably has to do more with how damaging this story is to the pro-abortion narrative, in which the murder of children in their mothers' wombs is portrayed as a women's health issue.  But it's high time Americans came face-to-face with the realities of this constitutionally protected rite of human sacrifice.

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Outside the Asylum: Caricatures of the Catholic Church

Abp. Fulton J. Sheen and his Life Is Worth Living blackboard.

One of the eminently quotable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s most well-known dicta is this: “There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing.”

Let’s face it: The history, beliefs and culture of the Catholic Church comprises almost 2,000 years of development. To do justice merely to the last hundred years or so would require two or three volumes the size of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church

, which is thick enough to make Stephen King pale with fright. Frankly, non-Catholics ought to read

Frs. John Trigillio and Kenneth Brighenti’s Catholicism for Dummies®

and at least

peruse the Catechism

before they attempt to comment on matters of the Faith. All too often, though, people hate a caricature of the Church, usually one they learned from similarly ill-informed people, like a person who hates Pres. Obama based on editorial cartoons he’s enjoyed.

Case in point: Before I went on my post-Easter “Internet fast”, I wrote

a post for The Impractical Catholic

arguing that the “rich Catholic Church” trope was a simplistic and unjustified treatment of Church finances. When I came back online Saturday, I found a reply from “Chester” which was little more than a dismissal. For our purposes, two lines stand out which illustrate this tendency to beat the stuffing out of straw men:

I think you raise some good points about businesses, but the Catholic church claims to be above human law, above mere business dealings.

The Catholic church is claimed to be a charitable organisation, but they actively discriminate against women and gays. If your god is good enough for everyone, so is your time and money.

Let’s set aside the implication that Catholic charities turn away people based on sex or orientation, and content ourselves for now with noting that it’s baloney. That’s not my point here, nor am I going to allow any rabbit holes on the subject of discrimination.

Instead, let’s take the first assertion: “the Catholic Church claims to be above human law”. I’m sure if you dig deep enough in Church history, you can find some cleric or hierarch who said something that could be interpreted in such a fashion. However, that’s not authentic Catholic doctrine.

So far as it is in accord with natural and divine law (or at least not opposed to them), the Church is bound to observe human law just as anyone else is. When human law opposes natural and divine law, moral persons are not bound in conscience to obey it; this is true not just for Catholics or the institutional Church (Ac 5:29) but for all who hold themselves bound to natural law (cf. CCC 1903). Otherwise, “

The authority required by the moral order derives from God: ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment’” (

CCC 1899

; cit. Rom 13:1-2; cf. 1 Pet 2:13-17).

So is the Church “above mere business dealings”? I’d like to know where people got the idea that being “spiritual” or “religious” means being improvident or scatter-brained about money. Justice, honesty and prudence require that the Church pay her bills and keep track of the funds entrusted to her; also, as we just saw, the Church is bound to obey all secular laws pertaining to non-profit organizations, including accounting and financial filings. The Catholic Church has never claimed to be “above mere business dealings”; in fact, the phrase itself is meaningless bombast, the kind of silly cliché spoken by pompous asses who affect a “higher spirituality”.

“The Church is claimed to be a charitable organisation”: This may explain why so many people are confused as to the Church’s intransigence on such matters as the ordination of women and marrying of same-sex couples. That the Church is a charitable organization may very well be other people’s claim, but it’s an inaccurate and inapposite statement — the Church is not primarily a charitable organization. Rather, the Church is primarily a religious organization that runs charities as a logical and practical yet secondary extension of its moral doctrine.

The Church’s primary reason for being,

as I’ve said before

, is found in Matthew 28:19-20:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Our charitable ministries derive from Jesus’ teaching that our treatment of others, particularly of the unfortunate, reflects our true relationship with God (Matt 25:31-46 and

passim

). However, if the Church were forced by circumstance or law to divest herself of all her charitable ministries, she would still have a

raison d’être

: to pass the Gospel message on to future generations.

In summation, then, Chester attributes three claims to the Church, two of which are false and one of which is an understandable yet critical mistake; of the two false claims, one is a libel created by anti-Catholics and the other a misappropriated, misattributed fatuity. Taken all together, they’re the kind of tropes that manage to eke out long lives due to endless repetition, the kind of pseudo-knowledge generally introduced by the phrase, “Everyone knows that …”.

It’s quite permissible to criticize the Church on what her leaders and followers have done in her name. “Of course I mean that Catholicism was not tried; plenty of Catholics were tried, and found guilty” (G. K. Chesterton,

What’s Wrong with the World

). It’s permissible to take issue with those things she does teach.

But to criticize the Church for failing to achieve an ideal she has never held for herself, or for failing to live by a doctrine she’s never taught, is to hate a Catholic Church that doesn’t exist.

This contribution is available at http://tonylayne.blogspot.com/2013/04/caricatures-of-catholic-church.html#.uyapipzvx64
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4.27.13

No Greater Love than This: Part 2

Back in November I shared with our readers that I was expecting our 11th child.  It was not an ordinary pregnancy announcement. It was filled with joy but also much fear as I had been told after my last birth that I should never become pregnant again. I had suffered a severe uterine rupture that occurred while I tried to birth my breech son.  It would take the doctors 3 hours to put my uterus back together after my emergency c-section and I would be told I was lucky I made it through the birth and surgery.  I was told that to carry another child would not only endanger my life but there was almost no chance my child would live through the pregnancy.  To be pregnant again just a mere 5 ½ months after all I had gone through was terrifying.  Still, with open hearts and a desire to follow God’s calling, we accepted the life that was now growing deep inside of me.

Many months have gone by since I made that announcement.  My faith has been my anchor as I waded through the ugliness that my announcement brought forth by many people who felt I was being selfish and that I shouldn’t have this baby.  It helped me through when I was discharged by my doctors as being “too high risk”.  I leaned on it as I searched for another provider only to hear “no” over and over again.  Prayer kept me afloat as I heard the rumors that were floating around about me and my family.  My heart ached as I was accused of practicing my own “brand of Catholicism”.  I found myself going to God in prayer over and over again as the mental and physical aspects of carrying such a high risk pregnancy weighed heavily on me. It felt as if we were trying to climb an endless chain of rugged mountains and as we topped one another would appear.  I felt spiritually attacked over and over again… but not once, though, have I ever doubted that choosing life for my child was the right decision to make.  There was no other decision, regardless of the cost.

During these last 8 months as I have battled the ups and downs of this journey, God has seen fit to provide me with friends who keep my eyes focused on Him and the beautiful gift of life that He has bestowed upon us.  Some of these friends are local but most are spread throughout the country.  Our close knit family here at Catholic Sistas has been there for me every single step of the way.  I can’t even begin to tell how much their love and support has meant to me.  They have made sure that for every negative remark we have received we hear 20 positive ones.  They have helped us through every single hurdle we have had to endure. They provided me with meals, with gifts, with blessings of love, prayers, and courage.  I have drawn strength from their faith and have made my way through the toughest of times because I know they are here cheering me on.  God was so gracious when He put these amazing ladies in my life!  I truly couldn’t have gotten this far without them.  They are heaven sent and God’s angels on earth.

Our sweet baby at 33 weeks… I would give up everything for him.

I am 36 weeks pregnant now… further than anyone ever thought I could go in this pregnancy.  Our son is thriving and I am doing well.  I can’t say that it has been a walk in the park but I can say that it has been much easier than anyone ever imagined it could be, at least physically.  The mental and spiritual journey has been so much harder than the physical but I suppose that’s how many things in life tend to be.  I thank God for each and every day that He gives me to carry this little boy.  I have cherished every kick, every hiccup, and every contraction.  Throughout this pregnancy I have prayed that God just gives me “one more day” with my son.  I had resolved that if God called him home before I got to hold him that I would handle it.  I prayed that if God called us both home that my family would understand and would accept His decision and mine.  I prayed that in the end His will be done above all else.  When you are praying for the life of your child as well as your own that is indeed the hardest prayer to pray.   Still, even knowing the risks, I couldn’t pray for anything else.

We are scheduled to meet our son on May 1st.  We will be having a planned c-section.  I am very nervous about what is to come but I know that God is holding us in His strong hands even as we tremble in fear.  We ask for you to continue to pray for us as we complete this journey.  Our family is so very thankful for all your prayers and support so far and I can’t begin to tell you how much comfort it has brought me to know that so many people, people I don’t even know, are keeping us close to them in prayer.  Throughout my pregnancy we have also been asking for the prayers of the saints but in particular prayers from the Blesseds Zelie and Louis Martin.  If you could also ask for their prayers we would appreciate it so much!

We know that regardless of what happens on Wednesday God is in control and His plans are always better than our own.  We hope and pray that we will be holding our precious son in our arms and sharing him with the world come Wednesday night.  He is wanted, loved, and cherished so much already.  My heart aches in anticipation of holding him in my arms, kissing his cheeks, and thanking God for His amazing blessing of life.

God often has plans that are very different from our own.  This pregnancy has been one of those gifts that God surprises us with.  I pray that those who have seen us travel on this path have come to understand that we are not to turn our backs on the blessings God pours out on us.  All life is precious and miraculous.  I am so thankful that God chose me to bring this baby boy into the world.  I would choose life for him over and over again even knowing that I would lose friends, feel shunned, be spiritually attacked, and have such physical pain.  God knows my heart. God knows my soul. God knows that this little one will complete me in so many ways.  I am so very thankful for all that He has given me.

Michelle is a daughter of God, a cradle Catholic, a devoted wife of 20+ years to amazing husband Mike, eclectic homeschooling mother to eleven wonderful children. She has experienced the loss of 12 babies in her call to be open to life, but knows that God is always loving and always gracious. She and her husband know that they have an army of Saints already in heaven! They try to show their faith in everything they do and hope that all who come to know their family, also come to know the Lord.

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The Devil is in Comparison [at worthy of Agape]

I can hardly tell you how often I’ve had the following thoughts lately:

your life up“She’s married with three kids and she is only a year older than I am, what am I doing with my life?“

“She’s traveled to six different countries in the last three years, what on Earth have I been doing?“

“He’s got a great full-time job and just got engaged to one of the most amazing women I know. What am I doing with my life?“

“She just makes the most radiant bride! And she is younger than me?!“

“Look at her beautiful baby bump, she is just glowing! What am I doing with my life?“

“He’s a seasoned songwriter, making God only knows how much money, and touring and traveling, and he’s married. And he’s three years younger than me?!“

I get it. If I’m being really honest, I know those aren’t the best thoughts. God is using each of those people exactly where He needs them to be. But what about me? It is such an easy question to wonder. I can look at just about anyone and tell you that I feel infinitely less accomplished, less put together, less well-off than they are. I can come up with things I’m doing right, things I’m blessed with, and things I’m happy about. However, with each on of those things I can easily put a caveat as to why my life isn’t as awesome as it could be.

I’m using all of my degrees in a job I love…but I’m working two jobs in the same field and I’m still not full-time.

I get to travel more frequently than most…but I don’t get paid vacation like so many of my friends.

I love my living situation…but it isn’t where I thought I’d be living at this point in my life. I thought I’d own a house by now.

For weeks and weeks I’ve been telling myself to stop comparing my life with other people’s lives. The words of Steve Furtick ring so true in my head, but they don’t penetrate my heart: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” My behind-the-scenes is messy and chaotic, but everyone else’s highlight reel is picture perfect. I see their houses, their freshly painted rooms, their cute sonogram pictures, and their sweet engagement stories and I can’t help but wonder what I’m doing with my life. Am I wasting my time? Am I really serving God? And for goodness sake, why isn’t that MY life?

Then one night, like a train on the tracks, it hit me. My mom came home from Mass and told me that she’d told a lady at church who is about my age that I’d written a book. This lady’s response? She wrote a book!? What on Earth have I been doing with my life?! 

The thing is that we all do this business of comparing our lives to others. It wasn’t until someone compared her life to mine (and felt exactly how I’ve been feeling about everyone else’s lives) that it really hit me: we are exactly where God wants us to be. God called the songwriter, and the wife, and the mother just as much as He called me to write a book. Is this the life I thought I’d have? No way. But if it is where He wants me, if my great passion is meeting His calling for my life, then no comparison can ever rob me of the joy of serving, following, and loving my God.

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Shining a Light: Why Gosnell Matters [at Peace Garden Writer]

For the past week

or so, I've been sharing posts on Facebook related to the Kermit Gosnell trial.

This story has caught my attention for two reasons. One, because it's horrific and touches on a topic that has been stirring me for a couple decades now. Two, because I was in disbelief it wasn't being covered by many mainstream media outlets.

We live in America, a country that heralds the freedom of the press and the need to shine light on that which is hidden. And yet, so much silence. Why?

Yesterday, Marc Lamont Hill of the

HuffPost Live

said this:

“For what it’s worth, I do think that those of us on the left have made a decision not to cover this trial because we worry that it’ll compromise abortion rights. Whether you agree with abortion or not, I do think there’s a direct connection between the media’s failure to cover this and our own political commitments on the left. I think it’s a bad idea, I think it’s dangerous, but I think that’s the way it is.”

Normally I tackle

faith issues on Friday, so why this on Writing Wednesday? Because it's the writer in me that is most disappointed in how this all went down, and how so much of the media failed to do its job in shining a light on this atrocity.

Thankfully, more attention has been garnered now, and some apologies even have been made. But while we're making up for lost time, I think it's time to self-reflect. We can't not report on something because of the above-mentioned reason -- because we are afraid of what it might do for our cause. What is more important? A cause or truth? I would say that causes informed by truth are the most important of all. But a cause that shirks truth is dangerous.

So today I'm doing what little I can do as a citizen and communicator. I'm shining a light on Gosnell and hoping that rather than looking away and saying, "Oh, that's just gross. I don't want to watch/read that," you'll take a look and see what's been going on behind closed doors.

Now that more of the mainstream media is waking up and owning up, I'm willing to move past the poor judgment and move on. We all deserve a pass or two. We're all imperfect together. But let's also move on together. Let's not, now, minimize this trial and let it go before we've had a chance to truly absorb its implications. Let's give it its due. Let's allow it to tell us something that might be hard to see, but that can free us once we know it. Not just those on the right or those on the left, but all of humanity.

All is not lost.

We can still learn from Gosnell. And to me, that learning starts now, by being honest about it and not being afraid of exposing injustice.

We owe it to the women who were maimed, and to the babies who thought they'd seen light only for that light to be snuffed out and life extinguished before they'd had a chance to look into their mother's eyes.

The only way I can think to end such a post is with a prayer (thus faith does enter in now...):

God bless all involved in this tragedy. Have mercy on our wounded world. Give us eyes to see and hearts to feel and words to share to help us learn and heal.  

If you're wondering where go from here, this video,

3801 Lancaster

, is a worthwhile place to start. Simcha Fischer also wrote

a reflection

that brings much information regarding this case to light.

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If God Exists [at 8 Kids And A Business]

This is also posted at Catholic Insight, catholicinsight.com

Michelangelo's God“If God exists, why did He make us all different?  Why didn’t He make us all one colour, one religion?  Then we wouldn’t keep fighting each other.  There’s been wars ever since the world began.  Why would God allow that?”

These questions were directed to me by an avowed atheist whom I’ll call “Jack”, an elderly person who sometimes brings up the topic of religion.  On this particular day, he also pointed out the hypocrisy of rabbis, priests, ministers, in fact anyone in a role of religious leadership, who say one thing to their congregations but do another thing in their personal lives.   Many things he has seen in his long life have convinced him that all religions are “garbage.”

Jack fought in WWII and has had many struggles; but beneath a mind that remains closed to God, there beats an honest, decent heart.  I sense that it’s a restless heart.

Talking to people like him has convinced me that even a person who steadfastly denies God’s existence continues to look for answers.  The soul, which is made to know, love and serve God, struggles to find its way and at crucial times in life, the search intensifies.  I’ve seen it in the elderly who turn to the likes of Christopher Hitchens to validate their atheism; in the terminally ill, Catholic or not, who pray the Rosary; in people who read the Bible when faced with overwhelming challenges; and in the wealthy who seem to be trying to buy their way into Heaven just in case it really does exist.

As I listened to Jack, I said a silent prayer to the Holy Spirit to help me out because, quite frankly, I didn’t know how to answer him.  I sensed that his questions weren’t aimed at me so much as as to some higher power, something or someone who could clarify doubts that have been present for a long time.

In my response to him, I talked about free will and how God, in His wisdom and great love for us doesn’t want to force us to love Him back.  I explained how He allows us to choose whether or not to love Him.  Jack nodded and agreed that my answer made sense.  I went on to say that even for a non-believer there exists the desire to be  decent, caring and to do the right thing.  God has hard-wired us to seek out what is good and true and beautiful.  I gave the example of the two of us, an atheist and a practicing Catholic who can discuss religion in a calm, adult manner and who respect and genuinely like each other.

It seems to me that my conversation with Jack is one of those times when preaching the Gospel has to do more with actions than with words.  True, I did talk about religion but I wonder if the way I delivered the message, my approach and openness,  was at least as important as the words spoken. After all, at over 90 years of age, I’m certain that what I actually said isn’t new.   He’s heard it all before.

For Christians, there’s an important lesson in this incident.  Jack has seen how people who claim to believe in God only pay lip service to Him. He’s not alone in this.  Mahatma Gandhi famously said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Our behaviour towards each other is how people like Jack judge Christianity.  We not only hurt our Lord when our actions contradict our words, we hurt Jack and we will be judged on that.

I may never know, not in this life anyway, if Jack’s heart was opened but I know mine was.  Our discussion reminded me that if I don’t live what I profess, then all my efforts to participate in the New Evangelization will be dishonest.  If my life isn’t grounded in unceasing prayer and the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, my actions as a supposed Catholic Christian will not be attractive to non-believers.  “We pray as we live because we live as we pray.” (Catechism of the catholic Church, 2725)

I keep Jack in my prayers and I hope that God gives us the opportunity to continue our discussion. In hindsight, there were many more things I could have said, that I probably should have said.  However, I’m just going to have to trust that my answers were inspired by the Holy Spirit and that what I said and how I acted was enough at the time.  I’m confident in the hope that whatever I lack will be made up by the grace of God.

Deo Gratias

This contribution is available at http://8kidsandabusiness.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/if-god-exists/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Undoer of Knots [at salliesART]

"Our Lady, Undoer of Knots", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2013

When I first heard, soon after his election, that our new Pope has a great devotion to this image of Our Lady, I immediately went online, searching to find a copy of the painting.  Fortunately, it was an easy search and so right away I had a "model" to work from.  There was only one other painting that I could find which was based on this original and it is extremely well done and worth taking a look at online.
In doing research on this image and its origin, I came across the following information which the author kindly gave me permission to reprint here.

How this devotion started:

To show us the mission granted to the Virgin Mary by Her Son, an artist Johann Melchior Georg Schmittdner painted Mary Undoer of Knots with great grace. Since 1700, his painting has been venerated in the Church of St. Peter in Perlack, Augsburg, Germany. It was originally inspired by a meditation of Saint Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyon and martyred in 202) based on the parallel made by Saint Paul between Adam and Christ. Saint Irenaeus, in turn, made a comparison between Eve and Mary, saying:“Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it”.

What are these knots?

They are the problems and struggles we face for which we do not see any solution … knots of discord in [the] family, lack of understanding between parents and children, disrespect, violence, the knots of deep hurts between husband and wife, the absence of peace and joy at home. They are also the knots of anguish and despair of separated couples, the dissolution of the family, the knots of a drug addict son or daughter, sick or separated from home or God, knots of alcoholism, the practice of abortion, depression, unemployment, fear, solitude…Ah, the knots of our life! How they suffocate the soul, beat us down and betray the heart’s joy and separate us from God.

Day after day, more and more Christians kneel to pray to her as soon as they meet the [Our Lady, Undoer of Knots]. Many families have become reconciled! Many diseases have been healed! Many spouses have returned to the Church! Many jobs have been given! Many conversions have taken place! Many Catholics have been on their knees praying and giving thanks for graces received from our sweet Mother. For that reason, Mary who undoes the knots, who was chosen by God to crush the evil with Her feet, comes to us to reveal Herself. She comes to provide jobs, good health, to reconcile families, because she wants to undo the knots of our sins which dominate our lives, so that – as sons [and daughters] of the King – we can receive the promises reserved for us from eternity. She comes with promises of victory, peace, blessings and reconciliation.

Used through the kind permission of Edson Bosetti, Mary Undoer of Knots, Brampton, Ontario, www.maryundoerofknots.com novena@maryundoerofknots.com

The same drawing framed -- not really as this is the result of my playing around with Photoshop type software

Here are some insightful comments from Dr. Taylor Marshall:

Pope Francis's Devotion to 'Our Lady Untier of Knots'

Our new Pope Francis has been one of the chief promoters of "Our Lady Untier of Knots." When Pope Francis, then Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was studying in Germany, he was stunned by a Bavarian painting of "Holy Mary, Our Lady Untier of Knots." He acquired a copy of the painting and brought it to Argentina and promoted devotion to Mary under this title. Apparently it has caught on with the faithful of Argentina.

It is interesting that this Marian devotion of Pope Francis is rooted in Bavaria - it therefore creates a bridge between the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI and that of Pope Francis. In fact, Cardinal Bergoglio had an image of Our Lady Untier of Knots engraved into a chalice and presented it to Pope Benedict XVI.

The Theology of Our Lady Untier of Knots

The theology of Mary untying knots goes back to the second century - less than one hundred years after the death of the Apostles. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wrote "the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith." (Adversus haereses, 3, 22) This is one of the earliest examples of describing Mary as the "New Eve." Eve, standing next to Adam, is the "co-peccatrix" (co-sinner) Mary, standing next to Christ crucified, is the "co-redemptrix" (co-redemptress). This does not mean that Mary directly saves or redeems us. It means that Mary consents and participates in the redemptive action of Christ. Her role is congruent and relative to the ... absolute role of Christ. Our Lady Untier of Knots is Patristic and may be the way forward for establishing and expanding Marian theology. The doctrine of Mary's universal mediation and her subordinate role to Christ in human salvation is beautifully summed up in this saying of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. The fact that it goes back to the second century reveals that this is not a medieval accretion. It's a doctrine deriving from the Apostles themselves.

From the Blog of Dr. Taylor Marshall, http://www.taylormarshall.com/2013/03/mary-untier-of-knots-pope-francis.html

"Mary, Undoer of Knots", by Artist Johann Melchior Georg Schmittdner.  Since 1700, his painting has been venerated in the Church of St. Peter in Perlack, Augsburg, Germany

Above is the original painting by Schmittdner which has had such a profound effect on Pope Francis and on so others as well.

_____________________________________

BRADEN

I only have one new photo of Braden this week and it shows him being a very defiant young man!  He did not want to take his nap -- no matter what his mom tried.  This is not a good thing as it makes for a cranky baby and a tired mom!  Ah, well, that self-will begins to exert itself so early and from the beginning causes us so many problems since we tend to exert it so often to our detriment! 

A defiant Braden -- "No, I will not take a nap!"

______________________________________________________________

SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki -- ever watchful

I have yet to figure out why Suki gets so anxious whenever I open the balcony door -- even just a little bit.  
On a day like today when it is not really warm enough to turn on the A/C, but just a bit stuffy in the apartment, I like to open the balcony door just a bit to let in some cooler air.  Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
Well, the minute I open that door, here comes Suki.  She may have appeared to be deeply asleep just moments previous, yet, in an instant she is awake and on the move.  She comes near the open door very cautiously, sniffing and listening, ready to jump at the slightest loud sound.
If she is hungry and I give her food while the door is open, she can only eat a little bit and even that is eaten while stopping to listen carefully between each bite.  After just a few bites, she can't stand it any longer and leaves her food unfinished and creeps back toward the open door as though creeping up on a dangerous foe.
It's not like I haven't tried to leave the door open many times over the years that she has been with me; however, Suki's reactions have always been the same!  Sometimes I just open the door and then try to ignore her behaviour.  But no matter how long I leave the door open, Suki never seems to be able to settle down.  Eventually, I start to feel guilty and so I go and close the door so that Suki can finally let herself go back to her all-important sleep.
Just another oddity of my funny cat.  Strange as she is, I wouldn't trade her!
As for me, I continue to be much the same -- no improvements, but no new problems.  For this I am very grateful as you can imagine.  I will be seeing my family doctor this coming week and, hopefully, she won't find anything new either!
The most exciting thing that will be happening this week is the appointment I have to meet a dear, dear friend on the day before her birthday.  This means that we can celebrate her special day with little gifts and some treats.  Anyone who knows me well knows how I feel about birthdays -- my own and those of all my family, friends and acquaintances.  Once I find out when your birthday is, watch out, you may be getting one of my homemade cards!
As I come to the end of this post, I would request that you join with me in asking Our Lady, Undoer of Knots to pray to her Son that the "knots" in all our lives may be undone through His grace.  That we may learn to trust in Christ and in the prayers of His dear Mother Mary and so know that peace which God alone can give.

This contribution is available at http://salliesart.blogspot.ca/2013/04/undoer-of-knots.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Singing Alleluia Through Our Tears [at Little Steps Along The Way]

Image by Amanda Rose 2012
Petite Jean State Park, AK

Easter is our season to rejoice, for our “Alleluia” to resound after forty penitential days preparing for our Savior’s Passion, death, and resurrection. But can we rejoice when we feel no joy? How do we sing “Alleluia” through our tears?

 We each have suffering in our own lives that cannot be measured or compared. Whether it is the physical and emotional suffering experienced by victims of an unexpected explosion, the suffering of a mother holding a terminally ill child, the agony of a body wracked by cancer eating away within it, the pain of words that cut to the quick and wound to the soul – all suffering hurts, all suffering leaves scars, and all suffering has been redeemed by Christ.

“Rejoice in the Lord always!” resounds in Philippians 4:4 and repeats throughout the New Testament.  These words were written and repeated by men who were persecuted, who suffered, who felt physical and emotional pain just as we do. They suffered and yet they continued to teach us to rejoice in the Lord always.

Reflecting on the horrors committed each day does not elicit joyful feelings within us, nor should it. We do not rejoice over the evil in the world, or that which remains within each of us to varying degrees. We do not rejoice over the pain and suffering surrounding us and within our own lives. 

Yet, we can still rejoice in the Lord. We can sing our Alleluia even as tears overflow. 

We do not need to feel joy or happiness regarding our current circumstances in order to rejoice in the Lord’s resurrection, to rejoice in Who He is.  Although we may be covered by a momentary darkness, it is the hope of His resurrection that is the cause of our joyful anticipation. We know that the darkness of the tomb is only temporary; we know the end of the story is His glory. We know the story of His love for us. This is why we rejoice.

Our stunned silence can begin to be filled with “Glory to God.”  

Orthodox Metropolitan Tryphon wrote “Akathist Hymn: Glory to God for All Things" shortly before his death in 1934, and his beautiful words resound in the darkness of our day.  His words can perhaps help us find our own “Glory to God” and pronounce our own “alleluia” once again. 

From Akathist Hymn: Glory to God for All Things, Ikos 12

“

… But I know how nature gives praise to You: in winter I have beheld the moonlit stillness when the whole earth quietly prays to You, clothed in white and sparkling with diamonds of snow – I have seen how the rising sun rejoices in You and the choirs of birds resound in praise – I have heard the forest speak mysteriously of You, the waters gurgle and the choirs of stars preach of You with their harmonious movement in infinite space. But what is my praise! Nature responds to Your laws, but I do not.  Yet while I am alive, I see Your love, I want to thank, to pray, to call out:

 Glory to You Who has shown us light,

 Glory to You Who has loved us with love immeasurable, deep, Divine,

 Glory to You Who has surrounded us with light, with hosts of angels and saints,

 Glory to You, O Holy Father, Who has willed us Your Kingdom,

 Glory to You, Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age,

 Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful,

 Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages. “

This contribution is available at http://www.littlestepsalongtheway.com/2013/04/singing-alleluia-through-our-tears.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Divine Mercy and confession

The Divine Mercy image has quickly become ubiquitous. I imagine most Catholics in most parts of the world would recognise it. Not bad for an image which was painted only 80 years, suppressed by the Holy See, and rehabilitated less than forty years ago.

Jesus, I trust in you

The image has three-fold significance.

1. The Resurrection and the Life

In the first place, it is a depiction of today’s Gospel: the appearance of Jesus to his apostles on the evening of Easter Sunday.

Our Lord appears unexpectedly, despite the locked doors, points to his wounds, and raises his hand in blessing. “Peace be with you,” he says. “Shalom!”

He says it twice, because “Shalom!” is a common Jewish greeting. But the peace our Lord gives is not common. It is a peace the world cannot give: the gift of the Holy Spirit.

2. Crucified Saviour

In the second place, the image is a depiction of Christ on the cross. The rays of red and white light evoke the blood and water which flowed from Jesus’ side.

The Church’s origin and growth, Vatican II teaches, are “symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of a crucified Jesus.”

The Divine Mercy chaplet describes the stream “as a fount of mercy” which covers the world.

3. Eternal High Priest

In the third place, the image depicts Jesus as the eternal high priest. He is portrayed mid-step, emerging from the heavenly sanctuary. The holy of holies.

He is dressed in the white linen of the High Priest. White linen also adorns Catholic altars. During the Mass, the altar is the principal symbol of Christ.

Just as the Divine Mercy image is priestly, so are the prayers of the Divine Mercy chaplet:

Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

This prayer is really a summation of the Mass. In the Eucharist, the priest offers the bread and wine, which become the body and blood of Christ. But not the priest alone. In the preparation of the gifts, the priest addresses the people:

Pray brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

Everyone at Mass makes the offering. It’s as though we’re transported to Calvary. We stand beside our Lady, at the foot of the cross, and we offer the body and blood of Christ.

We can do this only because of the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. In baptism, we become sharers in Christ’s priesthood, and members of his body. We enter into him. In holy communion, we receive his body and blood. He enters into us. We become “one body one spirit in Christ.”

This is why, on Divine Mercy Sunday, we are especially encouraged to go to communion. We do this “for the sake of the whole world.”

But we’re also asked to embody divine mercy. To forgive those who hurt us. To love the unlovable. We cannot give what we have not received. So we’re encouraged to go to confession. If not today, then within the week.

Sacramental confession

If you haven’t gone to confession for a while, now is the time! If it has been a long while, it’s advisable to write out a list. If you’re not accustomed to confession, it can be nerve-wracking, and the mind easily goes blank! When preparing a list, a good examination of conscience can help.

If you’re in Melbourne, the sacrament is easily obtained at St Francis. On some days, confessions are heard for a cumulative 5½ hours! Unless it’s Sunday, Monday or a public holiday. In that case, try St Mary Star of the Sea, where the sacrament is available for about two hours every day of the year.

Today’s gospel describes the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After wishing the disciples peace (twice), the Lord breathes on them:

Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.

The Gospel situates Reconciliation as the sacrament of peace. It’s easy to see why. Sin deprives us of peace. It troubles our conscience. It estranges us from our neighbours — especially those whom we love — and from God.

But when we name our sins, they lose their grip over us. Sacramental confession restores the peace Jesus offers us. It restores our relationships, reconciling us with our neighbours, with God, and with ourselves.

It also enables us to embody mercy. Just as we are forgiven, so we forgive.

And it sanctifies us. The grace and peace we receive can then attract others to Christ. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is invisible, but still it is noticeable. People who have never seen Christ may yet believe in his resurrection through our witness, if we bear the peace and mercy our Lord offers us.

So go ahead! Celebrate Divine Mercy by both receiving it, and bestowing it!

This contribution is available at http://www.acountrypriest.com/the-divine-mercy-image/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Children belong at Mass. Period. [at fountains of home]

I usually try to ignore posts and articles complaining about how people should be acting at Mass. Not because I think there's nothing to complain about, but more because I lean towards jumping on the complaint wagon and going all judgemental on people...so I try to stay away and not get all riled up irrationally.

But

this post

of Deacon Greg's has gotten under my skin. (Go read it, but be careful of rage!) When Deacon Greg first posted it last week and I read the letter in question I just dismissed the writer as being a tad uptight, probably on the older side, and not too accustomed to children. I figured the comments would all say that children are indeed welcome at Mass and maybe this letter writer should sit closer to the front of the Church. Then a few days letter Deacon Greg posted the follow up letter from the questioner and that's when I really lost my mind.

I think there are so many reasons that this stance of how children should not be brought to Mass until they're of the age of understanding and self-control is completely wrong, but I'll just throw a couple of my ten cents worth of opinion in.

First of all, I completely understand how crazy loud children can be in Mass. I'm usually sitting in a pew with five of them. We've always brought our kids to Mass, and we've always aimed to keep them relatively quiet within our pew. That's our goal. To say our pew is silent would be far from the truth but we've also only had to remove kids from the church (our church is tiny so we really have to go outside to put any sort of barrier between the church and screaming banshee) a handful of times. Our kids make some noise, they fight, they whisper terribly, and if they're babies they may cry for a minute or two before being soothed or put on a boob. We've gotten to this point of containment by always having kids napped and well fed before our 5 pm Saturday evening Mass. When we're busy and we don't have things carefully synchronized with naps and food it can be a whole hour of torture with badly behaving kids. My main point is, most parents of small babies/toddlers are in the process of training their children on how to behave at Mass and it usually requires a lot of behind the scenes preparation in order to be at peak good behaviour, and there could be any number of reasons why a kid could be having a full-flung tantrum or it could just be a bad day. Training requires that we actually show up at Mass on a regular basis with our children however. And I agree that this is a skill that parents have to teach. Respectful children at Mass don't suddenly appear on doorsteps at the age of five or seven, they grow up to that level of behaviour and parents have to teach it.

But the idea of children being kept away from the Mass, and all the graces which come from being close to Christ, until a certain age where they've attained some magical level of self control and understanding of the Mass is also completely counter to what the Church teaches. If the Church thought this way we'd have the Rite of Baptism finish with words like, "And may God bless you for the next five years until you're quiet enough to join the rest of the Church at regular Mass attendance." Our children are full members of the Body of Christ after receiving Baptism. They're part of the Church whether or not they understand the Catechism or not. So are the mentally disabled. So are the poorly catechized who probably don't understand the importance of the Mass either. So am I, who would easily get distracted while a teenager by the cute boy a couple pews down, and who still gets distracted by someone's weird hairdo or the jumbo-trons in mega parishes(shudder!). We all come up short in the proper reverence that is due in the Sacrifice of the Mass. But we also can't change the fact that the Mass is the Church's

public

form of worship. Public as in everyone is welcome and everyone is meant to come together and worship God together. Everyone. People who distract us, people we don't like, people who sin. We cannot put requirements on who may attend Mass because the Mass wasn't even created by us-it was instituted by Christ and He meant it for everyone. Luckily there are plenty of Catholic devotions and prayers that require silence. Eucharistic adoration is a great place to go to sit in silence and Christ's presence. The Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, lectio divine, can all be done silently and prayerfully in a quiet church or chapel. Go take advantage if you think children as Sunday Mass distract you from prayer-say some extra ones for the poor parents while you're at it!

Attending Mass as a family is a goal that I think all Catholic families aim for. Sure, sometimes its refreshing to go to Mass alone, free from controlling and patrolling toddlers, but I know I would feel empty and not whole somehow if I continually attended Mass alone. And I know that is kind of a touchy-feely argument but I think my children would feel the same way if we left the rest of their younger siblings at home, or daddy couldn't come to the same Mass because the babies had to stay home every week. Of course the logistics of one parent going to one Mass and the other attending another would take away from precious family time in an already very busy stage of life. While growing up, my dad had yet to convert to the Catholic Church and I remember from a young age always wanting my dad to come to church with us. When the whole family attends Mass together the children are shown that Mass, the Faith, and God are important.

Since all my kids are 5 and under, I know that children do absorb a lot from Mass even at these early stages. Different children pick up on different things from the Mass. My daughter notices the actions of the priest throughout and asks questions about it later. My 4 year old son already knows all the words to the Confitieor and the Gloria. This is where faith starts, at the child's level and it gradually grows with that child. It runs completely contrary to logic to think that the faith does not start to sink into a child's heart and mind until a certain age.

Really, the arguments for bringing children to Mass and attending Mass are many! I think that's why the letter in question made me go a bit batty. I think it all boils down to the fact that children are the Church's future, they're people, and full members of the Church who deserve not only Christ's love at Mass but the love and respect Christ calls us to give to everyone. We all also have to deal with things that distract us in Mass, be it others or ourselves, as well as we can and hopefully grow in holiness while doing so.

This contribution is available at http://fountainsofhome.blogspot.ca/2013/04/children-belong-at-mass-period.html
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Confessions Of An Imperfect Life: Food, The Scale, & Me [at Crinion Clan]

Today, I'm starting a new series that I hope to share on both blogs.  See, the thing about writing a blog is that I'm the one writing the words.  I can leave out any unpleasant details and paint any picture I want.  I can also leave out any unflattering pictures of myself, so you only see my good hair days and non-pajama ensams.

So, to keep this blog from becoming some surreal documentary from the likes of Pleasantville, I wanted to do a series that would

force

encourage me to be a little more open about our dysfunctional moments around here....and the dysfunctional places in my heart as a woman. Cuz I'm not a man, so I'll leave that stuff to the menfolk.

Now, don't go thinking I'm going to start posting pics of myself right after I fall out of bed.  That would just be mean....to you.  And I like you, so we won't go there.  But, that very subject....how you see me and how I see myself, is probably a good place to start. 

I could lie through my teeth and tell you that I'm totally content with the way I am.  But I can give you a detailed list of all the things I hate about my body and the features I wish were different.  I think most women can.  It's a self-critical voice in my head that I constantly have to give the beat-down, and usually I come out of those bouts with at least one black eye.  It's something that has gone to a whole other level after having kids.

Extreme weight gains/losses in a short amount of time, changes in my body's shape, and an unspoken expectation to be back to pre-baby weight (or less) in record time have all played on the strings of my ego and self-worth.

I've been stuck at this place....this "15 pounds from ideal" place for about a year.  I've had this internal arguement with myself over simply accepting that I had 3 babies in 4 years and this is just the way my body is going to be vs. taking control and making sacrifices to lose those last 10-15 pounds.  Because it will take sacrifice for me to do it....preparing for meals/snacks in advance, saying no to foods I'm accustomed too, and turning down other things in order to get a workout in....and going to bed on time - which will always be my nemesis.

The quickie story about my relationship with food is this....as a teenager I was an athlete that trained hard and never had to worry about what I ate.   I joined the Marine Corps, so throughout college and my time on active duty, I was again, always training hard and didn't really need to think about food.  Then I got pregnant.  And older.  It became harder to lose weight just by working out.  Compared to the average Joe I feel like I know a lot about food and healthy eating habits.  I've just been too lazy to actually follow them.

There have been times that I've gone on a healthy eating kick or a sugar detox, but I've never been consistent, and I've never been consistent with both food and exercise at the same time.  In the past I basically worked out to support my eating habits.  Well, this ole girl just aint what she used to be.  It will take the right food choices

and

regular exercise to get and keep my body at a healthy weight.  I also have a back injury, so even carrying just 5 extra pounds makes a huge difference in how I'm able to function.

Back to pre-baby weight after a 50lb pregnancy weight-gain with Mia......

6 months pregnant with Sully...

Today, after three 50lb weight-gain pregnancies...

Please let me be clear.  I do not consider myself "fat" or even overweight.  It's not just about the scale.

I don't feel good....

I'm tired all the time (even after 7+ hours of sleep)....

I get food cravings....

My nails are weak and break easily.... 

My teeth hurt....

My patience is non-existent.... 

I wake up with back pain almost every day...

My digestive system is all over the place......

I know that I have significant deficiencies in my diet and that I haven't taken very good care of myself.

In lieu of a New Year's Resolution, I felt like my theme for this year was to "take care"...better care of our home, better care of my relationships, and better care of myself.  I've been a bit of a hypocrit in that way....I make sure my kids get to bed at a decent hour every night, serve them healthy/balanced meals, and try to give them physical activity every day.  It's been a lot of do as I say, not as I do.

I've been really inspired by

Carmel's candid journey in Paleo eating

so, I finally decided to give it a real shot.  A month of better eating (without cheating) and regular exercise.  And we'll see how I feel. (We decided to try the Perfect Health Diet and I'll share more about the food details tomorrow).

I really don't care what the scale says.  Of course I want to like the way I look in my clothes, but more than anything, I want to feel the best that I can and to know that I'm taking proper care of myself.  I want to feel strong, fit, and able again.

So after all this healthy eating and exercise, I'll feel awesome about myself and never think or say anything negative about the way I look again, right? .....you did, didn't you?  You just snorted out your coffee onto the computer screen.  It's ok.  I know that critical voice will always be there, but I know that if I feel better, confident that I'm taking care of my body, hopefully I'll be able to deliver the defeating knock out to the voice of "you suck" in the first round instead of the fifth.

When I prayed about this post and for a piece of Scripture the first thing that came to mind was "there is no flaw in you".  So I looked up the whole verse and it's this...

Song of Songs 4:7 "You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."

The words from one lover to another.  The words our Lord, speaks over us.  The words, I constantly reject.  Because sometimes all I see is flaws.  In my appearance, in my heart, in the way I just snapped at my husband, in the way I just chastised myself for doing it.  God knows.  And His response?  Nothing but love for the child He created. 

Part of me feels guilty that I'm not writing a post about embracing yourself just the way you are, but I think that's because it's more important to embrace

who

we are.  If we only knew how much we are loved by our infinite Creator, and that through his loving eyes He sees no flaw, maybe we could see less of them too.

If you are overweight,

you

are amazing.  If you are a supermodel,

you

are amazing. If you are average,

you

are amazing.  If you are anorexic,

you

are amazing.   If you secretly need anger-management classes,

you

are amazing. And you and I are both worth the fight to claim our worth and our health everyday.

With so many other images and voices telling us otherwise, it's important that we are reminded of the truth.  And so I tell you dear friend, no matter how you look right now (good or bad) or what you've done/said this week...you are altogether beautiful and there is no flaw in you.  Now, go tell someone else who needs to hear it too.

This contribution is available at http://crinionclan.blogspot.com/2013/05/confessions-of-imperfect-life-food.html
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Jesus: "The Original Hipster" [at The Syrophoenician Woman]

The priest in this interview with the Huffington Post really knocks it out of the park.

The diocese of Brooklyn has developed a new ad campaign that has people talking. In as series of ads, they try to reach young adults who aren't coming to church. They are releasing ads specifically aimed at parents, joggers, and people of different ethnicities. And hipsters? The ad campaign is called "

All faces. Everyday understanding

" and it is doing it's job at getting people's attention.

So, what do you think about this ad campaign? Is it appropriate to talk about Jesus like this? Was Jesus really a hipster?

I think that this campaign is absolutely brilliant in that it is getting everyone talking, especially the very group the Church is looking for.

The Huffington Post is talking about it

.

Gawker is talking about it

.

Salon is talking about it

.

The Observer is covering it

.

Opposing Viewpoints is covering it

. Yeah, not all of the reviews are positive, but it's got their attention.

It is also appropriating a meme that has been used and abused for years.

I'm all for

anyone

taking back something that is used to mock them and twisting it into their own. Way to stick it to...well...whoever you're sticking it to.

The priest in the above video makes the valid point that every culture that Christianity has come in contact with has made Christ into their own image. What ever is considered beautiful and good in your culture, you apply rightly or wrongly to Christ. That's the reason why this Middle-Eastern man is often depicted here in the west as a good looking Caucasian with blue eyes.

 At least the Bible miniseries gave him brown eyes

But, just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right. So, is it right? Jesus came into our world as a Middle Eastern Jew around the year 4 BCE. Is it okay to depict him as anything else? Well,

unlike St. Paul

, we don't have a detailed description of what Jesus looked like. That's not any excuse.

Forensic scientists have been trying to work around that

. And this "hipster" label isn't really talking about His looks anyway. It's about His beliefs and we have plenty of literature and 2000 years of Tradition to tell us about those.

Urban Dictionary defines "hipster" as:

Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter...Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and sometimes thick rimmed glasses.

Jesus was certainly counter-cultural. Let's take two prime examples:

The woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)- An angry crowd comes to Jesus with to ask him if it is okay to stone a woman caught committing the sin of adultery. After making them stew for a moment as he wrote something on the ground, he dared that "whoever among you that is without sin can cast the first stone." This is in direct contradiction of the rules and practices of the time. Now, he doesn't let the woman go scot-free, he tells her to sin no more. But he does save her life. And notice something else about the story. It's only the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery. The last time I checked: it takes two people to have sex. Where was the man? I like to think that this played a role in Jesus' judgment of the case.

The question of divorce (Matthew 19:3-9 and Mark 10:2-12)- Jesus is asked if divorce is permissible. Jesus says, essentially, that it shouldn't be. His questioners argue that they believe it is permissible because Moses said so. Jesus responds saying that it was only because of their "hardness of heart" that God has allowed it to occur. Again, very counter-cultural and very pro-woman. The wife usually got the raw end of the deal in divorces because they were seen as their husband's property and they typically didn't have anything of their own. So women abandoned in divorce would often have to resort to begging or prostitution simply to stay alive. So, in addition to affirming that "what God has put together, let no man put asunder," he's also, once again, protecting women.

Now we wade into the murky waters of progressivism. As I have argued

before

, I truly Catholic outlook would not jive with either the Republicans or the Democrats. I don't think Jesus would fully support either one.

Like our new Pope, Jesus seems to have been a doctrinal hard-ass who loved the underdog and the outcast. If you don't believe me, see his teaching on divorce above. His questioners bring up Moses, Jesus points them all to

Genesis

. Jesus is trying to point them all to the very beginning, how God made everything before any man, even the venerable Moses, had any say. You can't get more

conservative

than that.

That seems kind of counter-cultural in and of itself. Going down the street, you see people wearing their identities on their tee-shirts. The United States is becoming ever

 more divided

into our respective camps. People proudly announce their labels from the rooftops. To refuse to be put into a box is against the norm.

While Jesus might not have necessarily agreed with all that the current progressive movement stands for, he was completely counter-cultural.

He was completely against hyper-consumerism (Matthew 21:12-13).

He followed God regardless of anything people said (Mark 12:14-17).

He would feel at home with the bohemians (Luke 9:58).

Jesus made ironic statements and used sarcasm (examples include Matthew 19:23-26 [camel through eye of needle], Matthew 7:3 [plank in your own eye], John 1:46-47 [Jesus being snarky to Nathanael], and Luke 14:16-24 [the really lame excuses the wedding fest guests give for not showing up]).  

Yeah, I think Jesus could be considered a "hipster" as long as you are lenient on your definition of "progressive." 

This contribution is available at http://syrophoenicianwoman.blogspot.com/2013/04/jesus-original-hipster.html
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Wooed by His Sacred Heart [at Imprisoned in my Bones]

You woo me...

with birdsong in the morning

daffodils in the garden

gentle waves on the shore

gifts of glass from the sea

a warm breeze in the evening

a playful, loving family

friends who listen and share

the kiss of Eucharist on my tongue

daily, intimate, hour-long conversations in a silent church

drawing me ever more deeply into the fire burning

within Your Sacred Heart, allowing me to feel the pain of sin

that consumes you, letting me experience

Your intense suffering for love of me and all of Your children,

sharing Your sorrow

with the one You love,

this little nobody

that You woo

so expertly,

so divinely,

so sweetly

I can't resist Your desire for me

I am wooed into Your eternal embrace

so tender and loving....

Never let go

I am Yours forever...

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Do you care about Dzhokar Tsarnaev? [at Evangelical to Catholic]

I was simply gripped by the so-called “man hunt” yesterday. I stayed in my office and listened to the police scanner throughout the evening, watching news organizations tweet conflicting reports about the status of a young man named Dzhokar Tsarnaev. I’m proud of our law enforcement and everyone who helped prevent more violence.

I don’t consider myself to be a particularly compassionate person, but I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus’ teachings, Pope Francis, and Mother Teresa as I’ve watched some Christians call out for the US to go “Jack Bauer” on Dzhokar and torture him, and others tweet incendiary things.

What does it mean to be Catholic if we aren’t known for our mercy?

I’m haunted by the parable of the unforgiving servant. A man is forgiven a debt he could never pay back, and a few minutes later begins choking another for a much smaller sum. He didn’t get it. We are shown mercy for our sins against God through his Son’s death on the cross and in the sacraments. Can we show mercy towards this man?

I’m not against justice, I’m not against just war, I’m against the. . . hatred. Will you think hard about whether he should be stripped of his Miranda rights (is there really a clear danger ahead)? Will you protest a death sentence? Will you pray for his soul, and for that of his brother?

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. 

This contribution is available at http://evangelicaltocatholic.com/2013/04/20/how-much-do-you-care-for-dzhokar-tsarnaev/
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Memoir Monday~ Glacial Peaks, Alpine Creeks, Gunslingers and Gold Miners: How the West Was Lost Part 1 [at Campfires and Cleats]

Gotta love the button my son made!

Welcome friends,
 to another Memoir Monday hop 

here at Campfires and Cleats...This post has some Memoir Monday blog hop details as  well as links to all my previous Memoir posts.

From the title of my blog ( ! ),
 one can correctly infer that we do a good deal of 
travel...
Rustic style travel, that is.
As well as camping/s'more - making/tent set up....
 Or at least that our family trips have had great impact on our lives.

No roof, save for a nylon tent cover.

Or, more poetically stated, the night sky itself,

 starry diamond-ed and black velvet-ed.

But sometimes it's hard to be poetic, as breathtaking as this country is,

as monsoons whip through the Dakotas and

the campground is a bit of a muddy mess.

Four thousand miles ...

one way

is a lot of togetherness.

One needs to keep our blessings in perspective.

Yup, One certainly does.

But, oh, the places we've been!

So...my reflection

 :

            These hushed woods once echoed with the rumble of rickety wagons chock full of gold ore. Mining towns, never built to last, set as stunning jewels in precarious mountain slopes, endure.  Just as the spirit of the rugged individuals who carved  communities in the wilderness, endures.

 Tilted rock formed deep within the earth eons ago, panoramic and picturesque. Landscapes of granite. Postcards of stone.

             By day, the Yellowstone River’s mist on our skin. Bugling elk, mountain goats wary of our intrusion.

            By night, glittering constellations over velvety backdrop.

            Dipping our feet in an icy alpine creek after a long arduous climb.  And down, we still must traverse. Brief respite by a hidden glacial waterfall; we must be the first, ever to have found this slice of heaven on Earth. We must.

             Motoring from sea to shining sea. Mapping out the adventures, the sites, the magnificence. It is breathtaking and we  have a sense of can-we-really-be-here about the whole adventure.

 Snapping picture after picture. Until our memory card is filled with nearly eight hundred of them. Holding and immortalizing the hikes, the sites, the signs, the history, the starts, the stops.

 The drenching rain on an Old Faithful evening, the sun illuminating Abe’s face on a Mt Rushmore afternoon, the playful splashing on a rocky Pacific morning.  And, oh yeah: The rocks. When your hubby is a rock hound, a geologist through and through, the roadside outcroppings are a marvel. We take it in too, as well as the sometimes lengthy science lessons. We learn and we love.

             Building  campfires,  creating marshmallow s’more concoctions. In these eight thousand miles and seventeen states. Collages  of morning dew in West Glacier,  mundane interstate stops in Idaho, creekside tent pitching in the Dakotas and the just-being-togetherness on the journey.

            And the stories. The hardiness of the pioneer spirit back then.  And now? Life on the range and the farm? It is a world away and out of our realm. Those quintessential cowboys and cowhands? They’re not just of song and story. Their work is hard and honest, and quite cerebral. And the children of the range? They don’t play  little league; rather, they aspire to score high roping a calf or guiding their stallions around a haybale obstacle course in Cody Wyoming.  Rodeo capital of the world.

            The human drama unfolding on the prairie a century and a half ago? Across the mighty Mississippi to the Rockies.  Triumph? Or tragedy? Yes, this then one hundred year old country of ours wrote a sad chapter in our history.  

            Tolerance, virtuous behavior and grace demonstrated toward our fellow man? Not terribly much of that witnessed on the western frontier.

   What about  our American “heroes?” The Son of the Morning Star epitomized underhandedness; he was no hero. Truth: Custer earned this Lakota nickname, silently attacking at dawn, decimating  villages of unsuspecting, sleeping, peacful people. Mothers, babies, elderly.     

Little Bighorn, Montana
formerly known as "Custer Battlefield National Monument"
July 2012

              What’s that, some may say? He was only following orders?  Decades later, my Dad heard those echoes too, as an Army Infantryman in the Pacific Theater. In quiet, humble villages throughout the Phillipines in the 1940s, those under the flag of the rising sun were only following orders to overtake peaceful Manila.  It was heard too, throughout Europe. Those who donned the swastikas were  carrying out instructions. Nothing more. I suppose this is how some justify man’s inhumanity to man two generations removed?

 For you have been called to live in freedom, 

not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, 

but freedom to serve one another in love.   

            The Lakota Sioux have a saying:  “There is no death. There is only a change in worlds.”

             Are we truly t-h-a-t different from those called ‘savages’ by the white man? By those who wished to own the land? By those who wished to rule and change? By those who thought themselves quite superior? Who came to this new land to escape brutality and suppression themselves?

 ( end of part 1 )                                         

Edit ~  4/29/13 ~Part 2 of Glacial Peaks, Alpine Creeks, Gunslingers and Gold Miners: How the West Was Lost can be found my clicking here.

I've done a great deal of writing on our family adventures...

Some, across the country...last year we saw close to 10,000 miles of

national parks, memorials, monuments, interstates, campgrounds.

In fact, there are a ton of pictures here, in the "July" section of my 2012 photo reflection. (You know, in case you find yourself with a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-ynothing to do right now and you feel like clicking over ! ) And some trips, are an easy 250 miles upstate to the spot that's closest to Heaven here on Earth.

The Adirondacks.

Do you know these mountains?

I write of them here in

and here, in

~ August 2012 ~

If all my journalling,

scribbling while tooling down the highway,

past cornfields, prairie grass,

high peaked mountains, glaciers, 

abandoned pioneer towns,

<sigh>

and so much more,

becomes a memento for the kids documenting our family togetherness,

well, that's the point 

and

I'll be thrilled.

The above piece is one that I wrote last summer

 as we spent time exploring the midwest

(think Laura Ingalls!)

and the Pacific Northwest

(think gunslingers, gold diggers and the rocky Pacific coast! )
Sooo, now it's your turn!Please link up your latest memoir post below.......
I'd  ask that you copy and paste my Memoir Monday button into your post or your sidebarand/orthat you link back to my blog in your post.Thanks! And please come on back  tomorrowfor my post on some Elizabethan fun for The Bard's 449th!We're having a birthday party for Will!Come check it out!

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It's OK [at Martin Family Moments]

Oh honey, said the elderly lady at the store looking at the colicky newborn in my cart, cherish these years with your little ones.  They go so fast.

 It only gets harder as they get older, said the frazzled mom of two teenagers to me in line at the Registry of Motor Vehicles as I chased around a toddler with my 9 months pregnant belly.

I wanted to cry.

Every time somebody would tell me that raising a bunch of little kids was the easy part, or should be the best time in my life, I wanted to cry.  It can't get any harder than this, I would think.  I'm exhausted every day, I don't know what a full night's sleep feels like.  I actually dread going to bed because somebody will be waking me up in a few hours.  I can't fit in my clothes and there's never enough money.  All I do is clean and cook and cook and clean.  My kids are going to hate their childhood.  How did our mother's do this??

I was so hard on myself, as I think a lot of young mothers are.  With all the various technology that allows us to see how other moms are raising their well-behaved, well-educated, well-dressed children, we look around our messy house, and chocolate covered faces because cookies are much easier to hand out than balanced meals, and wonder why our kids can't quite seem to understand that hitting the baby is not funny and Mommy means business!  

If the homeschooling mom of 15 kids seems to have it altogether and doesn't have the constant glow of sweat that seemed to be my daily companion in those early years of motherhood, then why can't I?  How in God's name does she handle it all with grace and ease?

I'll let you in on a little secret.  She doesn't handle it ALL with grace.  She struggles with the things that are difficult for her, which may be vastly different from our temptation and weaknesses.  She doesn't blog or tweet or instagram her worst days, she shows pictures of her best moments.  Or if she does give us a *real* glimpse into a chaotic day, she makes it seem funny and entertaining.  Maybe her kids are learning Latin and can play classical piano because that's what is important to their family.  It doesn't have to be what's important to my family (and it's not).

We can't compare our interior with another's exterior, said the wise Danielle Bean.  

Comparison is the thief of joy, said Theodore Roosevelt.

It's okay to have feelings, said my handsome husband.  It's how we act on them that can be judged.  

It's okay to feel overwhelmed and exhausted and unhappy at times.  Raising children is hard, hard work.  It's messy and tiring and draining and sometimes thankless.  But we don't give up.  We don't stop loving and serving them.  We look at our struggles as opportunities of growth, as ways to fight vice with virtue.  

Because, no matter how challenging being a mother can be, it's also an awesome gift from God.  God didn't have to let us participate in the care and guidance of our children's bodies and souls.  He could have just created adult human beings that didn't need families at all.  How boring would that have been?

Getting out of the house with four babies aged three and under = a successful day!

So to

Rosie

(pictured above) and all the other wonderful young moms out there, chin up.  You're doing amazing things - you're raising saints!  Cut yourself some slack, and redefine your definition of a good day.  Maybe it doesn't mean preparing the perfect dinner or taking the kids to the park.  Maybe it just means stopping to say a prayer of thanksgiving that you get to be a mom and then getting on the floor with your kids and actually playing with them for ten minutes.  Confession: I used to have to force myself to do this.  Keeping the house relatively clean: check.  Cooking somewhat healthy meals: check.  Taking my kids to playgrounds and zoos and friend's houses: check.  But actually playing with my kids? That had to go on my to-do list.  See?  We all have our own struggles.

 I wish someone would have told me when I was in the trenches of my twenties raising lots of littles that those days were hard, and encouraged me instead of scaring me for the future.  It does get easier, they do grow up, and you will look back on these days with fond and funny memories (said the ancient 34 year old mom of five). Maybe I'm just in a sweet spot, or have gained more patience with each baby.  Maybe I have no clue what I'm talking about because I haven't yet had the opportunity to raise teenagers.  But all I know is that this stage is easier, and you will get here one day.  Trust me.

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Take This Seriously {Sunday Tradition} [at Glimpse of Peace]

Father Joseph invites the parents of soon-to-be-baptized children to state their intentions before blessing their children and entering the Chruch for the great celebration of rebirth through water and the Holy Spirit on Easter Morning.

This weekend our little local parish welcomed a visiting priest

, Father Treacy, who celebrated the Masses for Father Joseph as he was away at a conference with the local Newman Catholic Campus Ministry crew. 

Nearing 100 years of age

, this holy priest, through a thick Irish accent, preached plainly, forcefully, and with great love, about a matter that can cause the congregation to squirm in the pews: the

sacrilege

of receiving Jesus in Holy Communion if one is not properly disposed.   Father Tracy taught the Biblical truth that if anyone holding a grudge or hating any other person should come forward to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, that person is committing a sacrilege (a grave offense against God). 

God's mercy knows no bounds

, and anyone who humbly and honestly confesses his sins and amends his life can be returned to the state of grace required for properly receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. 

Just over 100 years after Jesus' Resurrection

, a bold Christian named Justin also preached fearlessly about the proper reception of Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass:

From the first apology in defense of the Christians by Saint Justin, martyr (written A.D. 151)  The celebration of the Eucharist

No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.

We do not consume the Eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.

The apostles, in their recollections, which are called gospels, handed down to us what Jesus commanded them to do. They tell us that he took bread, gave thanks and said: Do this in memory of me. This is my body. In the same way he took the cup, he gave thanks and said: This is my blood. The Lord gave this command to them alone. Ever since then we have constantly reminded one another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always united. For all that we receive we praise the Creator of the universe through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us; he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray.

On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability, and the people give assent by saying, “Amen.” The Eucharist is distributed, everyone present communicates, and the deacons take it to those who are absent.

The wealthy, if they wish, may make a contribution, and they themselves decide the amount. The collection is placed in the custody of the president, who uses it to help the orphans and widows and all who for any reason are in distress, whether because they are sick, in prison, or away from home. In a word, he takes care of all who are in need.
We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the world, and because on that same day our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For he was crucified on Friday and on Sunday he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them the things that we have passed on for your consideration.

St. Justin's description of the Holy Mass, written in A.D. 155

, very accurately describes the Holy Mass celebrated in our Catholic Church today.  If you don't believe me,

come and see for yourself

!

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Social Media in the Marriage and the Family [at A Catholic Mom climbing the Pillars]

"I’m not that interested in 'mass' communications. I’m much more interested in what happens between this person and the one person watching. The space between the television set and that person who’s watching is very holy ground."

The traditional family unit has been negatively hit from so many directions in our world in recent times.  Now state and federal courts are, at a few homosexuals' constant and indignant urgings, adding to the destruction of the traditional and healthy institution of marriage by passing legislation redefining marriage to allow same-sex couples to enter this institution.  It completely shocks and amazes me how these educated and elected individuals can be party to the destruction of the central and so necessary human structure.  But, alas, the members of traditional marriage have sadly and selfishly been part of the destruction of marriage, too with spousal abuse, divorce, and infidelity. How can we possibly protect marriage when many of our own members do not seem to respect it.

Now, enter social media, the SmartPhone and all the other electronic hand-held gadgets that are supposedly making our lives more organized. Calendars, memo pads, apps out the ying-yang, games, exercise videos, the list goes on at the touch of a button in your hand.  You can look up information in a split second, order books, tickets, reservations, check the weather, find your way through town, and play games online with people you don't know all at the press of a button or a call out to Siri.  Convenient and simple, eh?  Distracting?  Maybe, depending on who you ask.  Some say that modern technology has made our lives more complicated rather than organized and less stressed.  How much information from the information highway does one need in a 24-hour period?   

In all the talks and articles I've read, mainly they involve controlling or monitoring the children and young people in the family.  Important as that is, however, the marriage has been affected by online activities as well.  Now we have new friends, old acquaintances, school chums from way back, and even co-workers included in our lives at a more familiar level.  Anyone of these "friends" can be contacted quickly and frequently without too much effort.  So now, not only the children, but married couples are involved in separate and, very often unknown to each other, online communities and friendships. According to an article I read on

Psych Central.com

, many attorneys search Facebook primarily for infidelity evidence and inappropriate behavior meriting the onset of a divorce. 

Physical affairs are one thing, but what might catch us off guard is the emotional affairs that take place online....innocent, right??  NO!  We are learning more and more about emotional affairs having an impact on today's marriages and relationships on a very negative level.  At neck-breaking speed, we can be "with" someone emotionally online and not think badly of it.....it's just talking, right?  No, it's investing time away from the spouse, being more intimate emotionally with another and that will take it's toll on the relationship, by becoming physical eventually.  I, personally, have seen this happen to a few friends, it is devastating!

So, how do we combat this new invader?  By setting up online rules that both spouses will agree to.

- Trust is essential for good and healthy relationships, but once broken, it's extremely difficult to regain.  By having all passwords available to each other, this can really help keep things up and up with each other.

-Use best judgment in "friend" selections.  People you probably shouldn't be friends with online are unmarried friends and co-workers, really though, why do you want coworkers as friends anyway, you work with them....give it a rest off hours!  

- Have a "off-line" time with family....turn the phone and computer off at night.....enjoy the people you are with!   Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI talked about online evangelization, but that our online activities should not REPLACE our face to face relationships!

- and of course, be considerate of your spouse; if there is someone they are not comfortable with you being friends with online, by all means, respect their wishes don't friend them.  No explanation is necessary, but if there is, you are married or in a relationship!

On a positive and personal note, my knight and I live far from family and Facebook has been great for us to catch up with those we love.  Now we're connected with family members we don't get to see but once a year, even from his cousin in Germany, how fun is that??  We both have iPhones and have learned to text via the teens in the house, so we use our phones to check in and text throughout the day, "Hope your day is going well, love you!"  He's silly and sends me pictures of his lunch so I know what NOT to make for dinner.....and I usually get a heart and "hows your day going?   It's a good feeling that we can use online and smartphones to our advantage in a good way.

The most important thing in the world is your family, without them, life isn't quite fulfilling, and we need to protect the traditional institution of marriage for our family, our society, and our future.  Our online activity should reflect our priorities.  There's a great deal of great stuff online, but there is also a great deal of evil.  Keep your shields up and profiles low.

This contribution is available at http://acatholicmumclimbingthepillars.blogspot.com/2013/05/social-media-in-marriage-and-family.html
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So You Want To Be A Stay-At-Home Mom (Or Dad)? [at Domesticity and Doctrine]

Perhaps the better question that we're all asking is, "Can I AFFORD to be a stay-at-home mom or dad?" To make it as a family living off one income in this culture of what I would describe as "hyper-materialist" is no easy feat. So many mothers, especially, long to be able to be home with their children -- yet they are told by the media, peers, and perhaps even their pastors, parents or spouse that to support a family in this day and age a two-income home is the only responsible option.

But, you ask, can a family really financially survive if only one parent works? My answer is yes, in most cases. A lot of it does depend on the income you'll be relying on. We are a family of five living off an income just slightly higher than the national median income of $40k. I know some families who are able to live off half that because of prudent budgeting and major sacrifice. They want to make it work, and so they do.

Sometimes there are situations where both parents

must

find work outside the home in order to make enough money to put food on the table and pay the utility bills. This is indisputable. Only you can be the true judge of your financial situation. Yet I really do think there's a stronghold of confusion regarding what makes it "necessary" that both parents have to enter the public workplace. All too often the average American family sacrifices a full-time parent for their children because they have been persuaded to believe that they "need" to live in that newly built 3000 square foot house, "need" to eat out often, "need" to take major vacations every year, "need" to furnish their home with the latest in furniture and knick knacks, "need" to drive a brand new car, "need" to wear designer clothing, "need" to own all the latest electronic gadgets, "need" to wear makeup and jewelry, "need" to have a gym membership/home gym, "need" to throw big parties every weekend, and on and on...

To afford to be a SAHM or SAHD requires going against the grain of the hyper-materialist culture, this can't be denied. But, to be cliche, where there is a will there is usually a way -- and the resulting benefits are great. Here's some ideas, gleaned from my own experience, on how to live in such a way that leaves room for mommy or even daddy to raise those beloved children and manage the home front full-time. I hope they help you!

1. Eat and drink simply

Eating adequately - and healthily - should not be compromised simply for the sake of tightening down the monthly budget. On the other hand, there's a lot of ways to feed the family nutritious, full meals while also significantly reducing the food bill.

To eat well AND frugally, you will need to be OK with eating "real," whole foods and staying away from the processed food aisles. Processed, packaged foods are significantly more expensive than the real thing. And yes, your children will be just fine without fruit gummies and those strange Gerber mini hot dogs. I promise!

Whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, serve your family simple, basic meals. The fewer ingredients that go into a dish, the more economical it is. You don't need to serve five different things or prepare fancy main dishes that have an ingredient list 10 or 15 items deep.

Drink little - or no - alcohol and soda. These can ratchet up your grocery bill fast and they're nutritionally empty. If you're wanting to stay at home and you need to count your pennies, this is an easy choice to make. Fresh vegetables for the week or a bottle of wine? You be the judge.

Prepping our garden :)

Make what you can at home (like homemade bread) and grow what you're able. We have a very small yard and a short growing season so my gardening abilities are limited, but even in my small raised bed I am able to grow tomatoes, peas, zucchini, carrots, lettuces, herbs, and the like. If you have the ability to garden (and better yet, learn the art of canning), it will save you major $ at the grocery store.

You don't need to "extreme coupon" in order to make ends meet. The best way I've found to buy cheaply is to shop only what's truly on sale (be aware that stores do try to trick you by putting big 'for sale' signs on items that are only a meager 10 or 20 cents off) and be willing to buy store brands. Yes, it may taste different from what you're used to, but in most cases the difference is insignificant and you can learn to adjust. 

Lastly, the no-brainer: don't eat out. If you do, only go for very special occasions or when you have a gift card. Even a meal for two at a casual chain restaurant can run you $30 a pop. If you have a $400 monthly food budget, you've just blown almost half a week's worth of food money for the entire family on one meal.

The extent of my couponing success...

2. Refuse all opportunities to acquire debt

There is no end to the "opportunities" the culture presents to us to go into debt. The biggest one almost everyone gets reigned into is a car payment. Families can end up shelling out $300, $400, $500

or more

a month on one car ALONE. If you have two cars, as most do, that figure doubles. People may tell you "car payments are a way of life," but don't buy into it. With proper budgeting and planning, you can buy an adequate used car with cash and save yourself thousands and thousands of dollars. If you already have a car payment, do whatever you can to pay it off, even if it means selling the car and buying something you can afford with the resulting cash. With an extra $400 or even $800 in your pocket each month, stay-at-home parenting becomes a much easier way of life.

Other "debt opportunities" to avoid

: financing furniture, appliances, and luxury items (aka: 50" LCD flat screen TVs or treadmills). Save up and pay cash or do without. It is my belief that debt is never, ever worth it with the exception of perhaps a home mortgage.

Our minivan, which is finally paid in full 

3. Go without Bowser and Muffy

Here in the U.S. pets sap up the most of our discretionary income. We spent

$53 billion

on them last year alone! If you didn't have to spend money on veterinary bills, dog food, and pet toys could you afford to stay home and raise your children yourself? It's a question we must ask ourselves. What comes first: pets or children?

If you're Catholic, we should think soberly on 

the blunt words of Pope Francis

(spoken shortly before he was elected): "On those things that are not necessities, or superfluous things, the greatest amount is spent on pets. The most unnecessary spending is made on pets. Pets are idolized... And the second largest amount of money is spent on cosmetology. Cosmetics. ...There are millions and millions spent on these two things. Meanwhile the Pope [Benedict XVI] is talking about children who are dying of hunger in underdeveloped continents like Africa, Asia and America. First come pets. And then if there is something left, we throw it to the children."

We gave up our cats when our second was a toddler. (You may have caught a glimpse of our old cat in the window in the first photo!) I felt guilty for weeks, but looking back it was one of the wisest decisions we've ever made.

4. Be green

Going "green" does more than help the environment, it is a fabulous way to lessen the monthly expenses. Items like Pine Sol and 409 are dangerous for little explorers, bad for the environment and our health, and EXPENSIVE. I do 99% of my cleaning with vinegar and, occasionally, baking soda. Vinegar is so cheap - just pour into a plastic spray bottle and go. I also

make my own laundry detergent

, which has been a significant cost-saver.

Beauty products are also a big money sap (especially cosmetics, as referenced above). They are not good for us either -- almost all commercially-made products are filled with chemicals. There are a few ways you can "go green" and save money. One is to make your own products with natural ingredients, like my

DIY Face Powder

 or the

Lemon Sugar Facial Scrub

. Also ask yourself if you really need to be wearing makeup each day -- or at all.

I think in the U.S. especially we don't realize what a superfluous thing it is to use makeup. I've even heard American Christian women claim we must wear it to be a "wise woman" or a "good witness." This is just silly. Millions of devout and beautiful women around the world don't wear makeup nor can they afford to, and some of the most extraordinary female witnesses to the Christian faith never wore a dot of foundation or lipstick in their life. If you're hesitant about putting the blush and mascara aside, I challenge you to try it for just a day. If you can do that, do it for a few days. Try to go a week. It gets easier, and you'll get used to your "new you." You'll also get used to all the extra money you'll have in the bank account and the extra time you'll have each morning! I recently threw my makeup out and while it was hard at first (primarily because of my own pride and vanity), I now rarely even think about it.

5. Make others' trash your treasure

In other words, buy used. These days so many people get rid of perfectly good, almost-new items in order to make room for the "newest" and "best" that it's incredibly easy to buy used and still have nice things. For instance, I almost always buy used children's clothing and used books. There are great bargains to be had, especially if you check out local garage sales! I've had no problem finding stacks of like-new, name brand clothing at garage sales for as little as 50 cents a piece. The same goes for books. In addition to garage sales, keep an eye out for used book sales at your local library.

For baby items, consignment sales are usually a stay-at-home family's paradise -- I've bought like-new baby bouncers and diaper genies at a third of their original price!

Of course there's also Craigslist, Freecycle, thrift stores and, for new items at used prices, clearance racks at your favorite stores. I've always found fantastic deals on the Target clearance racks.

6. Turn down that dial

Energy costs can add a great deal of strain to a one-income family budget. The good news is that's pretty easy to manage: just turn down the dial!

On your thermostat, set the temperature a degree or two lower than usual and put on a sweatshirt if you feel cool. At night consider a larger drop -- we set ours at 58 degrees this winter. I did it as an experiment, thinking we'd be too cold, but we haven't even noticed a difference! I'm still usually too warm at night, which is saying a lot considering I'm always accused of being the coldest person in the room. ;) We don't have air conditioning, but if you do consider doing the opposite: turn up the dial a notch or two so that it has to get warmer in order for the a/c to kick in. 

Turn down your hot water heater to the lowest setting, usually 120 degrees. This is both a means of cutting costs and a safety measure to avoid scalding.

Wash your clothes on cool or cold. I've tried this with my homemade detergent and it appears to work just as well. Using hot water for laundry is one of the biggest contributors to high energy bills!

7. Trim the fat

By "fat" I mean the extra, unnecessary fluff taking up room on your monthly budget. These are things that sure are nice to have, but can, ultimately, be given up. What "fat" is on your budget?

Cable TV? (hint: Netflix is a cheap alternative)

Movie theater money?

Magazine and newspaper subscriptions?

Memberships (for organizations, gyms, clubs, etc)?

Smart phone data package?

Most communities have free activities and events -- take advantage of them! Become a regular at the public library (where you can check out not only books but plenty of music and movies). Google search what periodical publications you can receive for free in subjects you're interested in and sign yourself up. If you want to exercise, take up walking around your neighborhood, on local trails or even at the mall. The things we think we "need" can often be satisfied with much less than we think.

8. Downsize

Just because you may live in a huge home now with an equally large mortgage payment doesn't mean you need to stay there (or upgrade). Oftentimes the most prudent thing we can do is live in a humbler home. If you've ever looked at older homes you'll notice that by and large they were much smaller, yet housed larger families! It's a rare family that "needs" a lot of square footage -- you can comfortably fit a lot of people in smaller home (if we're honest we must admit it's the

stuff

that doesn't fit). There's also another benefit to a smaller house: a closer family life!

Another option to consider is not owning a home at all. Not everyone needs to own a home, nor is it financially feasible to do so. In this market yes, you can find homes that will cost less per month than a rental...however home ownership carries with it a lot of extra costs. Whereas usually rental costs include utilities, maintenance, garbage and water, and even internet, home ownership requires you pay for all these yourself. Then there is the need to have home insurance, many places have HOA fees, and there are also unforeseen home repair costs. Sometimes if you have just one income to rely on, home ownership isn't always the best choice. (If you do buy a home in today's market, make sure you have a large down payment and it's a place you plan on staying in for the long term.)

Lastly, a very cost-effective move is to license and maintain just one car. Not everyone is willing to live that way, especially with the sprawl of many communities that make it impossible to get anywhere without motorized transportation, but it is an option -- even if only for the short term. Huge sacrifice? Definitely. But if it comes down to that or putting your kids in daycare so you can work to afford the costs of having a second car, it seems like a sacrifice worth making.

9. Travel lite

Traveling is fun, believe me I sympathize! There's nothing I enjoy more than a vacation. I love traveling and seeing new places. However, unless the one-income your family is relying on is a hefty one (in which case you probably don't need to be reading this list to begin with!), taking frequent vacations is going to have to go. If your family is itching for a break from routine, do a "staycation" or a day trip. If you're Catholic, visit a neighboring town's parish -- or the diocese cathedral - as a sort of "mini pilgrimage."

The gorgeous cathedral in our diocese

10. Quit the shopping habit

Contrary to popular belief, this is not just a message for women! Men can be just as "addicted" to shopping, they simply buy different things than their female counterparts. Whether it's new high heels, decor for the house, tools, or car parts, the shopping habit needs to be broken. To live off one income requires great discipline in spending habits -- the family has to be committed to only buying what they need, they must break the "I gotta have this!" mindset, and they have to choose to be frugal with gift giving. Our kids don't need $200 worth of presents on their birthdays, and either do we.

TOO much stuff...!

Less IS more.

No, it

isn't

as much "fun." The money isn't there to throw around as easily as it may be with two incomes. But, in the end, we can't take our things with us. What will endure into eternity is the time we had with the people we loved. Choosing our family over our stuff is a choice that will not go unrewarded -- in this life

and

the next.

The beauties with whom I'm blessed to spend my days!

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Thoughts on gender hierarchy and roles [at Arleen Spenceley]

I watched a John Piper video once that so inspired me to throw a hanger across my bedroom.

Oh how it made me angry, his promotion of gender hierarchy, of perpetuating marriage protocol based on rigid gender roles. Of one gender better, stronger, smarter than another. Piper, who was Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for more than 30 years, is a proponent of hierarchical marriage (he calls it "complementarian"), a source of stress and indigestion for egalitarians.

In marriage, according to the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (the CBMW, of which Piper is a member), "wives should forsake resistance to their husbands’ authority and grow in willing, joyful submission to their husbands’ leadership." "Adam’s headship in marriage," according to the CBMW, "was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin."

And then there are gender roles.

"Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order," says the CBMW, "and should find an echo in every human heart."

These are thoughts about that:

"God did not command men to dominate women. He predicted it as the sad consequence of original sin." -Sr. Helena Burns

In "Barne's Notes on the Bible," Barnes says women are "more subject to infirmities and weaknesses; less capable of enduring fatigue and toil; less adapted to the rough and stormy scenes of life" and "the God of nature has made her with a more delicate frame, a more fragile structure, and with a body subject to many infirmities to which the more hardy frame of a man is a stranger." (Cue stress and indigestion.) But is a woman's being less capable of enduring fatigue and toil and less adapted to the rough and stormy scenes of life innate, or is it learned? Most adults coddle female toddlers who trip and fall, and tell male toddlers to shake it off. Is that because girls innately can't take it and boys can, or because girls are set up not to take it and boys aren't? Is it because men have more "muscles" than women, or because husbands - under whose authority women exist in hierarchical marriage - let their wives lose the ability to use certain "muscles" because they don't permit their wives to use them?

In a YouTube video about how women are to submit to husbands who are abusive, Piper says it's ok for a wife to say no to her husband. But before she can say no, he says, she has to say this: "Honey, I want so much to follow you as my leader. God calls me to do that, and I would love to do that. It would be sweet to me if I could enjoy your leadership." It is, then, the very men who assert females are weak and males are strong who can't take "no" from a woman unless she strokes his ego first.

Indeed it stings when somebody says "no" or "I disagree with you." But it is not proof a man isn't masculine. It is proof he is human. That a wife never just says no to her husband when no is appropriate doesn't say he is manly. All it says is he can't take no. Not saying no (or refusing to take it) enables a person to avoid conflict, and pain and emotion, and as a result, to avoid growing (as a human, and as a spouse).

I am not hostile to submission. I am hostile to complicity in the maintenance of fragile egos, to the forfeiture of authenticity, and to abuse.

A wife has to trust that the decisions her husband makes will not violate respect for her, for life, for love, for God, in no particular order. In that light, "submission" is not a burden. It's relief of a burden. A woman can make decisions, but in marriage, she ought to be free because of trust to share the load with her husband, to let him handle some of the stuff so she can handle the other stuff.

It is inefficient, in my opinion, for a married couple to have a completely inflexible set of gender roles. Do what you're good at doing, and what you like doing. (Dear future husband: Please like to cook.)

Love trumps protocol. Every time. And if it doesn't, it isn't love.

- - - -

Click

here

to read the rest of the CBMW's core beliefs.

Click

here

to watch John Piper's video on submitting to abusive husbands. (Trigger warning.)

This contribution is available at http://www.arleenspenceley.com/2013/04/thoughts-on-gender-hierarchy-and-roles.html
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Thinking About Divine Mercy [at Tercets]

I have somehow managed to remain ignorant of the intentions of this Sunday’s celebration, so I have been doing some research.  Maybe you also need more information?   

I started with an examination the gospel reading for this year, John 20: 19-31.  In addition to the story of “Doubting Thomas,” who wished to see the wounds of the risen Jesus with his own eyes before believing in the Resurrection, this gospel relates how Jesus gave the Apostles the sacrament of reconciliation in lines 21-23.  This opportunity to confess our sins, which arises from the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, is the heart of the Divine Mercy.

The salvation of our souls from the darkness of sin is the reason we celebrate the Resurrection.  In return for repentance, our Lord grants us eternal life.  Jesus accepts the penance of death on our behalf.  How appropriate that we honor the Divine Mercy on the second Sunday of the Easter season.  While our joy at the Resurrection is fresh in our hearts, we recall that God is merciful, that He washes away our sin.  We place our trust in God that he will reveal His plan for us if we live faithfully.  Alleluia! 

Indeed, the revelation of the Divine Mercy to Saint Faustina calls even the most hardened and habitual sinners to know the depth and abundance of God’s forgiveness.  The Apostles of the Divine Mercy suggest on their website (sitio en español) that Divine Mercy Sunday should be an evangelization tool to welcome “fallen away” Catholics to return to the church and begin a new faith-filled life after repenting from sin.  We all know Catholics who have left the church for a more secular life; there is a great need to promote the opportunity for Divine Mercy in our time among all Catholics.

In order to receive the Divine Mercy, one must repent his or her sins, attend confession, receive communion on Divine Mercy Sunday, and pray for the pope’s intentions.  Veneration of the image of the Divine Mercy and merciful acts toward others are also important.  We cannot be like Thomas and doubt the Resurrection.  Unlike Thomas, we know what the Resurrection means for all who choose to embrace it; we must walk the path to holiness with faith and open hearts.

Like last year, I have discussed the importance of repentance with my children, and the gift of God’s infinite mercy.  We have looked at images of the Divine Mercy (see some at the Oblates home page linked below), and discussed the symbolism of the red and blue rays emanating from Jesus (the blood of sacrifice and the waters of baptism).  On Sunday, we’ll color this image of the Divine Mercy, courtesy of The Oblates of Divine Mercy.  At that time, we’ll have another discussion about confession and repentance, as well as how we can show mercy to others.

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Relics: Snipping Hair and Cutting Habits [at Sue Elvis Writes]

“Imagine if you died and everyone thought you were a saint, Mum. They’d all come along with their scissors and cut bits off your clothing,” says Sophie.

“They’d have to keep redressing you, like they did for Rose of Lima,” adds Gemma-Rose. “They had to replace her habit a number of times.”

“They might snip your hair too,” says Charlotte. "You don’t think anyone would try to saw off a finger while no one was looking, do you? Everyone will want a relic of their own.”

Now if anyone did manage to sneak off with my hair or blood or bones, they’d end up with a first class relic (assuming I was holy enough, of course.) All the snipped pieces of my clothing would be considered second class relics. And if anyone missed out on these types of relic, they could always make some third class relics of me by touching pieces of cloth to someone else's first or second class relics. People could even get their very own relic by visiting my grave and touching their items to my tombstone. 

Imagine! Bits and pieces of me could end up in the possession of lots of different people from all around the world. I might even be sold, though that's really against Church law. I could end up on ebay. They have quite a variety of relics up for auction. I know because I had a look. But I 'm guessing most of these are only 3rd class relics. I don't suppose anyone would try and sell a saint's bone or blood online. Or would they?

I wonder if there are false relics waiting for the unsuspecting buyer. How would anyone know? I guess if there were 15 fingers all claiming to be relics of St Sue Elvis, it would mean I either had 3 hands or some fingers weren’t mine to begin with.

So why would anyone want a relic? I guess it’s a bit like wanting to keep a few locks of hair or the special belongings of a loved one. They connect us to that person. And if that person was holy, the relic might inspire us to pray to him with full confidence that he will intercede for us with God. Miracles have been associated with the veneration of genuine relics, though they aren't magic charms. And prayers aren't always answered in the way we ask.

I have a relic of a saint, a 2nd class one. It’s a small circle of brown cloth that used to be part of one of St Padre Pio’s habits. It is enclosed in a hard transparent bubble of plastic, attached to the back of a medal. My friend John lent me this relic when I was pregnant with Thomas: “You can give it back to me after your baby is born. Perhaps Padre Pio will intercede for you. Maybe your baby will be blessed with a miracle of healing.” Perhaps he wouldn't die after birth like the doctors predicted.

For many months Padre Pio’s relic hung around my neck. It went with me to doctors’ appointments and ultrasounds. I closed my fingers around it while I heard bad news, while I prayed, while I cried, while I hoped, while I tried not to despair at the thought of our baby's death. I was wearing the relic when Thomas was born and when Thomas died.

When it was time to return the relic to John, I hesitated. A miracle might not have been granted to us because of the relic, but I still didn’t want to part with it. I associated it so closely with Thomas. Would John let me keep it just a little longer, until I felt stronger?

And then something unexpected occurred. Before I had time to ask my favour of John, he said, “Sue! That relic I gave you… keep it. I came across another one exactly the same. I don’t need two relics.” How does one just ‘come across’ another identical St Padre Pio relic? I did hear that quite a few relics were made from this saint's habits. They were given to those who donated money so his cause for beatification could go ahead. But even so...

I actually have more than one relic. Thomas is also a saint because he died as an innocent child. His locks of hair and his bloodstained gown are first class relics, while his hospital ear muffs, foot prints and hand prints are second class ones. I suppose I could make some third class ones but there doesn't seem much point.

So I have relics of both Thomas and Padre Pio, who are in Heaven together. For some reason, this seems so awesome. 

“If you are recognised as a holy person when you die, Mum,” says Imogen, “we’ll have to bury you quickly. If we wait too long, you might disappear altogether, transformed into relics.”

If I die as a holy person (don't laugh) I could be in great demand. Would anyone like to get in first? Would you like a snipped out circle of my cast-off clothing... just in case?

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Our Lady, Aqueduct of Grace [at The Trenchcoat Introspective]

(Via St. Charles Borromeo Church)

There are many different types of Marian titles, and today, I’ll be looking at one of my favorite object titles (that is, an allegorical title built around a physical object).

To fully understand the title Aqueduct of Grace, we must first look at the importance of the aqueduct as a structure. Anyone who has visited a Roman site (or has at least seen a picture of a Roman site) has a terrific visual of a great series of arches supporting a troughed causeway, through which water flows from a source into a nearby town. Modern aqueducts are not quite so iconic, but this system is still used in many parts of the world to provide clean drinking water to an urban population.

(via Imagekind)

Without an aqueduct to provide water, people would have to hike far into the countryside to find a source and haul the water back on their backs. It is possible to come to the waters on their own, but it is so much more difficult a road that many are unable to make such a journey. Thus, they must content themselves with the water given them by others, or collected from less pure, refreshing sources.

So it is with the Water of Life, those graces poured out upon us from the bounty and love of our Father through his Son. This is the only water that can satisfy the aching thirst that renders us weak and crusted, crying out in the desert of sin for some small drop. And we can make the journey, with God’s help, to the source. We can go and carry it back to our dwelling-place. God has brought forth this Water into the world for all mankind, after all.

But how much easier would it be to approach the aqueduct, where pure water flows with abundance directly to those who would use it? Only a fool should circumvent this great marvel and go to the source directly in his dire need. For here, among us, is a channel directly to the source, through which flows all the Graces we need to be purified. As bearer of the Water of Life himself, Our Lady is in a unique position to bring Him to all her children, if we but ask for her direction and intercession.

But the aqueduct is not in itself the water. A dry aqueduct provides no more than something interesting to look at. And here is where the distinction is clear. It is not, nor will ever be Our Lady directly who saves us, who creates these Graces. She is not the Water, but the bearer of the Water. She has birthed the Incarnate Quencher of Spiritual Thirst, but on her own power she can do nothing. What Graces she renders us are from God, given her in abundance for her “Yes” that made our salvation possible. She is human in the ultimate sense of being human — that is, fulfilling her created purpose in being united with God’s will — and thus is our Paragon… and yet, she is not divine, but raised in honor as an aqueduct, not the water, but the water-bearer.

Thus, we find ourselves at the Catholic position on Our Lady. We acknowledge that it is foolish to ignore her position and to avoid her intercession when it is readily available to us and encouraged by God for our use. He built us this aqueduct, so why not drink our fill? And yet, those who are foolish enough to make the journey into the wilderness to seek the source are not condemned for it, for they drink of the same saving Water. They just have a harder time of it. But their thirst will still be quenched.

This is why we pray that all may come to a devotion to Our Blessed Mother, so that they may rest in peace and comfort, and may drink freely of the Water of Life through her intercession. We desire that they may lay down their burdens at her feet, accepting with joy the gifts God pours out for all through her — not for her own sake, but for the love of humanity and her place as the bearer of his Son, the Savior of Humanity.

-E. G. Norton

This contribution is available at http://trenchcoatintrospective.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/our-lady-aqueduct-of-grace/
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Body + Soul = A Theology of Discipleship [at New Evangelizers]

I was minding my own business, researching an article on Catholic Sex Ed, and next thing I knew, I was re-learning Evangelization 101.  You know, the part where they drill into your head the ol’ maxim about “First Do No Harm”?  Or, as we say in apologetics circles, “Try Not To Be Such a Jerk”?

Because let’s be honest: A lot of us who are good at knowing the facts of the faith . . . aren’t so good at knowing the people.  So let me tell you about my big research mistake, and how it led me to the most helpful book on evangelization I’ve read yet.

You Mean Theology of the Body Isn’t Only for the Bedroom?

The trouble began back when I read a favorable review for Leah Perrault and Brett Salked’s first book, How Far Can We Go?. It is, in fact, a great introduction to sexual morality, including, as the title promises, a robust model for figuring out how to show affection before marriage, in a chaste and relationship-appropriate manner.  Super book.  Highly recommended.

So you’d think that when Leah Perrault came out with book #2, Theology of the Body for Every Body, it would be more fabulous Catholic Sex Ed, right?  Maybe a tiny bit more philosophical, with Pope Quotes ‘n Stuff, but along the same lines as every thing else in the TOTB genre?  ‘Cause you know Catholics, all we think about is .  . . well, you know.

If you thought that . . . you’d be wrong.  Theology of the Body for Every Body is a book about Christian discipleship. And by that, I don’t mean it’s a book about “How To Prove Catholics Are Right About ________”, or “10 Steps to a Perfect Bible Study Every Time!”.  Evangelization and discipleship certainly do involve a fair amount of explaining the faith, and learning how to communicate effectively, and run a ministry well.

But this book is about something more fundamental.  It’s a book about what it’s like to be human.

It’s about the fact that our bodies are the outward expression of our souls, and the way that our souls experience the world.  It’s an exploration of the way the world around us changes us — the way we’re treated by others, the way we treat ourselves, the way we’ve landed in this world, and what we’ve made of it so far.  It’s about how knowing the tenets of the faith — love of the poor, for example — still leaves us fumbling as we try to figure out what to do with our vocations day by day, minute by minute.

Why does this book matter?

I’m not touchy-feely.  I don’t teach classes where we all sit around holding hands and repeating kind affirmations until it’s snack break.  I’ve been accused of a lot of things as a catechist, but never, “You didn’t spend enough time on theology.” Indeed, I think theological poverty is the leading cause of eternal perdition in our culture today.

But theology — this knowledge — is at the service of souls.  Souls wrapped inside bodies, and bodies that have seen and experienced things that I, the catechist-with-the-quick-answer, can barely fathom. Theology of the Body for Everybody is the sledgehammer of reality for those of us who are strong on intellectual answers, but need a refresher-course in Humanity 101.

In Defense of Reading One Kind Gentle Book In Your Life, Ever, Even If You Hate Chicken Soup for the Evangelist’s Soul

Let me say a couple quick things about the book:

1. It’s not that painful.  There are study questions at the end of each chapter, but the publisher left out the gadget that reports you to the authorities if you fail to form a circle and share your answers with the group.  It’s suitable for those of us who don’t do happy-clappy-frou-frou.

2. If you didn’t know Leah Perrault was also the author of How Far Can We Go?, in which she lays out her faithfully-Catholic moral credentials, you might get nervous.  Because she doesn’t spend time on moral treatises in TOTBE.  –> Read in isolation, Theology of the Body for Every Body would feel too soft-touch.  That’s because it’s a book about the squishy-but-real world of human experiences.  If that’s going to make you nervous, read her first book first, to reassure yourself.

Who Should Read This Book?

I consider Theology of the Body for Everybody to be Book 2 in the discipleship-training course.  If you’ve read Sherry Weddell’s Forming Intentional Disciples, and you’re motivated to start evangelizing and forming disciples with fervor, read Theology of the Body for Every Body next.  It’s the crash-course in human experience.  And in evangelization, there’s going to be humans involved.

Copyright © 2013, Jennifer Fitz

Book Reviewer Disclosure Boiler-Plate: I talked Leah into mailing me review copies of her books, because I thought they’d be useful for another project, and my local Catholic book store didn’t have them in stock.  Thanks, Leah!

Jennifer Fitz

Jennifer Fitz is vice president of the Catholic Writers Guild, and author of Classroom Management for Catechists, coming in August 2013 from Liguori Publications. Find her at AmazingCatechists.com, CatholicMom.com, and on her personal blog, JenniferFitz.wordpress.com.

This contribution is available at http://newevangelizers.com/blog/2013/04/25/body-soul-a-theology-of-discipleship/
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End Abortion: It's Simple, Yet Complicated [at Designs by Birgit]

One of my pro-life efforts is creating

memes

that initiate thought, tug on the heart strings, or generally bring abortion into the light. As a rule, I go for the softer type of message - no bloody babies in trash bags or parts spelling out Planned Parenthood. The photos and messages are gleaned from where I am - my family, friends, favorite saints, popes, and such. Inspiration strikes me at the oddest times and sometimes the Holy Spirit will show me a wonderful photo and then - BAM! - a quote will appear in my Facebook wall feed that fits it perfectly. Other times, I will hang onto a quote or a series of photos and it will be months before something gels within this stubborn, creative mind of mine.

Yesterday, I finally had a thought pop into my head that fit 'perfectly' with a photo to which I have been

holding on for quite some time. I'm emotionally invested in this series of photos because the friend who shared them with me is a

real life hero

...she is living out the selflessness of putting her own life in danger for the good of this, her eleventh living child. With that in mind, I wanted to do my best for her. The thought that popped into my head was S I M P L I C I T Y. Often times, my memes require some thought, accompanying links, or a back story. This time the message was very basic - END abortion! The way I figured it, this would tug at heart strings, serve as one of those motivational posters, and get a simple message out there - you fill in the blanks of how to accomplish it. Plus, it had an element of humor - because the word 'end' is on the back

end

of the baby's diapered tushy.

So with the meme created, published, and shared with a pro-life group (one of many to which I belong) my mission was accomplished. Right?

W R O N G !

A member of the aforementioned group left a comment below my meme:

Who do you want to end it Birgit? It is a very complicated cycle we are in, very few understand what to do about it even if they agree with you. Most seem to see abortion as ok, so how to reach then is my question?

Good question and not too bad of a jumping off point either! My answer is this: it's a quandary. But the ultimate answer lies with each and every one of us. All of us need to be a part of ending it. If we cultivate a Culture of Life - each one to the best of our ability - there will eventually be a groundswell of love for all Life. It's not ours, it's not the government's, it's not the clergy's - it's everyone doing their part. The rest of it - and the timeline - belongs to God.

At the forefront of what we can do is education. Talk, live, breathe a Culture of Life - always bring it up and help it catch fire. Be the spark in your community and church. For our part, we must inform. We must pray. We must commit to give assistance to women, men, and babies who are affected by an untimely pregnancy - even after the child's life has been spared. In essence, we must live lives that respect all LIFE. It's up to each one of us - individually - to live a Culture of Life. God willing, our efforts, combined with those of others will eventually take us there. In the mean time, I get up every morning and do all that *I* can do for Life - that's my part! What's yours?

NOTE:

My friend is scheduled for a planned C-Section on Wednesday. Please pray for good health for both mother and baby. You can find an update on the story at

Catholic Sistas

.

To see more of my

Pro-LIFE

memes go to the 

Designs by Birgit

 fan page.

This contribution is available at http://designsbybirgit.blogspot.com/2013/04/end-abortion-its-simple-yet-complicated.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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