Much like Puff and her husband, I don't do New Year's resolutions. What's the point? I resolve every day to be a better Christian, wife and mother. I do that every day...why on earth would I make a big production out of it for just one day? Bah! Humbug!
Patrick gives us his predictions for the coming year...I like the November 6th prediction. Well, the second part of it makes me laugh anyway.
Satan's resolutions give me pause...
I'm also not going to do a review of my year...because it sucked.
And on that note, I'm going to Adoration tonight, ringing in the New Year with Jesus, if you've got any intentions.
Find things to rant about
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
To the Holy Family
Jesus, whose almighty bidding
All created things fulfil,
Lived on earth in meek subjection
To His earthly parents' will.
Sweetest Infant, make us patient
And obedient for Thy sake;
Teach us to be chaste and gentle,
All our stormy passions break.
Blessed Mary! thou wert chosen
To be Mother of thy Lord:
Thou didst guide the early footsteps
Of the great Incarnate Word.
Dearest Mother! make us humble;
For thy Son will take His rest
In the poor and lowly dwelling
Of a humble sinner's breast.
Joseph! thou wert called the father
Of thy Maker and thy Lord;
Thine it was to save thy Saviour
From the cruel Herod's sword.
Suffer us to call thee father;
Show to us a father's love;
Lead us safe through every danger
Till we meet in heaven above.
(poem from "Catholic Girl's Guide", all spellings left intact)
Peace! How our heart rejoices at the sound of this word! Peace especially is the characteristic of our holy religion. Not without reason did the angels sing when Jesus was born in Bethlehem: "On earth peace, to men of good will." Can peace be wanting where Jesus dwells? And Jesus dwells where faith prevails. Let us consider this peace as it is to be found in the Christian family.
Let us begin by contemplating the bright pattern of every family presented by the holy family in the cottage at Nazareth. What deep and abiding peace is here! Whence does it spring? The holy family is poor, forsake, despised by men. No earthly good are there; no riches, spacious apartments, costly garments, delicate viands, nothing, in fact, which in the eyes of worldlings belongs to content and happiness. Yet Mary and Joseph with the holy Child enjoyed contentment and happiness as great as that of our first parents before the fall. The reason of this was that they had peace of heart.
(from the "Catholic Girl's Guide")
All created things fulfil,
Lived on earth in meek subjection
Sweetest Infant, make us patient
And obedient for Thy sake;
Teach us to be chaste and gentle,
All our stormy passions break.
Blessed Mary! thou wert chosen
To be Mother of thy Lord:
Thou didst guide the early footsteps
Of the great Incarnate Word.
Dearest Mother! make us humble;
For thy Son will take His rest
In the poor and lowly dwelling
Of a humble sinner's breast.
Joseph! thou wert called the father
Of thy Maker and thy Lord;
Thine it was to save thy Saviour
From the cruel Herod's sword.
Suffer us to call thee father;
Show to us a father's love;
Lead us safe through every danger
Till we meet in heaven above.
(poem from "Catholic Girl's Guide", all spellings left intact)
Peace! How our heart rejoices at the sound of this word! Peace especially is the characteristic of our holy religion. Not without reason did the angels sing when Jesus was born in Bethlehem: "On earth peace, to men of good will." Can peace be wanting where Jesus dwells? And Jesus dwells where faith prevails. Let us consider this peace as it is to be found in the Christian family.
Let us begin by contemplating the bright pattern of every family presented by the holy family in the cottage at Nazareth. What deep and abiding peace is here! Whence does it spring? The holy family is poor, forsake, despised by men. No earthly good are there; no riches, spacious apartments, costly garments, delicate viands, nothing, in fact, which in the eyes of worldlings belongs to content and happiness. Yet Mary and Joseph with the holy Child enjoyed contentment and happiness as great as that of our first parents before the fall. The reason of this was that they had peace of heart.
(from the "Catholic Girl's Guide")
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Must Read of the Day
Abortion makes cowards out of women
See, If I am anything, I am a coward shamer. Because I have absolutely no tolerance for sexually active women who act completely dumbfounded when penis vagina relations make baby. And rather than hearing you talk about what “hard choices” you are going to have to make now in regards to the killing or not killing of your fetus, all I hear is, “derp, derp, derp, I’m too stupid for real feminism.” The "hard choice" was made the second you hopped in the back of that Camaro, and if you have the mental wherewithal to get fully undressed in a 4ft by 3ft space without catching an elbow to the eye, than I have a really hard time believing you didn’t realize his semen could bump into your egg on the way to the uterus bar and hit it off.Go read it all.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Knuckle-dragging no longer
I've been dragged into the newfangled world of e-readers. Sigh. My husband did something great and put over 80 Stephen King and Dean Koontz books on a microSD card for my new Nook. But, I'd like to also have some Catholic books too - not 'bought' from Barnes & Noble, because even with the 'free' books, you have to have a credit card on file and I'm just not willing to do that.
So, do you know of somewhere to download free Catholic e-books to transfer to my new Nook? I'd love to get some encyclicals too, but I don't know that you can put those on e-books.
I think I will like this thing, especially for trips and for magazine subscriptions - but nothing will replace reading a 'real' book.
So, do you know of somewhere to download free Catholic e-books to transfer to my new Nook? I'd love to get some encyclicals too, but I don't know that you can put those on e-books.
I think I will like this thing, especially for trips and for magazine subscriptions - but nothing will replace reading a 'real' book.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Word made flesh
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us.
Eternal Word, made man for love of us! humbly prostrate at Thy feet, we adore Thee with our soul's deepest veneration; and to repair our ingratitude for the great boon of Thy Incarnation, we join our hearts with the hearts of all who love Thee, and we offer to Thee with them our most humble and loving thanksgiving. Filled with the thought of the exceeding great humility, goodness, and tenderness which we behold in Thy divine Heart, we pray Thee to give us Thy grace, that we may imitate these virtues so dear to Thee.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Follow-Up Adoration
To finally follow-up on what happened at Adoration last week, I'd like to share with you what I wrote to Jesus, and what I worked through. I'll be quoting liberally from the book A Retreat for Lay People by Ronald Knox, which is completely mind-blowing and you should go buy it, right now.
Dearest Jesus, you know what constantly trips me up: anger, grief, depression, pride. Every time I come before you, I am bowed down. How can I have a conversion that lasts? How can I be a humble servant of you when all I can do is want to serve myself? How can I break away from self & come towards you, to put on Christ as one would put on a white, gleaming garment? Why does conversion seem so hard?
I thought it would be easier than this. I thought that the spiritual battle wouldn't rage so intensely. Am I doing "it" wrong? Do I need to totally strip away all that I am, all that you created me to be; to have it be easier? To have the conversion be more constant? To have it "stick"?
What must I do to be more constant, more pure in my intentions? How do I fulfill my desire for you while still living my vocation and still being "me"?
[Here I stopped writing, and began to read from the aforementioned book; from the chapter "Holy Hour - A Hidden God". Below are quotes that truly "hit" me.]
Man has the dreadful power of refusing to think.
[On Adam & Eve hiding themselves from God] They did, you see, what we are always doing: plunged themselves into the midst of creatures in order to forget their Creator.
...that prayer means, not bending God's will to ours, but bending our will to God's.
There is nothing so divine about our Lord, if I may use a paradox, as his humanness; as Creator, he hides himself behind his creation, as Incarnate, he hides himself in a creature-nature - it is a touch of the same artist's brush.
Why did he do that? Partly, of course, in order to exercise our faith; conviction should not force itself upon the mind; there should be a loop-hole, once again, by which doubt could creep in, if men were resolved to doubt. But it was partly to teach us a lesson of humility, of self-annihilation. He annihilates himself, as far as that is possible, when you see him as a baby at his Mother's breast; that is the point of the devotion to the sacred infancy. The devotion to the sacred infancy is not a sort of pretty-pretty affair, accommodating itself to our modern, sentimental pose of making a great fuss about children; it is based on the amazing reflexion that Omnipotent Godhead did hide itself in the form of a speechless, helpless Thing wrapped about in swaddling-clothes, needing to have everything done for it, needing to be fed, to be protected, to be taught, all the time. If God himself like that, how ought we to annihilate ourselves before God? And when he lies in the sepulchre, it is not simply that we might weep over the cruel hurts which brought him there; it is that we might see the timeless, passionless, immutable Word of God hidden in the form of a dead thing - Divine Personality united to a corpse.
As a child in the womb, as a corpse in the tomb, he appeals to us to obliterate ourselves, to annihilate ourselves. We, who are nothing, must learn our own nothingness, must learn to kill all that spirit of self-pleasing and self-assertion which mixes itself up even with our best desires, even with our most altruistic actions. We must learn, not merely to will what he wills, but to will what he wills only because he wills it; to make ourselves his tools, his playthings; die to ourselves that he may live in us.
I see now what I must do: die to myself, live for others - I must die to myself even if no one appreciates it, if no one values it because this is what the Lord does in the Holy Eucharist - he is still a Victim even if no one receives the sacrifice worthily, even if the sacrifice is profaned. I must learn to let go of the stranglehold I have placed upon myself, else I will surely suffocate and die and those whom I love would suffer.
"Pride says my sacrifice must be recognized. Humility says I will sacrifice, even knowing that it will not be recognized."
I die to self so that I may imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. I must interiorly participate, as Mary did by saying "yes", in Christ's life. The interior "yes" means to surrender myself in obedience to God.
As always, your comments are welcome. Since I'm going to Adoration on Christmas Eve, if you have intentions to be placed before the Blessed Sacrament, put them in the combox and I'll write them out and take them with me.
Dearest Jesus, you know what constantly trips me up: anger, grief, depression, pride. Every time I come before you, I am bowed down. How can I have a conversion that lasts? How can I be a humble servant of you when all I can do is want to serve myself? How can I break away from self & come towards you, to put on Christ as one would put on a white, gleaming garment? Why does conversion seem so hard?
I thought it would be easier than this. I thought that the spiritual battle wouldn't rage so intensely. Am I doing "it" wrong? Do I need to totally strip away all that I am, all that you created me to be; to have it be easier? To have the conversion be more constant? To have it "stick"?
What must I do to be more constant, more pure in my intentions? How do I fulfill my desire for you while still living my vocation and still being "me"?
[Here I stopped writing, and began to read from the aforementioned book; from the chapter "Holy Hour - A Hidden God". Below are quotes that truly "hit" me.]
Man has the dreadful power of refusing to think.
[On Adam & Eve hiding themselves from God] They did, you see, what we are always doing: plunged themselves into the midst of creatures in order to forget their Creator.
...that prayer means, not bending God's will to ours, but bending our will to God's.
There is nothing so divine about our Lord, if I may use a paradox, as his humanness; as Creator, he hides himself behind his creation, as Incarnate, he hides himself in a creature-nature - it is a touch of the same artist's brush.
Why did he do that? Partly, of course, in order to exercise our faith; conviction should not force itself upon the mind; there should be a loop-hole, once again, by which doubt could creep in, if men were resolved to doubt. But it was partly to teach us a lesson of humility, of self-annihilation. He annihilates himself, as far as that is possible, when you see him as a baby at his Mother's breast; that is the point of the devotion to the sacred infancy. The devotion to the sacred infancy is not a sort of pretty-pretty affair, accommodating itself to our modern, sentimental pose of making a great fuss about children; it is based on the amazing reflexion that Omnipotent Godhead did hide itself in the form of a speechless, helpless Thing wrapped about in swaddling-clothes, needing to have everything done for it, needing to be fed, to be protected, to be taught, all the time. If God himself like that, how ought we to annihilate ourselves before God? And when he lies in the sepulchre, it is not simply that we might weep over the cruel hurts which brought him there; it is that we might see the timeless, passionless, immutable Word of God hidden in the form of a dead thing - Divine Personality united to a corpse.
As a child in the womb, as a corpse in the tomb, he appeals to us to obliterate ourselves, to annihilate ourselves. We, who are nothing, must learn our own nothingness, must learn to kill all that spirit of self-pleasing and self-assertion which mixes itself up even with our best desires, even with our most altruistic actions. We must learn, not merely to will what he wills, but to will what he wills only because he wills it; to make ourselves his tools, his playthings; die to ourselves that he may live in us.
I see now what I must do: die to myself, live for others - I must die to myself even if no one appreciates it, if no one values it because this is what the Lord does in the Holy Eucharist - he is still a Victim even if no one receives the sacrifice worthily, even if the sacrifice is profaned. I must learn to let go of the stranglehold I have placed upon myself, else I will surely suffocate and die and those whom I love would suffer.
"Pride says my sacrifice must be recognized. Humility says I will sacrifice, even knowing that it will not be recognized."
I die to self so that I may imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. I must interiorly participate, as Mary did by saying "yes", in Christ's life. The interior "yes" means to surrender myself in obedience to God.
As always, your comments are welcome. Since I'm going to Adoration on Christmas Eve, if you have intentions to be placed before the Blessed Sacrament, put them in the combox and I'll write them out and take them with me.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Taped Shut
Yes, much like the dreaded sickness, over-packer-itis, I also have its dreaded cousin disease, over-taper-itis. This results in going through copious amounts of tape (scotch or packing or duct), while rendering any receivers of gifts utterly subdued and frustrated at being denied entry into their presents.
I have even done this to my children, which leads me to the conclusion that I should must likely seek help. ...after Christmas, of course.
I have even done this to my children, which leads me to the conclusion that I should must likely seek help. ...after Christmas, of course.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Metanoia
What constitutes the difference between true and false guilt? One element is the purpose the sorrow serves:
Such guilt does not raise a person beyond his own limits; it tends to keep the person trapped within the ego. It may feed pride or it may become a self-destructive emotional guilt that controls and eventually destroys someone's life. Because such emotionalized guilt is destructive, modern pop psychology and moralizing advise the present culture against allowing people to accept any guilt in their lives. In fact, the Sacrament of Penance is denigrated as an institution that cripples people emotionally by causing more guilt - that is, "Catholic guilt," - in everyday life.
On the contrary, St. Paul commends a sorrow that is in accord with God. This means that guilt is recognized for having broken moral principles and for contradicting God's law. Such sorrow is possible only for someone who accepts mature responsibility for his or her actions, without blaming other and without denying the seriousness of the deeds. When such sorrow is brought before God, it leads to conversion, the 'metanoia' - that is, a turning around from a wrong path headed to sin and destruction by turning toward God, who directs the person to salvation and righteous, holy behavior.
This type of saving sorrow and guilt needs to be encouraged among those who are in fact guilty of breaking God's law. Even though we may seem judgmental, in fact we are simply accepting as fact that God and his Church identify some behaviors as sin and evil. The advantage for a Christian recognition of this comes from the confidence we can have that Jesus Christ will encounter the guilty sinner in the confessional and offer forgiveness and true reconciliation with God. Christ will use the priests who hear the confessions as his ambassadors who can legitimately announce God's message of reconciliation and peace. (St. Paul: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics, Fr. Mitch Pacwa)
More on this when I post about my Adoration experience, later this week.
- Is the sorrow merely an opportunity for the guilty person to express himself or herself?
- Does it let out an emotion of ill ease over certain behaviors that may have offended other persons or may compromise someone's high opinion of himself? For instance, "I am of such a high quality of person that I am simply mortified and embarrassed that I have acted like people of a lower type than I."
Such guilt does not raise a person beyond his own limits; it tends to keep the person trapped within the ego. It may feed pride or it may become a self-destructive emotional guilt that controls and eventually destroys someone's life. Because such emotionalized guilt is destructive, modern pop psychology and moralizing advise the present culture against allowing people to accept any guilt in their lives. In fact, the Sacrament of Penance is denigrated as an institution that cripples people emotionally by causing more guilt - that is, "Catholic guilt," - in everyday life.
On the contrary, St. Paul commends a sorrow that is in accord with God. This means that guilt is recognized for having broken moral principles and for contradicting God's law. Such sorrow is possible only for someone who accepts mature responsibility for his or her actions, without blaming other and without denying the seriousness of the deeds. When such sorrow is brought before God, it leads to conversion, the 'metanoia' - that is, a turning around from a wrong path headed to sin and destruction by turning toward God, who directs the person to salvation and righteous, holy behavior.
This type of saving sorrow and guilt needs to be encouraged among those who are in fact guilty of breaking God's law. Even though we may seem judgmental, in fact we are simply accepting as fact that God and his Church identify some behaviors as sin and evil. The advantage for a Christian recognition of this comes from the confidence we can have that Jesus Christ will encounter the guilty sinner in the confessional and offer forgiveness and true reconciliation with God. Christ will use the priests who hear the confessions as his ambassadors who can legitimately announce God's message of reconciliation and peace. (St. Paul: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics, Fr. Mitch Pacwa)
More on this when I post about my Adoration experience, later this week.
To Stand and To Rule ("Bid Me")
Guest post by Micah Murphy of Fiat Men
...and bid me come to Thee...
Death does not end our life, but only our body, and it also shall be returned to us in greater condition than ever we enjoyed it. No, we live and live on, who are faithful Christians, and we are called to Christ's side. Indeed, we are ordered to His side, where we shall reign with Him, we are commanded!
Is this any different command from what He gives us today? No, not truly. Even now, He bids us hence to join Him, to stand by His side and rule with Him, but we are presently still imperfect, and we tarry in going to His side. We are so very busy, always working, always going about our work. Do we ever stop to consider doing His?
If we are not now in a place in life to make haste to His side and go about His work of ruling with Him, how are we to be in that place when death catches us? Death, which we Christians embrace as the doorway to paradise, is nonetheless to catch us like a thief in the night. Let us be about His work today, and not put it off for tomorrow.
In heaven, we will be around Him, adoring, praising His Most Blessed and Glorious Name. Let us never forget that Jesus Christ is heaven, that is, the true joy and center of heaven will be our encounter with God in the Beatific Vision. Let us continue now to go about His work in this life while living out the next, the life of the world to come, in prayer and contemplation.
...et iube me venire ad Te...
...and bid me come to Thee...
Death does not end our life, but only our body, and it also shall be returned to us in greater condition than ever we enjoyed it. No, we live and live on, who are faithful Christians, and we are called to Christ's side. Indeed, we are ordered to His side, where we shall reign with Him, we are commanded!
Is this any different command from what He gives us today? No, not truly. Even now, He bids us hence to join Him, to stand by His side and rule with Him, but we are presently still imperfect, and we tarry in going to His side. We are so very busy, always working, always going about our work. Do we ever stop to consider doing His?
If we are not now in a place in life to make haste to His side and go about His work of ruling with Him, how are we to be in that place when death catches us? Death, which we Christians embrace as the doorway to paradise, is nonetheless to catch us like a thief in the night. Let us be about His work today, and not put it off for tomorrow.
In heaven, we will be around Him, adoring, praising His Most Blessed and Glorious Name. Let us never forget that Jesus Christ is heaven, that is, the true joy and center of heaven will be our encounter with God in the Beatific Vision. Let us continue now to go about His work in this life while living out the next, the life of the world to come, in prayer and contemplation.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Since Christmas is a week away
I thought I'd show you another of the Wide-Eyed Mischief Maker drawings:
I'm not sure if these are two random people, or if they are Mr & Mrs Claus, but they are wearing Santa hats.
Only one week left before we celebrate the birth of Our Savior! Can you believe it? How has your Advent been going? We have been doing alright over this way; we put up a construction paper Jesse Tree, and have been doing ornaments day by day. The children get excited every week when we get to light another candle, so next year I will have to put a little more effort into finding the right color of candles (I had a devil of a time this year finding purple & pink candles!). Every week we say a new prayer after we light the candles and before we eat, and then sing a verse of "O Come Emmanuel". WEMM can almost sing the chorus by herself.
She is also learning more about Jesus' family via the Jesse Tree, and her and her brother are getting excited to put the Christmas tree up. We don't put up the Christmas Tree until December 22/23, and then leave it up until Epiphany, so as to celebrate the whole Christmas season. My husband did put the outside lights up, but that's only because he is a Griswold in spirit - seriously, he's like a little kid putting up the outside lights!
We're finishing up Christmas shopping - I think we've done 90% of it online between my husband and I. Just a few more gifts, and some stocking stuffers. The religious gifts we got for the kids are pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
At any rate, I hope your Advent has been going well, and prayerful. Let me know how what your family has been up to in the comments.
I'm not sure if these are two random people, or if they are Mr & Mrs Claus, but they are wearing Santa hats.
Only one week left before we celebrate the birth of Our Savior! Can you believe it? How has your Advent been going? We have been doing alright over this way; we put up a construction paper Jesse Tree, and have been doing ornaments day by day. The children get excited every week when we get to light another candle, so next year I will have to put a little more effort into finding the right color of candles (I had a devil of a time this year finding purple & pink candles!). Every week we say a new prayer after we light the candles and before we eat, and then sing a verse of "O Come Emmanuel". WEMM can almost sing the chorus by herself.
She is also learning more about Jesus' family via the Jesse Tree, and her and her brother are getting excited to put the Christmas tree up. We don't put up the Christmas Tree until December 22/23, and then leave it up until Epiphany, so as to celebrate the whole Christmas season. My husband did put the outside lights up, but that's only because he is a Griswold in spirit - seriously, he's like a little kid putting up the outside lights!
We're finishing up Christmas shopping - I think we've done 90% of it online between my husband and I. Just a few more gifts, and some stocking stuffers. The religious gifts we got for the kids are pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
At any rate, I hope your Advent has been going well, and prayerful. Let me know how what your family has been up to in the comments.
Back to Adoration!
I finally have a regular Adoration hour again, and let me tell you, I have needed it badly these last few months that it has not been available. I will write up what happened last night, but I want to let you know, dear reader, that I will be available to take your intentions to Adoration once again. God bless you all that read this blog. Be assured of my prayers.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sister Death ("Call me")
Guest post by Micah Murphy of Fiat Men
In the hour of my death, call me...
"Death, comes for us all, my lords. Yes, even for kings he comes." - St. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons
The rich and the poor, the great and the little, the strong and the weak, all have two things in common: their beginning and their end. At the moment a man begins life, he also begins death. Eastern Catholics place special emphasis on death as the effect of sin, and from that we can take a special lesson. Death entered the world through sin, and on its account, we do so much evil, trying to live, gasping for breath, grasping for the ends of the feeble threads from which we hang.
How many sins have we committed for fear of death? I do not merely mean sins of passion and fits of anger when we barely escape certain death in highway traffic. What is pride but an attempt to preserve our lives and our lifestyles? Death makes itself the root and cause of all our sins, for we are failing, crumbling creatures all doomed to die, but we are witty creatures, and cunning, and in our pride we think we have what it takes to evade death. How many battles were fought to find the Fountain of Youth, and how many magazines today perpetuate that endless quest for youth and life that ages all the more our sullen, disappointed faces and escorts us to the grave?
How wide, how deep, how strong is death's grasp, that every man, from low to high, is snatched away from virtue by its seductive fear-mongering?
Take heart, be courageous! Be stouthearted! As Christians, we ought to see the world upside-down, we come to despise this life if by that we may gain eternal life. We should embrace death - indeed, St. Francis called it "Sister Death" - if its darkness should bring us to heaven's eternal sun. Let us shun our self-preserving pride and call out to Christ, who bring us through death, turns the curse to a blessing, and wipes away every tear.
...in hora mortis meae, voca me...
In the hour of my death, call me...
"Death, comes for us all, my lords. Yes, even for kings he comes." - St. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons
The rich and the poor, the great and the little, the strong and the weak, all have two things in common: their beginning and their end. At the moment a man begins life, he also begins death. Eastern Catholics place special emphasis on death as the effect of sin, and from that we can take a special lesson. Death entered the world through sin, and on its account, we do so much evil, trying to live, gasping for breath, grasping for the ends of the feeble threads from which we hang.
How many sins have we committed for fear of death? I do not merely mean sins of passion and fits of anger when we barely escape certain death in highway traffic. What is pride but an attempt to preserve our lives and our lifestyles? Death makes itself the root and cause of all our sins, for we are failing, crumbling creatures all doomed to die, but we are witty creatures, and cunning, and in our pride we think we have what it takes to evade death. How many battles were fought to find the Fountain of Youth, and how many magazines today perpetuate that endless quest for youth and life that ages all the more our sullen, disappointed faces and escorts us to the grave?
How wide, how deep, how strong is death's grasp, that every man, from low to high, is snatched away from virtue by its seductive fear-mongering?
Take heart, be courageous! Be stouthearted! As Christians, we ought to see the world upside-down, we come to despise this life if by that we may gain eternal life. We should embrace death - indeed, St. Francis called it "Sister Death" - if its darkness should bring us to heaven's eternal sun. Let us shun our self-preserving pride and call out to Christ, who bring us through death, turns the curse to a blessing, and wipes away every tear.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Navel-Gazing
How can you navel-gaze when the navel isn't real? (Please read every single link in that post, because they're well worth it. There, I even linked every link for you.) I propose that what H&M is doing, is just another symptom of our society that wants to pretend that they are 'serious thinkers' and 'smart people' when in actuality, they will do everything in their power to not take a good, hard look at themselves.
I think this is why no one wants to do manual labor anymore. Most manual labor - whether it's shoveling shit or cleaning shit up or cleaning shit off something - there's plenty of time alone with your thoughts. Plenty of time for real, honest-to-goodness, self-introspection; not the shallow end of the pool where it's warm and sunny all the time, but the deep end where when you dive in, it's a little scary (there might be sharks, after all), dark, and painful (sometimes it's hard holding your breath for that long).
Today as I was doing dishes, sweeping and cleaning up, I had plenty of time alone with my thoughts - which, unfortunately for me, not really where I wanted to be. Perhaps that's why I've been avoiding doing housework for awhile. Self-examination can be incredibly painful - especially at times when there are some hard truths about yourself that you've been avoiding. Perhaps this is why most people avoid any semblance of it - especially in confession people tend to stick to the shallow end of the pool.
A good self-examen causes your heart and your pride to be pricked - a lot or a little depends on the cause of the pricking, I suppose. You feel a little wounded - a little off-kilter, almost like you are walking with a slight limp. A good self-examen doesn't prick unnecessarily, or arbitrarily, but out of necessary love so that we may grow in holiness.
Where is this going? Well, I realized some unpleasant truths about myself that I honestly wish I hadn't - and so I've been avoiding any time where those truths might be brought up again. Times like today.
Even now, I hesitate to write this down because in doing so, I will have to go through the process again even while in the midst of trying to shove it back into some dusty corner of my mind to be forgotten.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Just a byword
Just another reason I never want to be famous: I don't want to be in a video montage, or a byword clip on the evening news. I think this is one of the saddest ways your life can be summed up, especially if your 'star' has waned in the later years of your life.
Your life summed up in a few passing words, not of your choosing, and by those who might feel, at most, some slight sadness at your passing but not true grief, not true sorrow.
Though there may be many that take note of your death when you are famous, it will not make you more mourned, or more loved, than someone who is not famous.
Your life summed up in a few passing words, not of your choosing, and by those who might feel, at most, some slight sadness at your passing but not true grief, not true sorrow.
Though there may be many that take note of your death when you are famous, it will not make you more mourned, or more loved, than someone who is not famous.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Simon drawr-ings
I think my mom would like this next one
"That's Mary, Jesus, and me, and Gramma in heaven"
Though I don't know who is who.
"That's Mary, Jesus, and me, and Gramma in heaven"
Though I don't know who is who.
Sunday Feast
General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, catechesis on prayer:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on prayer, we now turn to Jesus, who by his own example most fully reveals the mystery of Christian prayer. A significant moment in this regard is Jesus’ prayer following his Baptism, which expresses his both his deepest identity as the Son of God and his solidarity with the sinful humanity whom he came to save. Jesus’ prayer reflects his complete, filial obedience to the Father’s will, an obedience which would lead him to death on the Cross for the redemption of our sins. With his human heart, Jesus learned to pray from his Mother and from the Jewish tradition, yet the source of his prayer is his eternal communion with the Father; as the incarnate Son, he shows us perfectly how to pray as children of the heavenly Father. Jesus’ example of fidelity to prayer challenges us to examine the time and effort we devote to our own prayer. While prayer is a gift of God, it is also an art learned through constant practice. Jesus teaches us to pray constantly, but also to bear witness before others of the beauty of prayer, self-surrender and complete openness to God.
I greet the distinguished delegations from various countries taking part in the meeting promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio on the theme: No Justice without Life. I express my hope that your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims present, including those from the United States, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on prayer, we now turn to Jesus, who by his own example most fully reveals the mystery of Christian prayer. A significant moment in this regard is Jesus’ prayer following his Baptism, which expresses his both his deepest identity as the Son of God and his solidarity with the sinful humanity whom he came to save. Jesus’ prayer reflects his complete, filial obedience to the Father’s will, an obedience which would lead him to death on the Cross for the redemption of our sins. With his human heart, Jesus learned to pray from his Mother and from the Jewish tradition, yet the source of his prayer is his eternal communion with the Father; as the incarnate Son, he shows us perfectly how to pray as children of the heavenly Father. Jesus’ example of fidelity to prayer challenges us to examine the time and effort we devote to our own prayer. While prayer is a gift of God, it is also an art learned through constant practice. Jesus teaches us to pray constantly, but also to bear witness before others of the beauty of prayer, self-surrender and complete openness to God.
* * *
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sexity Sex Sex Sex
Did I get your attention? Good.
So tired of everything being about sex. I just read over at The Daily Mail that filmmakers have re-imagined "Sleeping Beauty" as a young girl engaged in sex work....that's prostitution, or being a hooker, in non-euphemism speak. What this has to do with the fairy tale, I have no idea. Idiocy.
===
Last night and today, I saw several young girls wearing skirts/dresses exactly in the same style as Julia Roberts' hooker dress.
Why do young women think it's okay to look like a hooker? I know they probably think they look sexy, but all I can think of when I see them is "Street Walker". I will slap my daughter - literally - if she ever tries to wear something like that. Maybe that's the problem - too many mothers want to be that 'sexy' mom and are modeling that kind of dress/behavior, instead of just being a mom and exhibiting the dress and behavior they want from their children.
===
Don't even get me started on the porn spam followers on Twitter. That's the worst thing about Twitter, and I wish they would do something about it.
So tired of everything being about sex. I just read over at The Daily Mail that filmmakers have re-imagined "Sleeping Beauty" as a young girl engaged in sex work....that's prostitution, or being a hooker, in non-euphemism speak. What this has to do with the fairy tale, I have no idea. Idiocy.
===
Last night and today, I saw several young girls wearing skirts/dresses exactly in the same style as Julia Roberts' hooker dress.
[Imagine a picture of that dress here.
I was going to put a picture of it, but you don't need that image in your head.]
Why do young women think it's okay to look like a hooker? I know they probably think they look sexy, but all I can think of when I see them is "Street Walker". I will slap my daughter - literally - if she ever tries to wear something like that. Maybe that's the problem - too many mothers want to be that 'sexy' mom and are modeling that kind of dress/behavior, instead of just being a mom and exhibiting the dress and behavior they want from their children.
===
Don't even get me started on the porn spam followers on Twitter. That's the worst thing about Twitter, and I wish they would do something about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)