Catholic 101: Matrimony

Here we are, the last entry in the sacraments series! Yay! (OK, that's probably what y'all are saying.....:-P)

Matrimony is, after baptism, probably the most "secular" sacrament. What do I mean by that? 

People will have their babies baptized/dedicated/christened, even if they're not religious people. When I saw the latest Bridge Jones movie, I noticed that all the characters had their babies christened (Bridget remarks that she has tons of godchildren), even if the characters, themselves, were not extremely churchgoing, pious folk. It's like the thing you do. You have a baby, you christen it. That's that. 

Marriage is very similar to this. I've been to weddings where people church-shopped beforehand, looking for a "pretty" place to get married--not because they, themselves, were extremely devout, but, you know, one gets married in a church. (And, needless to say, a PRETTY church.) 

On the face of it, marriage is easy to explain. Man, woman. Vows. Rings. Consummation. Marriage!

Um....well, sort of. 

In the Catholic church, marriage is for life. Meaning, you don't get divorced because of "irreconcilable differences." That does not mean, however, that if you're married to an addict, or an abuser, that you need to stay in the marriage. We aren't idiots and we're not ridiculous. But anything short of serious issues isn't grounds for annulment. I'm not a canonist, and I don't play one on TV, so I don't know all the ins and outs of annulment. However, there are appropriate reasons to get one. And that isn't the same as divorce. An annulment means that there was some impediment that existed, which kept the marriage from becoming sacramentally valid. (I think. If I'm wrong, I'm sure one of my clergy readers will tell me.and indeed, one has! See note at the end!) 

Anyway!

So, marriage. Man, woman. Priest. MARRIAGE PREP. 

Since marriage is for life, the church does its utmost best to ensure that he couple is aware of issues that could arise, and that they know how they want to deal with said issues. The infamous "survey" that you have to fill out--it's hundreds of questions--during marriage prep is meant to do that. The Church doesn't want to marry couples where the parties involved have no idea how the other feels on raising the kids, finances, how to resolve arguments, etc. The Church wants to prepare you. This is done in two ways--one, by meeting several times with the priest who will marry the couple, and two, by Pre-Cana.

I have been in nine weddings, and attended almost 20. I'm sort of a wedding pro. My brother, who has stats to rival my own (his might be even better....he's been in a LOT of weddings) and I should just open a wedding consultancy. BUT.....

however much the wedding prep is fun ("Beige roses, or ivory roses?  Do we want Bach or Purcell for the processional? WHAT COLOR WILL THE TABLECLOTHS BE?!"), it's not the point. You don't get married to throw a big party. You get married because you want to spend your life with this person, you love this person, and you are going to grow in holiness with this person. 

The Anglican rite actually does a good job talking about this, as illustrated in the ONLY Pride and Prejudice: 

"Reverently, soberly...." etc. 

A  lot of people today aren't doing this reverently and soberly. 

So in the Church, we try to keep it that way. 

An interesting bit about the sacrament is that the priest doesn't, technically, marry the people. Remember how we've been talking about matter and form? In matrimony, the form is the exchange of vows. The matter is the people--the man and the woman--and for a marriage to be valid, it needs to be consummated. Yes, that's right. 

SEX, people.

If you're an Outlander fan, you remember that Dougal said he wanted "this marriage consummated with no doubt whatsoever." Hence, Claire and Jamie's rather awkward start to their wedding night:

I barely know you, so....why don't we talk first. And have a drink. Or five. 

(You will remember, true fans, that Jamie is marrying Claire to save her from being abused at the hands of the Evil Redcoat Captain. Let us remember that, for most of human history, marriage wasn't about "twue wuv." It was about lots of other things.) 

So the marriage is man and woman, and it must be consummated. 

People say that the church doesn't like to talk about sex, but really, the church has such great respect for it that we do talk about it. Quite a bit. Pope John Paul II devoted a good chunk of his papacy to it.  Yes, that's right. A Pope talked for more than 100 weeks about sex. 

Think about that for a second. (It wasn't just sex. It was marriage and personhood in general.) 100 weeks is almost two full years. 

This is the main reason the church doesn't allow artificial birth control. In marriage, the couple participates in God's creative life. Seriously. They work with God to bring new life into the world. That's pretty cool, right? 

One of the points of marriage  (as said in the P&P video above) is the procreation of kids. It always has been. It always will be. Now, that does not mean that if you are infertile, that you can't get married. But it does mean that in general, that's one of the points of marriage--to have kids. 

No, that doesn't mean that the church sees women as brood mares or rabbits. You can limit the number of children you have. But it should be done prudently and using Natural Family Planning. 

There are 5,000,000,000 resources out there about NFP and the Catholic view of marriage. You can google it. I'm trying to go into a bit here, but really, it's just so rich that its scope is beyond a mere blog post. 

The big takeaway here is that God sees human love as good, and even sacred. That's right. It's holy, people. That's why we take it so seriously, because to treat holy things as if they're not holy is sacrilege. Which is a sin. (Which is also why we object to pre and extra marital sex. Sex can only legally occur between the married partners--Wife, Husband. Not Wife A with Husband B, or girlfriend/boyfriend.) 

So, while the party, and the dress, and the cake ( we can't forget about the cake), are all nice things, they're not the point of marriage. 

One of the reasons the Church has marriage as a sacrament is because marriage is hard. The Church recognizes that. That's why the couple needs the sacramental grace that is received! Grace is helpful. (Understatement of the year, right there....) Grace isn't a magic wand, but it does make something that's humanly really hard somewhat easier. 

Essentially: Be like Lizzie and Darcy and Jane and Bingley. Don't be like Lydia and Wickham. Don't be like Humperdinck! (Especially not like that!) Do that, and you'll be on the road to a fairly successful marriage. 

Addendum: 

As I thought, one of my clergy readers chimed in on annulments: 

"Annulments are given when one or both spouses didn't consent to the marriage (that's why Buttercup was never married to Humperdinck!), or, as you mentioned, there was an impediment. "

Seven Quick Takes No. 123: Celebrating Mother Teresa's Canonization

I. 

two saints in a photograph: Pope St. John Paul II and Mother Teresa. 

Since Mother Teresa is being canonized on Sunday, I thought today I'd put up seven Mother Teresa quotes. Enjoy!

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

Catholic 101: The Eucharist

OK, everyone. Buckle up. 

I mean it. 

I love the Eucharist. I could write a whole tome on it, here. I realize the Eucharist is one of the more misunderstood Catholic doctrines. So we're talking about first communion, but we're also going to talk about the Eucharist more generally. OK? 

OK, so first off, what is the Eucharist?

Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It's not a symbol. After the bread and wine have been consecrated by the priest, it IS Jesus Christ, here, present, fully, in the host. 

As Flannery O'Connor said: 

We take Jesus at His word when he said "this is my body." We take John 6 seriously. 

If it's just a symbol, then, so what? Why do it? Why have it? 

But to us, it's not a symbol. It is JESUS CHRIST. That's why we have Eucharistic adoration, why we reserve the sacrament in the tabernacle, and why we treat it (or should treat it!) with reverence. It's why we genuflect when we go into the pews--because Jesus Christ is actually present in our churches, in the Eucharist. 

Since we treat the Eucharist so reverently, not just anyone can receive it. That's why First Communion is such an important sacrament to Catholics--it's the day when you can receive Jesus in Communion for the first time. This is huge! 

For Catholics, you have to be at the "age of reason", which is seven years old. You have to be able to understand Who you are receiving. That doesn't mean that you have to understand the Ins and Outs of Transubstantiation, but you do have to know it's not just bread the priest is giving you. 

In some places, First Confession precedes first communion. But for our purposes, we'll talk about that later. 

I always told my CCD kids that I never, ever wanted to see them go up to communion sloppily. The number of people I've seen just shuffling up to communion, like they're going to receive a hot dog at a baseball game! NOOOOOO! STOP IT! You should be totally aware to what you're doing and Who you are about to receive. 

Going back to our discussion of matter and form: The matter is the unleavened bread and wine. No, you cannot use grape juice, or Pepsi, or water. It must be wine. And no, you can't use bread from Kroger, or Doritos, or pita bread, or crackers. It must be unleavened bread. I was absolutely shocked the first time I went to a Protestant service (it was orientation at college--I couldn't get to Mass, but then did offer Catholic communion from an extraordinary minister of communion). The pastor got out a loaf of Kroger bread, and Kroger grape juice. 

You don't have to receive both species (that's what it's technically called--the species). At my parish, we never offer the wine to the communicants. It's only ever the Host. But that's OK. 

The form is the words of consecration, said by the priest, as part of the Eucharistic Prayer: 

Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.

Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.  

After the priest--and ONLY the priest--says the words of consecration, the bread and the wine have BECOME the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Since the Church believes that when we receive communion, we are taking Jesus into our very selves, there are a few rules: 

1. You should have fasted for one hour before receiving (water and medicine don't count. And if you have to take food with the medicine, you can.)  
2. You must not receive if you are in a state of mortal sin. If you are in a state of mortal sin and you receive communion, then you're committing sacrilege, on top of already being in a state of mortal sin. You're just making things worse! (This is one reason that my parish offers confession before every Mass.) 

***

Now, many of my Protestant friends have expressed disdain that they cannot receive communion at a Catholic Mass. A few points on that: 

1. You could receive, if you really wanted to. There's not a Secret Catholic handshake before you receive. However: 
2. You don't believe what you believe about it, so why would you say you do? That's what the "amen" after "The Body of Christ" means. Why would you do something that's basically a lie? Bad form!
3. Communion isn't like a hand stamp that indicates you participated at Mass. Plenty of people go to Mass and do not receive communion (all the kids under 7, for example). You can participate fully in the Mass without receiving. I know, your head is spinning here, but it's possible! Receiving communion isn't like getting a heavenly check mark. "OK, Mr. Jones is here....." It is perfectly permissible to attend Mass and not receive Communion. In fact, if you're not properly disposed to receive, it's the better option! 

Here are the USCCB's guidelines for receiving communion. 

***

Like I said above, I love the Eucharist. I get very upset when I see people not treating the sacrament with the reverence it deserves. That means churches where the tabernacle is basically in another room, away from the sanctuary; where people just go up to receive like, la-di-dah; etc. 

Catholics! You are receiving God! Jesus is physically present in every Catholic church. If that doesn't fill you with awe, you need your awe-meter checked. 

As JRR Tolkien said: 

Catholics, please remember what a supreme gift we have in the Eucharist. Treat it accordingly! 

Happy Feast of St. Dominic!

Here's a piece I wrote about him last year, and here are some profiles of Dominican saints. 

Seven Quick Takes No. 119: 23 Rules for Sane Eating, and Dragons!

I. 

The weekly recap: 

Intro to the Sacraments

Seeking Motivation

II. 

Last weekend, I visited my grandma with my parents. My grandma is 86 years old, and she's my last remaining grandparent--and I love her to bits. She raised eight kids on a music teacher's salary, and all 8 kids are married (STILL married! Not divorced!--several of them in the 30+ years category of marriage), and all have had children. There are 25 of us grandkids, and 9 great-grandchildren. Grandma gave me my lifelong love of piano. (And listened to me play even when it was more like....random noise.....than music.) 

Me and my grandma, celebrating her 85th birthday last year. 

Anyway, Grandma's house always has good reading. I was reading her back issues of Catholic Digest, and found some food columns written by Emily Stimpson, whom I love to read. And then I remembered that Emily had a blog about Catholic food and friendship and entertaining called The Catholic Table. 

So I went home and read through her archives, where I found this gem: 

23 Rules for Sane Eating. 

Really, don't we need these? Eating, one of our most basic tasks, has become so complicated, hasn't it? It was so refreshing to find Emily's level-headed advice, here. 

And I am definitely going to start entertaining people again. I love dinner parties, and though my place is small, I love having people over to eat. 

III. 

Today is the Feast of St. Martha. DRAGONS, people. DRAGONS. (Click the link for Dragons!) 

Seriously, I love St. Martha. She gets such a bad wrap for the "Martha, Martha" story. But geez. She is really a pretty awesome lady. 

Some musical inspiration, as well: 

IV. 

This week I've been crazy into my painting and sketching. I'm working on adding some SoCal trip pages to my "big" sketchbook . Here's some of this week's work: 

Charcoal movement sketches as part of a SBS assignment. The idea was to catch people doing things, or in poses. So it was mostly line drawings, but I'm glad with what I caught here. The goal wasn't to be realistic. 

A page in my big watercolor sketchbook detailing the SoCal trip with two maps--a larger (and wonkier) one with the general area, and then a more detailed one of LA and environs proper. I do have a travel sketchbook, but sometimes I want the larger pages. 

This is a watercolor version of my grandma's flower bed. I put the paint blocks in first and then drew in some flowers in ink once the paint had dried. The flowers are sort of successful, but I wonder if it would've worked with just the paint blocks. I think it might have. And obviously, my green got away from me. Too much green! 

I'm trying to work with my watercolors and brushes, to get to know them a little better, and see what they can do. But I really had fun with the charcoal pencils. 

V.

I'm on snapchat now as emdeardo, if you're in to Snapchat. I think I have the hang of it. Maybe? Not sure. But I do see how it can be fun. I haven't used any of the silly filters yet. :-p 

VI. 

One of my favorite Columbus Summer things is next weekend--the Dublin Irish Festival! And thank goodness, it looks like decent temps for the day I want to go. I love going and hearing the Irish bands, eating the good food, and it's a great time for sketching. I brought my sketchbook for the first time last year and I had a lot of fun with it. I can't wait to sketch some more this year! One of my favorite bands is Cassie and Maggie, sisters from Nova Scotia. They don't just sing and play; they dance, too. Seriously. They are fantastic!

VII. 

Does anyone else really like the month of August? I like June because it's like the unfolding of spring and summer. It's full of possibility. July, I don't really like. I don't know why. And this has even been a particularly good July, with all sorts of fun things happening. 

But August just seems like such a lovely month. A slow month, a month to sort of enjoy the summer and prepare for fall. I remember when I was going back to school and I was always ready for school to start come August. August is like that slow transition from summer to the demands of fall. (But I do love fall.) 

Seven Quick Takes No. 117

I. 
Per usual....if you missed them (posts from the long weekend are here, too!)

My Country 'Tis of Thee

When In the Course of Human Events

Summer Reading: What I Read in June

I'd Like Your Vote

II. 

In the area of Catholic news this week, here is an article about Cardinal Sarah asking for ad orientem worship everywhere, starting in Advent. 

For those of you who aren't into technical liturgical details, "ad orientem" means "toward the east"--basically, in this style of worship, during the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest is turned toward the east, or, with his back to the congregation. Everyone is facing the same way, as it were. 

Ad orientem does not mean "in Latin". You can offer ad orientem worship within the confines of the "normal" English Mass. The only difference would be the direction the priest is facing. 

I'm not a huge fan of the Mass in Latin, I gotta be honest. I feel like I'm just sitting around watching the priest do things. However, I realize it might take time to get acclimated to it. 

But ad orientem worship seems like something we should try. So many Catholic churches don't even look Catholic these days. Yes, some moving the altar work might be involved, if you don't have an older church, like mine, which still has the high altar. But I think making the Mass more reverent isn't a bad thing, and it's probably sorely needed. 

III. 

The 11 year transplant anniversary is on Monday. I will have my annual retrospective post up that day. Just some FYI. ;-) 

IV. 

And also in the FYI category: Jeopardy! July 18th. Watch it. It'll be more fun than the convention that starts that day....eyeroll. 

V. 

I found this on the SITS girls facebook page this week, and I just adore it: 

I mean, right? Isn't that the way it works? 

Me and Tiffany--randomly doing stuff together since 1996. (holy cow, that's TWENTY YEARS.....) 

VI. 

What's the longest friendship you've ever had? I gotta say I'm impressed with twenty years. That's more than half our lives at this point. 

Tiffany and I met in a theater class in high school--alphabetical seating is our friend. Amilia and Sue I met in freshman choir. My friend Tom I met in Freshman French....and I've known my friend Branden since we were three years old. No kidding. 

That's sort of amazing, if you think about it. 

VII. 

And since I have nothing else, I'll leave you with an Ann Voskamp image. :) 

Have a great weekend!

Triduum Notes: Holy Saturday, Washcloths, and Sin

On Holy Saturday, I had a revelation in the bath tub.

Well, not actually in the tub. Getting out of it. 

My parents and I were going to the Vigil Mass that night, so I was washing my hair in preparation for that. I got out of the tub and began to comb my hair. 

I finished combing my hair, put it up into a wet, drippy bun, and noticed that the tub had some standing water in it. Why isn't it draining? 

I went over to look, and saw that one of my knitted washcloths had fallen from its perch, and was suctioned to the drain, stopping the water from flowing. 

And as I took the washcloth away and the water began to drain, I thought, That's what sin is. Sin is that washcloth. 

The washcloth was permeable--some water was getting through, but not enough to keep the water flowing freely. Sin is that washcloth. Venial sin doesn't stop us from having grace, or receiving grace--but it's hard for it to get through, the more sin is piled up. Mortal sin is like the drain being completely closed--nothing is getting through. 

Removing the washcloth allowed the tub to drain quickly. Going to confession opens the channel up again, and grace flows freely. 

OK, it's probably a bit of a labored metaphor. But that's what hit me, as I was drying myself off on Holy Saturday. 

We normally didn't go to the Vigil, but this year we decided to break tradition. 

The Vigil is in four parts, and it starts with the Service of Light, when the Paschal candle is carved and lit. For maximum impact, obviously, we start when it's dark. But also for liturgical reasons--we're anticipating Christ's resurrection, which happened before dawn on Easter Sunday. So the Mass can only begin after sunset. 

There are nine readings, telling us the history, which tell us the whole history of salvation, and the gorgeous Exsultet is sung: "O happy fault, o necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a redeemer!" 

This is also the night that the Church gains new members. At the Mass we attended, 18 people joined the Catholic Church, which is definitely something to celebrate! 

The Mass takes a few hours, so I didn't get to bed until after midnight. It was such a clear, beautiful night--so many constellations were visible. It was a great way to ring in the Easter season (which is 50 days of celebration, until Pentecost.)

The great week of singing, the Octave of Easter with its incessant "Alleluias," begins...and then we're off and rolling, into {fifty} days of Easter. --Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk

 

Triduum notes: Good Friday

“I have finally come to Good Friday on its own terms. It is the morning after, the coming-to. Last night we feasted with our dearest friends and now we wake to find that for the dearest of them, Jesus himself, death is imminent. We gather in the harsh light of morning, the harsh light of grief.”

— Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk

Good Friday is the only day of the year in which there is no Mass.  On the day of the ultimate sacrifice, we don't recreate that sacrifice in our liturgy. Instead, the service for Good Friday (which used to be called MOPS--Mass of the Pre-Sanctified) is divided into three parts. As Richard John Neuhaus wrote in Death on a Friday Afternoon, things in this story happen in threes. 

I adore the first reading--Isaiah's Suffering Servant. I wrote out the entire first reading here. I was born on Good Friday, so maybe that's why I'm so attached to this reading, and this liturgy as a whole. 

The veneration of the cross is my favorite part. If you've never seen it done, essentially the priest takes a crucifix (or a cross, depending on what the church has) and the people come up to kiss, bow, prostrate themselves before it, or otherwise honor the cross. It's a BIG cross--don't think any sort of wall-sized crucifixes here. Ours is about five or six feet and it's beautiful. Everyone can come up and individually venerate the cross as he or she wants. Watching the kids do it--kiss Jesus' pierced feet, or his knees, which are right about at eye level with them--is always a touching part of this. During this the choir sings the reproaches and some hymnody. All music is unaccompanied today.  The church itself is very stark: no altar cloths, no candles, no statues on the altar. It's all removed. 

At St. Pat's, we do the tre ore--the three hour reflection on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. It's three hours (not continuous) of meditations on Jesus' death, and what His last words to us were. The priests take turns giving the meditations, because they're also hearing confessions from noon to 2:45. 

I'm very solemn on Good Friday. I come home and watch The Passion of the Christ, and I have a small dinner, but generally I don't do anything other than read, pray, and attend service. 

Triduum notes: Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday is sometimes called Maundy Thursday, from the word mandatum, "mandate", referencing the order Jesus gave His disciples after washing their feet.

At my parish, the feet of 12 men are washed, and it's usually the Dominican community (we currently have four priests and one cooperator brother in residence, but we usually get one or two extra with us for the triduum), the altar boys (we only have altar boys), and, if that's not enough, the lector or another man from the congregation. The pastor then washes one foot of each man, while the choir sings. It's done reverently and relatively quickly (meaning it's not a slog to go through--everyone's got this down to a science, by now). 

Of course, this Mass also celebrates the Institution of the Eucharist, which is the focus of Mass (which is the "source and summit" of our Catholic lives). Our Eucharistic beliefs are really one of the richest parts of Catholicism for me. 

My freshman year in college, I was a member of the debate team. And my debate partner (there were two people on a "team", so our team had a few different teams) and I would debate a lot more than just our assigned debate topics, like famine in the Horn of Africa. He wasn't Catholic, and he had questions about Catholicism. 

One night after practice, we went to the campus library and headed to the second floor, where the Bibles were kept. We laid them out on one of the tables and went at it for a few hours, until the library closed. (This is the sort of thing I like doing, by the way.) 

Proofs for Transubstantiation aren't hard to find; John 6 immediately springs to mind. I brought that up with my partner. "It's just a metaphor!"

"Jesus knew when to use metaphor and simile. He does it all the time. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. Or a fine pearl. But he doesn't do that here. He's pretty explicit. And wouldn't He have had to clarify his remarks, since, to the Jews he was talking to, He's suggesting something crazy radical? Jews don't have anything to do with flesh and blood together. They're freaking out here. But Jesus doesn't say, 'wait, you guys, you're wrong! It's a metaphor!'"

"But that's what it is. It's just bread and wine!" 

If it's just a symbol, than to hell with it (as Flannery O'Connor said).  To Catholics, the entire Mass is built around the Eucharistic sacrifice--the moment of transubstantiation. (This means, by the way, that when the bread and wine are consecrated ["This is my Body", "This is my Blood"] they become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, even though they look like plain old wafers and wine. 

I love the Eucharist, so I generally love Holy Thursday Mass, because we're celebrating the institution of that Sacrament. Not only is it theologically rich, but we also get to sing one of my Favorite Catholic Songs, the Pange Lingua. (Written by a Dominican, incidentally--Go Thomas Aquinas!) 

In the triduum, Mass doesn't "end" the way it normally does--the Triduum Masses/services are all one big liturgy. So after the Prayer After Communion, the Sacrament is taken, in procession, to an altar of repose, usually decorated to resemble a garden (like Gethsemane). The Eucharist isn't reserved in the Tabernacle--the Tabernacle is empty, and the sanctuary lamp (the red candle) that is usually lit, indicating the presence of Christ in the Tabernacle, is extinguished. 

At the Altar of Repose, you can pray in silence until midnight, when no more solemn adoration is allowed, until after Easter. I usually stay for about a half hour, reading the Bible and a few other things. This year I read John 14-17, the Great and Final Discourse of Jesus at the Last Supper, and I was overwhelmed with the way certain things spoke to me; so much so that I decided it would be my lectio for the coming days, and it has been. It's so theologically rich. I'll be sharing those notes with you later.  

(The Adoration is us staying awake with Christ in His agony--doing with the disciples couldn't do, that first Holy Thursday night.) 

The Gift of the Eucharist is one of the supreme gifts of Catholic life. I love this Mass that celebrates it, and kicks off the triduum. 

The Eucharist, as Christ's saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history.

--St. Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, April 17, 2003

Holy Week 2016

All's pretty quiet over here, for Holy Week and the Triduum. Time is being spent contemplating so, in the Dominican fashion, I can "share the fruits of contemplation." 

In a special way, let's pray for Belgium, another country added to the sad role of those affected by terrorist acts. Let us pray that terrorism will cease, and that the Prince of Peace can bring us peace. 

See, my servant shall prosper, 

he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. / Even as many were amazed at him--/so marred was his look beyond human semblance/ and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man--/so shall he startle many nations, / because of him kings shall stand speechless; / for those who have not been told shall see,/ those who have not heard shall ponder it. 

Who would believe what we have heard? / To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?/ He grew up like a sapling before him, / like a shoot from the parched earth; / there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,/ nor appearance that would attract us to him./ He was spurned and avoided by the people,/ a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,/ one of those from whom people hide their faces,/ spurned, and we held him in no esteem. 

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,/ our sufferings that he endured,/ while we thought of him as stricken/ as one smitten by God and afflicted./ But he was pierced for our offenses,/ crushed for our sins;/ upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,/ by his stripes we were healed./ We had alone gone astray like sheep,/ each following his own way;/ but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted/ and opened not his mouth;/ like a lamb led to the slaughter/ or a sheep before the shearers,/ he was silent and opened not his mouth./ Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,/ and who would have thought anymore of his destiny?/ When he was cut off from the land of the living,/ and smitten for the sin of his people,/ a burial place was assigned him among the wicked/ and a burial place with evildoers,/ though he had done no wrong/ nor spoken and falsehood./ But the Lord was pleased/ to crush him in infirmity. 

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,/ he shall see his descendants in a long life,/ and the will of the Lord will be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction/ he shall see the light in fullness of days;/ through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,/ and their guilt he shall bear./ Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,/ and he shall divide the spoils with the might,/ because he surrendered himself to death/ and was counted among the wicked;/ and he shall take away the sins of many,/ and win pardon for their offenses. 

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Catholic 101: Lent

Yes, it's that time again--Lent! Time to think about what to give up, what you're going to eat on Fridays, and things like that. 

I did a weeklong series on Lent a few years ago, and you can read it here. I cover fasting, prayer, alms giving, stations of the cross, and more. Think of it as a basic Lent primer in seven parts. 

Here is Pope Francis' Lenten message for 2016. Since it's the Year of Mercy, going to confession at least once before Easter should be on our list of Lenten musts.  

And of course, Restore! If you haven't registered yet, there's still time to do so. All the details are here.  

Later this week I'll have my Lenten book post up, if you're looking for reading suggestions.  

Happy Feast Day, St. Thomas Aquinas!

Dominican Feast Day=party, in my world. 

To learn more about St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, you can read a post I wrote about him here. 

Lent 2016: Restore

Lent is crazy early this year, I know. Doesn't it feel like it was just Christmas? (Well, it was, in its defense...it is the 25th!) 

Ash Wednesday is February 10th this year, which makes Easter March 27, which is almost the earliest it can fall. So I can understand if the idea of preparing Lenten ideas, or pondering a Lenten program, can seem overwhelming right now. For the past few years, it's seemed that way to me. 

Can I suggest something? 

For the past two years I've done Restore, Elizabeth Foss's beautiful Lenten workshop. If you're feeling tired, burnt-out, at the end of your rope, and really in need of self-care and restoration, this is the place to come. The workshop runs from Ash Wednesday to Saturday, April 2--the week after Easter. Bonus! And all of the wonderful content is yours to keep!

There are two options: 

This is the full option, which is $49--$16 less than last year!--and you get all of these things to keep--even the podcasts. How's that for goodness?  Everything works through the Gumroad app. You can even print these things off, if you're like me and like paper copies of things to hold on to and mark up. 

$49 a bit steep for you? Here's another option: 

This one is $15. Again--you get to keep all these things. No worries about it disappearing into the Cloud somewhere. 

No, you don't have to be Catholic! Elizabeth is, and I am (of course), but there's no Special Secret Catholic handshake to get it. All women are welcome. There is, of course, the strong faith element. For more FAQs, here's Elizabeth's page on the workshop. 

I love Elizabeth's work, wholeheartedly. If you're a mom, I think this will particularly resonate with you. She's a mom of nine kids! But again, you don't have to be a mom--you don't even have to be married!--to glean goodness from this program. 

So if you're looking for a great Lenten program, I highly recommend this one. I recommend it so much that I'm here, tell you all about it. :) 

Want to purchase? Go here, and select which option you'd like! 

I look forward to restoring with you!

(Note: If you purchase from the link above, or on the sidebar, I get a small percentage of the price back since I'm a Gumroad affiliate. So you'll be helping me, too! But I definitely, DEFINITELY love this workshop and wouldn't recommend it to you guys if I didn't. It's been so helpful to me the past two Lents!)

Happy New Year! And a New Series

Happy new year, guys!

No, I don't have my months wrong. First Sunday of Advent=Church New Year. 

Advent is here-Jesus is coming. That's a good reason to be happy, right? (And Stuffing Leftovers.)

Since it's a new Church Year, I'm going to kick off a new series, starting next Monday. 

As regular readers know, I teach first grade CCD. You would think that most adult Catholics would know the stuff I teach at that level. But I'm surprised to hear, when I talk about the stuff I teach, that a lot of Catholics have no idea. They can't define "grace", or what a virtue is. (They can name virtues, but they aren't really sure what a virtue is.) They don't know how the 12 apostles died. (That's actually pretty cool.) The big things, yeah, they know that. But the things that really make Catholicism beautiful? Sometimes they're missing that. 

So I've decided to, every Monday, go through my class lesson plan, and do a post about what we teach the kids about a certain topic. We cover a lot in first grade--all the sacraments, the life of Jesus, the liturgical year, the 12 apostles, the 10 commandments, the beatitudes, saints, some Old Testament, etc. I'll go a little out of order at first and start with Advent and the Liturgical Year next week, because that's where we are. 

I know I'm continually amazed by what the kids ask, and what I learn teaching them. I hope you enjoy it, too! 

Daybook No. 112

Outside my window::

Cloudy, a marked contrast from yesterday's blue skies and sun, but since It's going to be in the 60s, I'll take it. Especially since....gulp.....snow might in the future! 

Wearing::

My PJs--I just got up (it's 8 AM as I'm writing this) 

Reading::

North and South, Mockingjay, Rising Strong,  and The Betrothed. I really like North and South--Margaret Hale is a great character. I'm late to the Rising Strong party, but better late than never, and I also have Daring Greatly to read.

In the CD player::

Fun Home and Hamilton. No Christmas music until at least after Thanksgiving!

Living the Liturgy::

Today is Lucy Pevensie's feast day! And since she's my Dominican patron, I get to party all day. 

Around the House::

Doing the deep cleaning to get ready for decorating> I don't have much to do--the tree, a few baubles, and my Fontanini creche (one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received, ever). The Baby Jesus doesn't go in the creche until Christmas Eve, and the Magi make their way into the set proper by Epiphany. If you're looking for a Nativity set, I highly recommend this one. The figures are made of a type of plastic that means kids can chew on them, play with them, etc., and they won't break!

Speaking of Catholic households, this is a good article from Our Sunday Visitor that's worth a ponder. 

I'm also in the last stages of Tidying Up. I took three bags of books to Half Price books yesterday, so I'm still looking for the book/CD/DVD "click point" that Kondo talks about. I'm sure I'll find it--eventually. :) Until then, I just keep taking books to HPB. 

Creativity::

I have "won" NaNo--but the book's not done. Oh no. I'm going to write a sequel. (I can't believe it either!) Nothing about this book has gone the way I thought it would, but it's been in a great way. My friend Andrea says the "muse has inhabited me", and while that may or may not be true, it sure is fun. I will officially "win" NaNo on the 20th, when you can start verifying word counts. 

So I have to put an ending on this guy (a cliff-hanger, of course), and then start the new document for book two, maybe do some outlining--and then touch nothing until January. This is what usually happens with my NaNo books--I finish them in November and then don't touch them until January. That gives them, and me, a nice break before I begin revising/editing. 

And I can purl! You'll see the proof tomorrow in the Yarn Along. 

Pondering::

In light of the attacks on Paris, this is an excellent read. It's long, but it's well-worth the time it takes. 

There are so many problems in our world that are new, and all colliding at once--fighting a war against an enemy we can't see (as Judi Dench said in Skyfall), the Syrian refugees, elections, earthquakes in Mexico and Japan....

The only solution I can see to it is to pray more intensely. 

Plans for the week::

Not much, which is nice. CCD on Sunday, when we'll talk about Jesus' birthday (we talked about Advent last week). And then it's Thanksgiving week, and then we're into December! Holy cow!

This Week's Question: How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your family? 

Deciding who lives and who dies

First, we have some OP Power, from Fr. Thomas Petri, who is the Academic Dean of the Dominican House of Studies in D.C. 

A sampling: 

Do we lose something, as a people, when it not only becomes legal but also expected that those with terminal illness should “choose” to die? If the European experience tells us anything, it is that those expectations willinevitably come. As clinicians morally coerce patients to end their lives (or impose that choice themselves) they will say that such is the caring thing to do, to free the friends and family who would otherwise be bound by responsibility. Yet no one is an island. It’s okay to be dependent. And though it’s difficult, we each know we owe constancy to those who need us the most.

This is one of my hot topics, obviously. In some countries, I'd have been aborted, using today's technology. I am genetically imperfect in a variety of ways. I have CF. I have thalessimia minor--and in Cyprus, babies with thalessimia are aborted, to the extent that there aren't new babies born with it. * 

I've been dependent on other people for most of my life, and I will continue to be so. I can't use a phone, so my parents have to make any necessary phone calls for me. My parents pay for my medications that keep me alive, because my salary is so low that there's no way I could pay for all my health care and live independently. My mom accesses my port every month. My life is totally dependent on the drugs I take. Without them, I'm not here. Heck, I'm only alive because someone decided to donate her organs. Like Blanche Dubois, I exist on the "kindness of strangers." 

Is it great, all the time? Well, no. I'd really like to be able to use a phone, but I like being alive more, so I don't begrudge--too often--the drugs that made it necessary for me to have the bionic ear. 

By my count, I've been close to death about five times. I've had some pretty unpleasant hospital experiences. (pH probe, chest tubes--I'm looking at you!). But never have I wished, in those moments, that I wasn't alive for them. 

"Princess, life has it all over death!", The Engineer tells Kim in Miss Saigon. And that's true. Life is the greatest gift we have. It's not perfect. No one's life is perfect. There will be pain. There will be suffering. It's guaranteed. We cannot prevent it. We cannot remove it. 

A fulfilling life isn't about what you can do. Life is precious because of what it is. We are created in the image and likeness of God. The angels envy us. No matter what we can or cannot do, physically or mentally, the most vulnerable among us need protected. Not snuffed out. 

______________________________

* for the Cyrus stat, from Wikipedia: A screening policy exists in Cyprus to reduce the incidence of thalassemia, which, since the program's implementation in the 1970s (which also includes prenatal screening and abortion), has reduced the number of children born with the hereditary blood disease from one of every 158 births to almost zero.[

Seven Quick Takes No. 100

I. 
Yes, It's a long time I've been doing these guys, and if I was on Top of Blogging Life, I would've had some giveaway today. But no. Sorry! I'm thinking about having another giveaway soon, though. 

II. 

NaNoWriMo 2015 is upon us! I really love NaNo time, even though this year it took me a long, long time to decide what I wanted to write about. I have now decided, and I'm ready to go come November 1! I'm hoping to use some of the 9 hours I'll be in the car this weekend to do some brainstorming for my characters, but we'll see what happens. (I'm going to an out of state wedding) If the brainstorming doesn't happen in the car, it can always happen in the comfort of my hotel room (maybe with Room Service? Girl can dream.)

I will try to post regular NaNo updates here, so you can keep track. Previous "finished" novels (meaning I got to 50K words and "won) are listed above in  the Writing menu. 

III. 

Yes, Indiana is the third stop of Emily's Crazy October Tour. Boston, retreat, and now, Indiana. I've been to Indiana before, but only to Indianapolis and Richmond, so it'll be a chance for me to see more of this state. 

IV. 

I was back to my CCD kids for the first time in a few weeks last week, and I missed them! They learned a lot of stuff while I was gone. Last week we talked about Adam and Eve, and this week my co-catechist is going to take them through Noah, Abraham, and Moses. You know, nothing difficult or important. ;-) I'm sad I'll be missing 10 commandments week, because I love teaching the kids about that. Explaining adultery to first graders is always  a lot of fun. (I'm kidding. Their faces, though, are a lot of fun--they always look like, 'why would anyone want to do that?!')

V. 

So, ST. John Paul II's feast day was yesterday, so Quick Takes V, VI and VII are just gonna be JPII quotes. You ready? :) 

{P, F, H, R} 7: Retreat time!

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter. 

{Pretty, Happy, Real}

 I spent last weekend in retreat. It was the annual Lay Dominican retreat, which is held every October, either here in Columbus or in Cincinnati, and chapter members from four states come and spend the weekend together. I've been to St. Therese's (this retreat house) many times for silent retreats, but never for our Lay Dominican Regional Retreat. I'm going to write more about the retreat experience tomorrow, but here are some of the photos from the weekend. 

Our Lady of Lourdes in the retreat house grotto. 

St. Therese Reliquary off the main chapel. 

The chapel before vespers. 

Back wall of the chapel 

Our Lady of the Rosary

Or: Today is the Day that the Rosary Saved Europe. 

Don't believe me? Read about it here. 

Happy feast day, St. Therese!

Happy Feast Day to all of you who love St. Therese as much as I do. 

Here's a post I wrote a few months ago about her being my "accidental patron".