Lenten Dissent

From the Writer's Almanac:

Lenten Dissent

by Cherie Lashway

There once was a logger, named Paddy O'Connell,
Who at lunch during Lent, found himself at McDonalds,

And had just settled down to his Big Mac and fries,
When along came his priest, much to both their surprise.

The priest said to Paddy, "Just what are you eating?
In this season of Lent, I sure hope you're not cheating."

Paddy said to the Father, "I'll tell you no lies.
I'm enjoying a Big Mac, along with some fries."

The priest said to Paddy, "I see no repentance.
Because of this sin, you will have to do penance.

"By Friday or sooner, I say that you should,
For our fireplace, deliver a cord of chopped wood."

Now our timberman, Paddy, an overworked man,
Did think to himself, "I don't think that I can."

But early on Friday, our priest, he heard shoveling,
And looked out the window at Paddy not groveling.

And saw with confusion, dismay and disgust,
That the wood bin was now almost filled with saw dust.

He called down below, barely hiding his ire:
"Hey Paddy, your penance was wood for the fire!"

To which Paddy said, rising up from his work,
While wiping his brow and concealing a smirk:

"I've brought you a cord, like you said that I should,
But if burger be meat, well then sawdust be wood!"

The Wages of Sin

Over at CMR, they have a post entitled "Tools of Life/Tools of Death" by Rebecca Taylor, about prenatal testing and abortion. I love the post and think it's a good call, especially when I have been that person who grumbles when a new prenatal test is revealed, because I know what it will mean in many doctors' offices around the nation:

Genetic testing may be cited as the reason to kill a baby with a genetic disease, but the REAL killer is abortion on demand. Without legalized abortion, prenatal testing would be what it should be, a way to find out more about the life going in the womb, especially if something is going wrong. Without legalized abortion, the use of prenatal testing would be naturally limited to conditions that could benefit from some kind of prenatal intervention.

Go over and read it all, but the thought that popped into my mind was that the real killer, ultimately, is sin; our separating ourselves from God and saying, "Ummm, no, actually I know best, God. Could you just step out of the way for awhile?"

Baa Baa

Be a sheep and follow me.

Okay, this guy doesn't look interested, but you should be! It's easy, just click on the "follow" button on the sidebar (you know, over there ------> ), and then you are my sheep! Better sheep than goats, right?  Suggest me to your friends. Under each post is a row of buttons, click the one of your choice, and share a favorite post with your friends.

Is this a shameless attempt to get more readers? Of course! Mwahahahahahahahaha!

I just wanted to add a thank you to everyone over the past month, especially all the prayers on behalf of my mom and my family. They have truly been appreciated. God's blessings on you. I also wanted to say thank you for making the month of March my most viewed month since I started in September.

The Dark Side of Fame

I was reading through my open tabs the other day, and noticed this headline: Chris Brown storms off the set of GMA.

Chris Brown was over at GMA, pimping his new cd, and the interviewer (Robin Roberts, whom I've never liked as an interviewer, and you know how I've feel about other ABC interviewers) kept bringing up his past with Rihanna (the singer); the restraining order, the domestic violence classes, etc. He performed a new song, then reports have, 'let loose'.

Look, I get that what the guy did two years ago was pretty despicable. Roughing up a girl that you are supposedly dating (and who knows what else) is a scumbag thing to do. But does he have to answer for that for the rest of his life? Especially when he's trying to do something that he's getting paid (probably a lot of money) to do? And what does someone expect when you poke a bear with a stick? Is he not ever allowed to move on?

Cannibalism: UPDATED

This needs to be spread far and wide (h/t to Aggie Catholics):


Update II: As Subvet says in the comments, this wouldn't be cannibalism per se, but it is still a disgusting and unnecessary practice: As I read it, the receptors are used to determine the taste of the product and not to give it the taste it has. So it wouldn't be cannabalism. 


Company Uses Fetal Cells from Abortions for Artificial Flavors

A pro-life group that monitors the use of cells from babies victimized by abortions is today bashing the biotech company Senomyx, which it says produces artificial flavor enhancers using aborted fetal cell lines to test their products.

The group Children of God for Life is calling for a public boycott of major food companies partnering with Senomyx.

Debi Vinnedge, the director of the pro-life organization, tells LifeNews.com today that, in 2010, her group wrote to Senomyx CEO Kent Snyder and pointed out that moral options for testing their food additives could and should be used. But when Senomyx ignored her letter, the group  wrote to the companies Senomyx listed on their website as “collaborators” warning them of public backlash and threatened boycott. They included food giants PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, Solae and Nestlé. (See update below.)

“The company’s key flavor programs focus on the discovery and development of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products,” the Senomyx web site says. “Using isolated human taste receptors, we created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor.” 

Vinnedge says a boycott is important because the collaborating companies provide Senomyx with research and development funding plus royalties on sales of products using their flavor ingredients.

“What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors,” she said. “They could have easily chosen animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors.”

And now for the weepies

Songs when you're pissy

Best be skipping this if you're not wanting to rock out (or you don't like swear words, or perhaps scantily clad women).

Perspective ("In")

"In" ("Our Father" series)

But perhaps more profitably, we can think of God being “in” heaven in the sense that Augustine speaks of. God is in heaven in that heaven is the full and consuming experience of God. Heaven is not a place, nor is God contained or limited by any thing. He is not “in” heaven the way a cat can be in the freezer. Rather, He is in heaven in that it is through the full communion with God for which we are intended that we truly find God.

It's paragraphs like these that make my head hurt greatly. Because I 'yam what I yam', when I think of the word 'in', I think of a definite, concrete place. I mean, I feel kinda reminded of that whole Clinton, "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is".

But I can think about being with God. I can think of being in communion with Him, of being in the presence of absolute Love. I can hope that my loved ones, who have gone before me, are in communion with Him also, giving and receiving that absolute Love, to be consumed by that Love. I know I've said it before, that Heaven and Hell are 'in' the same place - it's just that for those in Heaven, God's love is a balm, is joy, is like the heat of a warm fire on a cold day; whereas in Hell, it is a burning, scorching, painful thing to behold.  It's all a matter of perspective.

Sunday Feast

The focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

Because I'm in a Pissy Mood

Kid from China weighs 132 lbs. However, Hao's mother Chen Yuan comments: 'We have to let him be as if we don't feed him he will cry non-stop'. And: Hao hates walking and each day his mother takes him to kindergarten on a motorcycle. Oh my gosh. Seriously. It's called being a parent. Suck it up. I would hate to walk too, if I was abnormally obese for my age and height. Are you frickin' insane? If you didn't abort all your girls in favor of precious boys, and then spoil said boys, perhaps your country wouldn't have such a grim future. If this kid as that gene where he can't stop eating, then get him medical help! Unless you want a 10 year old who is 500 lbs and/or dead.


Gonzaga VP invokes Ex Corde Ecclesiae to defend Vagina Monologues. Because of course she would. Heresy is so frickin' tiring. 

Winter

The winter here’s cold, and bitter

It’s chilled us to the bone

We haven’t seen the sun for weeks

To long too far from home

I feel just like I’m sinking

And I claw for solid ground

I’m pulled down by the undertow

I never thought I could feel so low

Oh darkness I feel like letting go

If all of the strength and all of the courage

Come and lift me from this place

I know I could love you much better than this

Full of grace

Full of grace

My love

So it’s better this way, I said

Having seen this place before

Where everything we said and did

Hurts us all the more

Its just that we stayed, too long

In the same old sickly skin

I’m pulled down by the undertow

I never thought I could feel so low

Oh darkness I feel like letting go

If all of the strength

And all of the courage

Come and lift me from this place

I know I could love you much better than this

Full of grace

Full of grace

My love

Novena: Day Nine

The last day of the novena: the Feast of the Annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel. 

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

On the fritz

Blogging will be light over the next couple of days. My computer is on the fritz again. If you're new to my blog, courtesy of Bad Catholic or 2011 Catholic Media Promotion Day, here are some of my most popular posts:

Drink Thursday - November 18

Drink Thursday - January 27

Being a Fan

The Lying Game

Drink Thursdays - November 11

Secrecy

Sexiness

Drink Thursdays - November 25

Sorry Club

And my collections:
Drink Thursdays

For the Holy Souls in Purgatory


Our Father series

A Novena for Priests

I'm glad you've stopped by my place, and I hope that you enjoy it. Or if you don't, leave me a comment as to why.

Novena: Day Eight

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Remember how much high school sucked?

There's no way to really put this, so I'm just gonna put it out there and let the chips fall where they may:

I haven't been this depressed since high school.

I'm not saying this to elicit any kind of sympathy or pity or anything like that. I'm saying this because I need to get it off my chest and acknowledge the truth.

I know that this is just a 'natural' part of grieving, and yet, I hate it.

I don't want to eat, though I've been making myself. I want to be drinking pretty much all the time, though I've been forcing myself to limit when and how many. Conversely (even without drinking), I'd like to be throwing up. Or I want to be in bed, sleeping or just surfing the internet. I feel like my hearing is hyper-sensitive. I don't want to be playing with the kids, and just right now, I don't want to be around them. My 'skin' is so thin right now. I feel raw.

Speaking of my kids. They remind me of my mom, how much she loved them, and they loved her. How my daughter would love to take my mom's camera and take pictures. My son, especially, reminds me of her, in looks. I remind myself of her, when I look in the mirror. That makes me hate myself too, because I don't want to be reminded of her right now.

*Smack*

Why does the power of Christ compel?

Even in the most secular of movies, the form of a cross compels demons away (even while the moviemakers are otherwise engaged in dissing the Church). It repels them. It disgusts them. Why just the cross? Why not another symbol of faith?

Is it just an American thing? Any commenters from other countries would be welcome to comment.

You Must be Satan

I'll be posting on the dark side of fame later today or tomorrow, but I just wanted to quickly comment on a comment I saw on another blog, The Deacon's Bench. From my reading of what Deacon Greg is saying, we should be neither quick to presume that Fr. Corapi is innocent, nor that the woman (involved) is guilty (of slander). Seems reasonable to me, after all, we don't have all the facts. Take a 'wait and see' attitude, as it were, and pray while waiting for all to be revealed.

Anyway, I'm reading through the comments (a dangerous hobby, at best), and come across this gem:
You are so quick to attack a beautiful defender of the faith because he is orthodox as is EWTN.
I hope you never find yourself battling Satan as he is now
and perhaps his intercession has helped you and protected you over the years.

Ummm, what? Seriously. WTF? So, because Deacon Greg is calling for a measured approach, he has been under Satan's protection and intercession over the years? I won't say anything more, because I think you can see for yourself how ridiculous this comment is.

Or this one:
In my estimation he has done more for the Catholic faith than 10 diocese priests.

Novena: Day Seven

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Toothy Tuesdays Answer

Yesterday's word was a fortiori (adverb; Lat.). 


Patrick Button guessed: My best guess: A proposition that if true, would prove the truth of a proposition that expresses a similar idea but to a lesser degree.


The definition is: All the more convincingly; with greater reason; with still more convincing force.


A mother, while obviously exercising de facto authority over the survival of the fetus, is nevertheless legally and a fortiori morally nothing more than the custodian of the fetus whose insulation against abuse ought to be guaranteed by the state. (Courtesy of The Lexicon by William F. Buckley Jr.)

Geeking Out

If Jennifer Willits is reading my blog, I will totally be geeking out.

From my stats, I saw someone came here from http://gregandjennifer.com/.

I love the videos they did (That Catholic Show), in particular episode #8 "I Confess". Plus, Jennifer is just amazingly pretty and when I've listened to their podcasts, she is warm and funny. *Sigh* I'm jealous.

Toothy Tuesdays

Our first Toothy Tuesday. If you are just joining us, I will post a word from The Lexicon, ask you to give your best guesses in the combox; then I will reveal the guesses and the correct answer the next morning.

Our eleventh word is a fortiori (adverb; Lat.). It's a familiar phrase, but hard to pin down. Good luck!

Novena: Day Six

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Be Still and Know That I Am God ("Art")

"Art" (Our Father series)

God’s being is unique. He isn’t one being among billions and he doesn’t live in one place amidst many. So to the atheist who begs for evidence of God’s existence — a crater from God’s heavenly asteroid or a hair from his dangling beard—the Church says, “Impossible!” It can’t happen — not because God doesn’t exist, but because he transcends all of our earthly categories — all labels, all boxes, all definitions. He can’t be grasped, he can’t be measured and probed; he can’t be “bigger”, “closer”, “wiser”, or “older” than anything else in our world: he simply “is”; Our Father who “art.”

This reminds me of the ACTS prayer (Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication). The "A" is always the hardest part for me to do, because I always get tripped up with adding all the other stuff in there. In particular, the "T" part - I think I'm just adoring God and I start thanking Him instead.

Adoration is not thanking God. It is saying, "You are God, and I am not, and so I adore you." It is simply being in His presence. It is being present to Him, and recognizing that presence. It is an invitation to reflect upon our ultimate destination of heaven, to lift us from the mire and muck that life can be and hope for heaven. To recognize and see the places here on earth that point to a heavenly reality.

Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know 
Be still 
Be

Novena: Day Five

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Sunday Feast

The focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

Novena: Day Four

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Intimacy

"Who" (Our Father series)

“Who” is a personal pronoun. The pronoun “which” might have implied that the Father is simply a vast cosmic force or an archetype or a remote ideal. But three words into the prayer, Jesus assures us that the Father is, primarily, a person. Unlike an archetype, the Father can and will respond, person to person, to us.

When I think of 'who', what comes to mind is an intimate relationship. A person to person relationship. Someone who comes amidst the pain and suffering and joys of life, and joins with us in all of it.

Not an impersonal being which is high above us, not interacting, watching us as a child watches ants, which has no connection to our daily lives.

But Someone who is deeply affected by our aches and pains and triumphs and joys, and our choices. Because every time we turn away from Him and His Love, He is saddened by that choice. And Someone who is affected by our choices cannot be a 'which', but a 'who'.

And that is why it is "Our Father who", not "Our Father which".

Novena: Day Three

I'm praying a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

The More Things Change...

...the more they stay the same. Isn't that the truth?

Dealing with the same attitudes of my siblings that they've always had. Did I think things would change just because my (our) mom died? I am a fool.

To them, I'm still the youngest one that could never join them in whatever activity they were doing because I was 'too little'. I'm still the dumb shit that doesn't know shit. I'm still the one that needs to have everything dumbed down. I'm still the loud one that has to be constantly told to be quiet. I'm still the baby that cries every time she is left out.

Yes, these are all old hurts and pains. But every time we have a family gathering, these old hurts are ripped open anew, and have salt poured in the wound, because they can't see that I'm an adult, that I've grown up and tried to grow beyond the box that all my life they have confined me in.

I'm staying home tomorrow, because I don't want to deal with it again all day tomorrow. I've been doing it for a week, and I need a break from it. I need to re-group myself, and let myself rest for the coming days ahead.

Novena: Day Two

I'm praying a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.

     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 

     the Almighty has done great things for me,

     and holy is his Name.

     He has mercy on those who fear him 

     in every generation.

     He has shown the strength of his arm,

     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

     and has lifted up the lowly.

     He has filled the hungry with good things,

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

     He has come to the help of his servant Israel

     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

     the promise he made to our fathers,

     to Abraham and his children for ever.

Parenting is Hard

"Father" ("Our Father" series)

But, rather from the understanding that my children aren’t “my” children – they are God’s children first. I am merely their earthly father who has been given the great task of raising up His children.

What a humbling call. To think that the one who created us for Himself would entrust me with the crown jewel of the created order — one of His children. But, I must remember another fact. I am one of His children also!

When I think of the 'father' from the "Our Father", yes, I think of my own father. I also think of my father's shortcomings and failings - but not in that is how I think of our heavenly Father. I think of our heavenly father as like my father, but the fulfillment of my earthly father. I think of all the personality traits my father has (or doesn't have), and realize that our heavenly Father is the totality of that.


The 'father' also reminds me of my own call as a parent - that I am merely a steward of my children, that they have been given as gifts to me, and that children are never a 'right' for any human being. But also to think of the flip-side of that: that my parents were/are the stewards of me, and my siblings - and that any failing they may have had (or I have) as a parent is their own sinful humanity, and doesn't reflect upon the love that our heavenly Father has for each one of us. That I should always strive as a parent to reflect, as much as possible, to my children the love that our God in heaven, our Father, has for us.


Not much of a reflection, I'm afraid, but it's just what came to mind.

Novena: Day One

I'm starting a novena for a special intention. I invite you to pray with me, if you like.

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

State your intention.

Pray the Magnificat.
     My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
     my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

     From this day all generations will call me blessed: 
     the Almighty has done great things for me,
     and holy is his Name.
     He has mercy on those who fear him 
     in every generation.
     He has shown the strength of his arm,
     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
     He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 
     and has lifted up the lowly.
     He has filled the hungry with good things,
     and the rich he has sent away empty.
     He has come to the help of his servant Israel
     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
     the promise he made to our fathers,
     to Abraham and his children for ever.

A Mess

I need a personal assistant/nanny right now. There is so much going on, so much I'm trying to do. My house is a wreck - I've only been home to sleep basically, since last Friday. Dirty dishes, laundry needing done, garbage taken out, meals to be cooked. Plus, my husband is working, and the kids are with me, while I'm trying to help get stuff done. Every night, I've been going home exhausted and yet my mind is racing. Funny how when people ask if they can do anything, I don't think they really want to clean your house for you, or do your laundry, or clean out your kitty litter box.

We are trying to get obituary written, funeral program put together, vigil and Mass readings, who is doing what, food, etc. It's just a wee bit on the tiring side.

Plus, I'm just trying to keep my mind busy, because otherwise, I start to think of my mom. How she smelled, the way she hugged me, how much she loved my kids, her singing, her praying, her comforting me last summer, her cheerfulness, her smile....

All the things that I never said; all the things she never got around to teaching me; all the hugs I never got to give her, the kisses.

Whitewashed

"After his departure, faith in him will be the great divide with the human race. On the one hand, there will be those who will believe although they have not seen him (see John 20:29). On the other hand, there will be people who will refuse to believe...
     "But what does this mean? It only means that it ignores the essential thing: the life and the historical force behind the systems and the philosophies. Living people are different from one another, but skeletons all resemble each other. The Christian message, once it is reduced to a skeleton and isolated from the life it produced, that is, from the church and the saints', always risks being confused with other religious propositions, although, in reality, it is unmistakably unique." (Remember Jesus Christ, chapter 2, section 2)

Here Fr. Cantalamessa is talking about scholars who would reduce and explain away Jesus, the Gospels, and ultimately faith in God.
     But to reduce our faith (and end the story) at the burial of Jesus ignores the life afterwards, not only the Resurrection of Jesus but also the life, death, and new life in heaven of those who have come after Him.

We are not Protestants, we do not reduce faith to just our personal relationship with Jesus, just in the here and now, because otherwise, who is to say that faith in Jesus is not like faith in Mohammed or Buddha?
     Unfortunately you can see the effects of this kind of thinking that has taken root in this country; individualistic religion and indistinguishable from one another and sometimes unfortunately some Catholic parishes are right in there too.

Everything has become so bland, so vanilla (the store-brand kind, not the good exotic kind), so bleh. That's why as Catholics we need to make sure we have a strong 'corporate' identity, and yet still have individual 'flavor'. A great example: Starbucks. Starbucks has a strong corporate identity. You don't see Starbucks trying to look like everyone else, right? No, they want to stand out.

Sorry club

I've joined a sorry club: the-lost-my-mother club.

Don't know how to deal when the face in the mirror reminds me of my mother.

Just keeping it together for right now, or trying.

Sorrowful

I know I haven't been posting much. I am on my phone and even though I can post, I don't feel like posting a huge post from my phone.

My family and I are living the Sorrowful Mysteries right now.

A little bit of happiness

...in the midst of a shitty weekend. Sonic is opening soon.



Cherry Limeade makes me smile.

Sunday Feast

The focus every Sunday is to feast with my family, to truly make Sundays a day of rest; which means to refrain from the internet and other technology as much as I can. I'm going to be putting up the previous Wednesday's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, and I encourage you to read and to study. 

What are you reading today? What are you talking about this morning?

Waiting

I am not patient. I hate waiting.

We are Family

"Our" ("Our Father" series)

Our.

It’s plural. When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, he put the words of a collective prayer on their tongues. He instructed his followers to address their Father as a family.

When I think of the "our" part, I think of how sad some Protestants have it. No, really. I don't mean to pick on them, (okay, I do), but the relationship I have with Jesus isn't just about having a 'personal' relationship with Jesus. It is, but it is so much more. My relationship with Jesus also involves the church I go to, the diocese I belong to, and the world-wide church I am a part of. This is why it bothers me when people say, "I can just pray at home, or by myself in the mountains - for I know God is there."

Yes, but you are missing the point! Yes, Jesus is there in the beauty of the mountains (or in the stream while you're fishing) - but He is also present in the Body of Christ assembled at your parish at Mass, in each one of the persons present! As much as you want to deny Jesus is there, because you know so-and-so is a drinker, and that person there is a gossiper, and she's an adulteress, and he's a cheat....

...that's exactly the point! Jesus is still there, in spite of all those peoples' sinfulness and in spite of my own. God is easy to see in the beauty of the mountains; and we can fool ourselves into thinking we are better than we are; but at Mass, with all of us sinners gathered, we are challenged to see in each other, despite all of our sinfulness, Jesus Christ. We are challenged to see God there. And so He calls to us to call Him not "My Father", but "Our Father" in heaven.

An abundance of over-sharing

We live in a world that thrives on over-sharing inappropriate things: our sex lives, when our daughters get their periods, the spectacular fall, etc. One only has to look at STFUParents, or failbook (and the many incarnations thereof) to see the many ways we are deciding, as a society, what is appropriate and conversely, what is now inappropriate. It also is what people feel they have a 'right' to know,  like telling a woman with 4 kids that she'd better get her husband 'fixed', or some such thing.

You know, when I was growing up, behavior like that was called being 'nosy' - and it wasn't something to be proud of. When one of my older sisters was sticking her nose into another siblings' business, I would ask my mom, "Why does she do that?", and my mom would respond, invariably, with a version of, "She's just being nosy", and it was usually said with a frown (and a sigh).

Unfortunately, I think that my generation and younger generations aren't growing up with boundaries in place - no one is helping us/them decide what are appropriate questions to ask, what is appropriate information to share, and when to tell someone to stick their opinion in their ear.

What to do about it? Oh, I don't know. I'm just here to point out the problems, not fix them, for goodness' sake!