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I cut out this photo from a newspaper and kept it at my desk at work—there’s something about it that I just loved.
In reading about Benedict XVI’s death last week, I found this story about the Pope Emeritus’ “spiritual testament”—so I thought for the last day of blogmas, I’d share if with you. You can read it here.
And in honor of him, we’ll wrap up Blogmas ‘22 with a German carol, “Josef Lieber, Josef Mein”
One of the most confusing Catholic beliefs, I think, is that of today’s solemnity.
The Immaculate Conception doesn’t refer to Jesus—it refers to Mary. It means that Mary was conceived without original sin in the womb of her mother, St. Ann, as a singular grace. It doesn’t mean she’s a goddess. It means she was special prepared to be the mother of God. In Mother Mary Francis’ words, Mary was “pre-cleaned.”
(For more on the Church’s Marian doctrine, check out this Catholic 101 post I wrote.)
“She did not have that downward pull that we have, but she still had choices, and she could have wrong ones or right ones. She could have insisted after the finding in the temple that Jesus explain what he meant. She could have said, ‘I am your Mother, and I have got to get this straight. I don’t understand what you are talking about.’ But she preferred, she chose, to accept what was to her not understandable, and to return to her humble home and to go about her duties and to ponder these things in her heart…She chose the will of God and she chose is freely—again, we say, unencumbered by the downward pull of concupiscence that we know so well, but still a woman quite capable of doing right or wrong, or doing good or better or best.
“It is very important that we do not allow our Lady to be distanced from us by her Immaculate Conception, but to be brought closer to us. She is the one to teach us poor sinners because she is called the Refuge of Sinners. Our Lord did not give her to St. John and say, ‘Now I am giving her to you, and she is the Mother of all the flawlessly holy ones.’ But he gave her to be the Mother of all persons, of all men and he knew what was in them, what is in each one of us, our weaknesses as well as our strengths.”
—Mother Mary Francis, PCC, Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting
Botticelli, “The Annunciation”
Lately there’s been a whole cascade of encounters that have made me think that we need to talk more about Advent.
People saying Christmas ends on the 26th; people being burnt out on Christmas by Christmas Day; and housekeeping plans that tell you to take the tree and decorations down starting the 26th so you can have a “clean house” by January First are all a part of this.
We have forgotten about Advent.
Now, I’m guilty of wanting to play Christmas music in December. :) (This is because there is SO MUCH GOODNESS of it that it takes months to listen to fully!) I put my tree up after Thanksgiving. It’s true. My grandparents put their tree up on Christmas Eve. So I realize that it may not seem like I’m big into Advent.
But I love Advent. I love keeping the baby Jesus out of the crib until Christmas Eve. I love the readings of Advent, and the music of Advent. I love the delicious waiting, as Mother Mary Francis says. * (Link goes to my all time favorite Advent book!)
We need to re-adjust. We can decorate slowly. We can save the parties for the actual Christmas season, which begins Christmas Day and goes for at least twelve days! In the old church calendar, Christmas was a forty day season that ended on Candlemas! (February 2) Yes, you can keep your nativity up that long (and your tree if you’re like me and have a fake one that won’t catch fire!)
Are there things we can do during advent to prepare for Christmas? Of course. We celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. We light the candles on the Advent wreath. We leave shoes out for St. Nicholas. St. Lucy’s Day is a great day to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World and to make St. Lucia Buns!
But the solemnity, the season, of Christmas begins December 25. It’s not over December 26. It’s a season. It’s a big old period for joy.
And likewise, Advent is a season—in preparing for that joy. For making our houses “fair as you are able” (People Look East)
Leila has a wonderful post about this, and it’s a great idea to incorporate some of these into your Christmas. I’ve tried to do this as well—I love the cocoa party idea, for example. Even if you’re single like I am, you can still celebrate the 12 days! I used to love taking time off after Christmas not just for our family reunion but for unwinding around the house and reading all my Christmas books!
If you’d like to celebrate Advent this year, just a note: Advent doesn’t start December 1 and go through the 24th. (I see this a lot.) It properly starts four Sundays before Christmas—this year it starts November 27. It’s movable, just like Lent’s start date is movable. So the first Sunday of Advent is November 27, the second is December 4, the third is December 11, and the fourth is December 18. Yes, we have the longest Advent possible this year, because it’s four full weeks! Sometimes the “fourth week” is really just a few hours, since the fourth Sunday of Advent can also be Christmas Eve.
If you need candles for your wreath, you can check here and here.
Living the season liturgically gives us time to prepare, and time to enjoy. It’s not all crammed together in a stress ball of madness!
BONUS: Here’s my favorite version of Veni, Veni (O Come, O Come Emmanuel):
It has been so long since I’ve done one of these, but I saw that Elizabeth Foss has re-started them over at her blog and that gave me the impetus to go ahead and write this one! Because I like them and it’s been way too long since we’ve had one!
Outside my window::
It’s a sunny day, the grass and trees are green and thriving (see above photo!). It’s only going to be 81 today so that mens I can sit on my porch and read without frying to a crisp. This is excellent.
I am listening to::
In the car, it’s the Six * soundtrack. It’s so fun. I’ve also been working on learning Scottish Gaelic, so sometimes I tune into the BBC Scotland (Alba) channel and get a mix of Scottish music and talk radio—sometimes in English, sometimes in Gaelic. I’m really good at picking out the word “and”! (which is agus).
I am wearing::
You know, when the world shut down in 2020, it was so easy to get into the “I am not going to get dressed” thing, right? I’ve never been a person to leave the house in my pajamas, and I’m still not. But yes, my favorite leggings and a great t-shirt are sort of my summer uniform, along with a fun lipstick. (One of my New Year’s Resolutions? Wear more lipstick. It sounds really funny and sort of silly, but I love doing it now!) Generally my hair is up. When I’m dressed like this I feel like I can get a lot of things done, which is always a good idea!
Grateful for::
Talking to Maddie and my sister this morning—Maddie is blowing raspberries and it’s so cute.
Good weather
The local farmers’ market, which I remembered to visit yesterday!
A new baby to knit for
Pondering::
Two big projects—but not writing projects. One of them is a wholesale overhaul of my apartment. The other is about gaining back muscle strength and endurance post COVID lockdowns.
The apartment is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, and this has two parts: the really deep clean + organizing, and then the decorating part. The two are sort of dovetailing because as I deep clean/sort/donate/organize things I notice things that need replaced or things I need to get to ensure things are running smoothly around here. The other part is replacing broken things with things that I, in some cases like better, like the lamp below:
This lamp is perfect!
The goal is to have the cleaning and organizing done by Labor Day. I think I can do it! The decorating will take a bit longer as I look for things that are good fits, like the lamp above. There was a lamp there that didn’t really fit the space or my style, but I kept it because I hadn’t found anything else I really liked. As soon as I saw this lamp (from Target) I knew it would be perfect, and it is. So then I was able to get rid of the old, broken lamp!
Another part of housekeeping is having the energy/stamina to do it, because I don’t always. If I get sick, the entire system collapses, so I need a better system, for starters, but that also feeds into the second project—getting my stamina back. Lockdowns did a huge number on my overall fitness, and so I’ve decided that I’m really going to re-focus on that. I’m doing Take Up and Read’s Well and Good summer program, and that’s been really helpful in addressing certain issues I’d been having. I’m not trying to lose weight—at this point, I want to be strong and be able to function on a daily basis, for myself, but also for Patty, Madeleine, and my new niece!
So I’ve been working out three times a week—the goal is to build that up to 5 days. The workouts vary but I can already seem changes in my stamina and strength, which is all for the good. And if I have more strength, I can do more around the house as well! It all works together.
Reading::
The King’s Pearl*, about Henry VIII and his daughter Mary; Mansfield Park*'; Taste: My Life Through Food*, and Theology of Home III: At The Sea. *
Creating::
a shawl—I’m in a yarn club so every quarter members get a special kit with an exclusive pattern, yarn for the pattern, and a knitting notion. I’ve been knitting through kits I have, and this is the one I’m on now—hopefully I’ll have it off the needles by August’s Yarn Along! I’ll have full notes there too.
To Live the Liturgy::
Today’s the feast of St. Martha!
Around the House::
See above! :) But right now the laundry is going as I write this.
From the Kitchen::
When I visited Diane, she taught me how to make sourdough bread and gave me some of her starter. I am most likely going to bake my first loaf with it within the next week. Fingers crossed!
Patty observes the process!
Plans for the week::
As we head into August my schedule is lovely and clear. August has two medical days—an Echo as part of my yearly transplant testing, as well as the whole day testing/doctor visit extravaganza. But other than that, the month is so clear and I love it.
On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is so appropriate that one of the worst SCOTUS decisions in history is overturned, joining Dred Scot and Plessy on the ash heap of history.
Every since I was old enough to know what abortion was, I—and so many others—have prayed and worked for today. This is a victory for the pro-life movement, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all to take today and celebrate and give thanks for this.
I am happy on a more personal level as well. If you’ve read my book, you know that I have often had people tell me that people with genetic diseases are not “worthy” of living, because our lives are too hard or we suffer.
Ninety-six percent of babies who are discovered to have CF in utero are aborted.
Today, that number will begin to decrease, and more people like me will have a chance at life.
It’s important to note that Dobbs doesn’t make abortion illegal in the United States. Instead, it throws the matter back to the states (which is where it should have been all the time.). Every state can determine their own abortion laws.
This is not the end of the pro-life movement. In the words of Winston Churchill, “It is the end of the beginning.”
We know that there is work to do to change perceptions. We know that more pro-family legislation is needed, and we need to continue to support the work of maternity/crisis pregnancy homes, pro-life charities, and other supportive networks.
If you want to contact your state legislators about this, be sure to do it politely (always, please, especially if you’re calling them).Let them know that you support legislation that helps the vulnerable. See what your state already has and then work to support it, financially, materially, or with your time. I’ll be compiling a list of resources later, but you can always start with the Sisters of Life, who do such great work in the US and Canada.
And let’s stop talking about how children are barriers to our lives, OK? Let’s stop talking about how women have “fewer rights” then men. Women, it’s time for us to stop believing the lies that the sexual revolution taught us. Sex is not free. Having sex with multiple partners is not liberating. Let’s reject this mindset for the lie it is. Let’s teach our daughters that. Let’s not continue to perpetuate a lie—which is really a malicious, twisted lie—that sexual freedom is a good thing, that we are “entitled” to do whatever we want, when we want it. That’s a perversion of our freedom.
There are certainly times when women find themselves in situations that they didn’t expect. The pro-life movement is there for them. We need to champion life in all its stages, and Dobbs gives us the framework to start doing that legislatively—but it also gives us the freedom to start doing more outside of the statehouses, to step up our advocacy and demonstrate that it’s truth that sets us free.
Women deserve better than abortion. Children deserve better than abortion. We all deserve better than a culture that takes innocent lives and treats them like garbage, and cloaks its satanic mission in words like “care” or “health decisions” or “choice”.
Today is a victory for life.
Let’s celebrate it, and then continue our work.
(NOTE: normally, I let the combox be totally open. But I will delete any comments that have bad language on this post, OK? I would do that anyway, but….just a reminder.)
So I had to read at Mass on Saturday night—Pentecost Vigil. No biggie. I did my job, I pronounced “Bitumen” correctly (that word is not fun to say), and it was time to receive Communion.
As a lector, I am sitting in the front row on the right side of the church. So, I’m fairly visible.
I go up to receive communion. Now, I have done this for 32 years. That’s over 1,600 communions roughly. I have received on the tongue pretty much exclusively for the past 12 years, no problems.
So I get in line.
Then, the following:
Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion: (ECMH) (Holding up the Host) The Body of Christ.
Me: Amen. ( I open my mouth. the EMCH extends his hand, holding the Host, toward my mouth. The DEACON appears, and STARTLES the EMCH.)
THE HOST FALLS.
ALL OUR EYES meet in total panic and confusion.
ME: Where did it go?
Deacon: It went…down your dress. (With discreet hand motion indicating it went….south.)
Me: OK. (To EMCH) Let’s try this again.
EMCH: The Body of Christ.
ME: (receiving in the hand this time) AMEN.
I head back to my seat. I look at the floor I just walked over. No host there. OK. So Jesus is….on my person.
I begin discreetly patting down my dress, wondering if the Host got caught in the folds or the lining or the flounces…
And then I see.
The Host is IN MY BRA.
That’s right. Jesus—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—has taken up residence in my bra cup.
(Did I mention I’m in the front row?)
My dress neckline is a shallow v-neck. So very discreetly (I HOPE), I reach into my dress and remove Jesus from my bra. I then consume the Lord.
I don’t know if Jesus thought that I needed extra grace this week or what, but I totally want to crack up laughing and I’m wondering, OK, what do I do with my bra now? Is it a relic? Am I a relic?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!
(What makes it even more humorous is that usually we have altar servers with patens to catch any Hosts that escape like this. We were short one altar boy, I think, on Saturday. So if the altar boy had been there, this wouldn’t have happened! But it did!)
So after Mass the other lector asks me, “What happened during Communion?” I tell him. He cracks up.
Mom asks me the same thing as we head into the parking lot. She starts cackling, and then laughing so hard she cannot breathe. And then I’m laughing.
I mean, the ways of the Lord are indeed mysterious. But I had never thought that The Lord would…decide to fly down my dress.
Whatever Lord. Whatever.
Botticelli, The Man of Sorrows
In case you were unaware, Lent starts on Wednesday. Yes, this coming Wednesday, March 2!
So, let’s talk about Lent, shall we?
First a few things…
My friend Jen Fitz has written a retreat ebook, called Lord, You Know That I Love You, that is currently free on Amazon. That’s right, free! I highly encourage you to go check it out! The sale runs through the end of the month. (as in, through Monday, Feb. 28, 2022)
Not sure what Lent is? Or what we do during it? You can check out this post, which has a link to a weeklong series I did on Lenten practices!
Do you want to know more about the basics of Catholicism? Then you’re in luck! I wrote a whole ebook about them, called Catholic 101! It covers the church year, the sacraments, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and lots more! You can read it on any e-reader, as well as on your desktop/laptop/phone, and you can even print it out if you want to read it on paper. It’s $5!
And, of course, Living Memento Mori is, dare I say, perfect for Lent. If you’d like a signed copy, email me.
My Lent is usually focused on a few things. I can’t fast, but I can abstain from meat, so I do that on the days required (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent). I also don’t use food for a penance. Instead, I give up book and yarn buying, and with the money I save from that, I use it for charitable donations (ie, almsgiving in Church parlance). Two of my favorite charities are Mary’s Meals and our local diaper bank.
I am single. I know you probably know that, but when I talk about things like penances and living Lent, I want to remind you that since I don’t have a family, I have a lot of flexibility that you might not have. Take what’s good here, and leave the rest. :) So when I say I want to try a monastic horarium for Lent (which I do, generally, try to do during Lent, in order to deepen my prayer life), that’s something that a lot of people can’t do, because they work outside the home, or they have children that wouldn't exactly allow them to pray all seven offices of the Liturgy of the Hours or have a holy hour every week!
I have a few books: Restore and Just Rest (a study of the book of Exodus). I will try to incorporate more offices from the Liturgy of the Hours —right now I say lauds (morning prayer) and vespers (evening prayer) every day, and I’d like to add in compline, night prayer. I can find time for more prayer because I’m going to limit my time on certain social media platforms, mostly Twitter right now, because I know I’m spending too much time there and Lent is a good time to try to restore correct balance in how I spend my time.
Is there anything that you would like to see me do during Lent? Living Memento Mori book club? Stations of the Cross on Facebook Live? Anything else? Please let me know!
What does your Lent look like? How are you preparing for this season?
Today’s a Marian feast day, hence Marian photo!
Welcome, 2022!
I hope that all of you have a New Year that is full of joy, happiness, blessings, and good books.
The USCC offers this prayer service to bring in a new year.
Today is also the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God., so we’re going to have some Marian Christmas music.
This song is one of my favorites! Give it a listen!
This is sadly not captioned, so the lyrics are here.
Plaque commemorating St. Pope John Paul II’s visit to Estes Park’s Our Lady of the Mountains parish in Estes Park, CO. My sister got married here!
Today we’re not doing a normal quick takes. Since it’s the feast of St. John Paul II, I thought I’d write a little bit about him.
He was the pope for the majority of my life—when he died, I was twenty-three (and I would have my lung transplant a few months later). My dad, especially, has a lot of love for him, so I grew up with the pope’s books around the house, including Crossing the Threshold of Hope* (which I still love to re-read), and his encyclicals.
In fact, his apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris (On the meaning of human suffering) plays a big part in my book. My love of the pope led to the fact that I knew I could use some of his beautiful words to help make my points that suffering is not, always, an evil. Suffering can lead us closer to God (if you read that and go Oh, Emily, stop it, then go read the book. Seriously.)
He was such a father. When he died, I felt like my own father had died. Partially because his papacy was so long—much like Queen Elizabeth II’s reign—it was hard to imagine a world without him. Even when he couldn’t travel as much, or was physically debilitated by Parkinson’s disease, he was there.
BE NOT AFRAID! To me that is the great message of his papacy. We need to hear that so much today—do not be afraid.
If you’d like to read more about him, I highly recommend George Weigel’s two part biography: Witness to Hope* and The End and the Beginning* .
And of course, you can read the things that he wrote, with his ferocious intellect—he wrote so many things, plays, poetry, meditations, and his letters and encyclicals. There’s so much goodness to be found there.
The best way to honor his feast day, though, would probably be to pray the rosary. He loved it so much and wanted us to love it too!
And he’d also like us to remember that life with Christ is an adventure!
Go live like it is.
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In the words of Dumbledore (adapted), “Welcome, welcome, to another week of Quick Takes!”
Post from earlier this week, which is proving really popular: Get In The Picture.
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Last weekend, I attended my parish’s women’s retreat, and it was so lovely! I loved the items we received from Pio Prints, a fabulous local company.
Each table had a lovely bouquet of flowers.
I just joined this parish in January, so I hadn’t been to this retreat before, and I hadn’t had a chance to meet many women in the parish. Fellow Ave Author Emily Jaminet was the speaker, and she gave us three fabulous talks that were just what I needed to hear.
Emily’s authored and co-authored several books, and her talks were derived from those books. The first talk was about the Sacred Heart, which was a devotion I’d heard of but hadn’t really thought much about. Emily runs the local Sacred Heart Enthronement group, and it was beautiful to hear her talk about this special devotion! (Her book, Secrets of the Sacred Heart*, is well worth reading to learn more about this devotion).
Her second talk was about Christian friendship (based on her book The Friendship Project*, which is great), and the third focused on making time for prayer throughout our busy days! (Based on her book Prayfully)
My notebook is full of a lot of “thank you, Jesus!” for bringing me on this retreat, because initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go. I am really glad I listened to Jesus’ prompting and went. And I told Him so when we had adoration after Mass.
It was also really great to talk to Emily about writing and being a writer, especially since we are published by the same publisher. She was also gracious enough to plug my book several times during the retreat!
There are so many lovely women at my parish who are truly seeking holiness, and it was great to meet them and have good Catholic women’s fellowship!
(Also, want a signed copy of my book for a Christmas gift? Keep reading. ;-)
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Speaking of great Catholic women….my friend Kelly (who runs the Seven Quick Takes) has just published her first book!
I was deeply honored to endorse Better than OK*, which I think (and I wrote!) is vital for parents with kids who have chronic illnesses or other types of issues (I just say issues. I could say special needs, etc. but issues is the word that comes to mind for me!) It’s a beautiful, helpful book and I hope that it reaches the wide audience it deserves!
This sort of thing is something that the pro-life movement needs. We need parents to hear that it will be OK—BETTER than OK!—to raise these children, from parents in the same situations. We need to hear stories like mine that talk about how it’s possible to find job in a hard life. All these things come together to create a culture of life, with support that people need.
So go get this book! Get it! Now!
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In Patty updates: this week, she has become a little girl.
I mean she always was one, duh. But she’s gone from baby/toddler to a little girl.
She has seemingly discovered her sister Bridget’s baby dolls this week, and…what a little mama! I just can’t believe how grown up she is, all of a sudden. Like I said—little girl, not a baby.
And what a fun stage—to hear her talk and to get to play dolls with her, like her sisters are doing—but it’s also sad to leave behind baby Patty.
Fortunately Baby Maddie (my niece, my sister Melanie and BIL Jason’s little girl) is on her way!!
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Speaking of Maddie, I’ve started working on her blanket!
It’s a variation of the one I made Patty….
Which in and of itself is a variation on the Sully blanket pattern. (I don’t do the picked up border.)
or this one, I’m adding a small garter stitch boarder to keep the ends from curling up. You can’t really see it here (the bottom part, you can, imagine it doing that all the way around), but I don’t block blankets and with stockinette stitch (which this blanket is), I want there to be less curling. So basically every time I make this I modify it a little bit!
I’m using Rowan’s Baby Cashsoft Merino, which has cashmere in it, because, why not, and she is my first niece. :) (Well first niece or nephew, for that matter.) It’s so great to work with! I’m using the colors turquoise, rosy, snowflake, and lavender (in that order of striping) and I’m almost done with the first turquoise stripe. Because of the stockinette pattern you can’t see it really well, but I took a photo for you anyway (above)!
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OK before we continue Yarn-A-Palooza, CHRISTMAS BOOKS.
If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for Christmas, then please email me. They are $20, and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card. I can make it out to anyone you want! They are great gifts!
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Back to yarn. :) I recently ordered these beauties, to make into a shawl:
And Christmas knitting has begun! I didn’t do too much of it last year, but this year, I’m making a few things for people. Do you make hand made gifts for anyone? I’m using some really soft yarn that will make up into great winter accessories!
OK so it’s confession time.
I am really, really bad about reading the Bible.
Given that I love to read, this is even worse, I think. I love to read—and I neglect the Bible?
(That’s not precisely true. I love the New Testament. I love certain parts of the old, especially Isaiah, Esther, the Psalms, and the Song of Songs, and Lamentations during Lent. And when I say the Office, I am getting quite a bit of Scripture in!)
Every time I’ve tried to read the Bible “straight through”, I’d get bogged down in Leviticus and that would be it. Ugh.
So this year, my spiritual director said, “You need to do the Bible in A Year Podcast.”
And, being obedient, I did. I started in May.
The first thing about this is—it does cover the entire Bible in a year. But each day doesn’t take terribly long. Each podcast is about a half hour or so (sometimes less than that!). You can listen in your car! The podcast will also remain up permanently, so even if you start today, you’ll still have access to the podcast next year!
Second, Fr. Mike explains things. (I’ll get to my two big revelations in a second). This is so helpful. Everything is explained through a Catholic lens, which can be hard to find! There are a lot of “study bibles”, but they can be….yeah. Dense. Let’s just put it that way. He also has special episodes with Jeff Cavins, a bible scholar, before every new reading “period”. (There are 15 periods that make up the plan.)
The podcast uses the Great Adventure Catholic Bible (published by Ascension), but if you want to use your own bible, that’s cool too. I use the Great Adventure Bible tabs to mark up my bibles and I love them.
I’m on Day 126 now, so I’m more than 1/3 of the way through the Bible, which is amazing to me. So far I’ve read: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, and the book of Job, as well as parts of Psalms and the book of Proverbs (those last two are sprinkled throughout the entire year) . Right now I’m in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles (the “Royal kingdom” period in the plan.)
Here are the two biggest takeaways I’ve had so far:
Leviticus is actually all about the worship of God (as is a lot of Numbers). It’s not just names and rules. It’s God telling his people how he wants to be worshipped. He’s taking these people who don’t know him and forming them into his people. And that means they need to know what God loves and what he hates, and how to worship him, because they couldn’t in Egypt!
A lot of how we worship today is reflected in this readings! The Eucharist is even prefigured, when talking about the bread of the presence! Moses anoints Aaron, the same way priests are anointed today during the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Altars are also anointed when new churches are constructed—same as in the book of Leviticus. The sanctuary lamp that you see in every Catholic Church? Leviticus 24:2!
He also cares about how the Church is constructed. God actually cares about these little things! (Which was sort of amazing to me, that he cared about the types of wood!)
God also really cares about the Sabbath. Hoooo boy does he care about it. He says it over and over again “you shall keep my sabbaths” (Lev. 25:3, Lev. 26:2, for example). He promises blessings to those who keep the sabbath. (Lev 26:6). He doesn’t just mention it once on Mt. Sinai. He says it over and over and over again. Keep the sabbath. It’s important to him!
You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
—Leviticus 26:2
Now, the Christian sabbath is different from the Jewish sabbath—but it’s still important.
How are we keeping the sabbath day holy? Are we resting from work—including things like laundry and dishes? (I mean sometimes it needs done—but if it can wait until Monday, is it?) Are we enjoying leisure and relaxation? Are we spending time with God in church, and in additional prayer?
God is serious about this and I didn’t realize how much so until I read these chapters.
(If you want to read more about this, I suggest: Leisure: The Basis of Culture and Souls at Rest)
Tithing is another thing God is serious about. He mentions it in Leviticus with offerings, especially the offerings of first fruits (Lev. 23: 9-13), and the priest’s portion was the people’s tithed offerings (Numbers 18).
Tithing is something that we do talk about, but do we talk about it enough? It’s one of the precepts of the church that we are to “provide for the needs of the church.”
But it’s also clearly biblical, and it’s also in the New Testament, where Jesus tells us to give our extra cloak to a person who doesn’t have one. The Epistle of James tells us that, and we heard it this past week at Mass:
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
—James 2:15-17
Generally we talk about giving 10% of our income. I’ve seen some Catholics talk about giving 5% to the parish, and 5% to other good charities, like pro-life organizations. (I think St. Pope John Paul II once mentioned dividing it up that way, but I’m not entirely sure.)
As you all know, I do not have a lot of money. But after reading so much about tithing, I figured out what 10% of my income would be, and I subtracted the number I already tithe. The final number is the amount I need to up my tithing to hit 10%. I am slowly working towards that goal. It’ll take time, but that’s OK.
Some people aren’t in a position to give much, and Jesus talks about that when he talks about the widow’s mite:
He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
—Luke 21: 1-4
We really do need to take this seriously. We have to give to the poor and the those who need our help. You might want to support pro-life charities, or adopt a child from an organization like World Vision. You might want to give to a charity that helps provide clean water around the world. Whatever it is that touches your heart, even if we only have a little—giving a little is still giving.
These are the two things that have really impressed themselves strongly upon my heart. As I continue through the next 2/3 of the Bible, I hope I’ll find other things that I want to share with you!
“Woman Reading”, Edouard Manet
I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about a second book. (Including from my doctor!)
“Are you writing one?”
“What are you writing about now?”
“So you’re writing a second book, right?”
Welllllllllllllll.
(It’s not bad news, don't worry.)
Here’s the deal.
For someone to get to write a second book, the first book has to sell.
Yes, it’s true. It all comes down to money. A publisher has to see sales to think, “Oh, OK, this person has an audience, so it’s worth our outlay of cash to support this person’s writing and give them a book contract.”
So, yes, if you want another book, you have to buy the current book.
I know so many of you have, and I am incredibly, stupendously grateful for your support. Everyone who has left reviews, or written blog posts, or bought copies for friends—I love you. I am so grateful to you.
If you would like to buy a copy, her are all the places you can get it:
Ave Maria Press (they often run sales, and I always post about these on the blog and on my social media accounts)
As a NOOK book and on Kindle
Indiebound (you can also order it through your local indy bookstore!)
Also your local Catholic bookstore or indie bookstore can order it for you. Just ask them! They will do it!
I hate, hate, hate selling things. I hated selling candy bars for school, cookies for Girl Scouts, and cheese and sausage for choir. I HATE it.
But I know that if I want to earn any money writing, I have to ask people to support my writing. Which….I hate doing!
But it’s necessary.
If you already have Living Memento Mori, you can also get Catholic 101, my ebook about the basics of Catholicism, inspired by the years I taught first grade CCD. You can download it, read it on iPad or Kindle, or even print it out! You can gift it!
AND newsletter subscribers get 15% off the $5 price!
Another way is to support my Patreon. It’s more behind the scenes notes on creativity and what I’m working on than here, and it’s somewhat sporadic in posting, but there re goodies you can get and things that I only post there. So if you’re really interested in my inner workings, or just want to support my writing, that’s the way to go. Memberships start a dollar. You can become a patron here!
OK after all that, Patty cleanser!
She has EIGHT teeth now!
OK so on to fun things: projects!
There are a few projects I’m working on.
The first one is Catholicism and Outlander, and I talk a lot more about that over on Patreon. I’m in the research phase of that one right now! (Which means reading and watching TV, POOR ME!)
The other one is a really, really basic knitting series. As in, yes, needles come in packs of two (I seriously did not know this). I know that I wanted something like that when I was starting, and it didn’t exist, and even “beginner” books were not really for beginners! So I’m working on that as well.
And that, my friends, is the state of the wicket!
Me at 14, right after eighth grade graduation.
We’re doing things a little differently today! Instead of normal quick takes, I’m giving you two letters that I wrote to myself at different ages.
Emily Stimpson Chapman is running a contest on Instagram to promote her new book, Letters To Myself at the End of the World. To enter, you write “letters” to your younger selves about four topics—so far, they’ve been on The Church and holiness.
I’ve really loved doing this and I thought I’d share my letters with those of you who might not be on Instagram!
I’m posting them in “age” order, so the one to 14 year old me, on the Church, is first.
Dear Emily,
You just graduated from eighth grade. You’ve spent your entire life surrounded by Catholics, by people who believe what you believe, and live how you live. When you go to high school, that will change.
Within your first month, you’ll be asked if you’re “saved” at the lunch table. You’ll answer that you’re Catholic, and everyone will look at you “like you have lobsters crawling out of [your] ears.” You’ll be told that you’re going to Hell because you’re Catholic. (Don’t worry. In the midst of all of this you’ll make wonderful, lifelong friends!)
You’ve never heard any of this before. You’ve never been told that your Church is wrong, that what you believe is false or silly.
You have two choices—you can be embarrassed by your faith and hide it, or try to change it. Or, you can delve into its richness and find out what you believe, and why you believe it.
You’ll choose the second option. You’ll get the family bible out from under the glass-topped coffee table, and you’ll read it, and the big beige Catechism. You’ll stick post-it notes inside to mark pages (the start of a life long habit that will set you up well for majoring in the liberal arts). And in all of this reading and debating at the lunch table, you’ll fall more deeply in love with the Church.
The Church is not perfect. You know this. You’ll meet plenty of imperfect people, even criminals, in the church. You’re not perfect yourself. ;-) But you will never leave it, because where else would you go?
You love Mary and the rosary; the rosary, in fact, will become your life line (Literally, at times. Seriously). You love the Eucharist so much it can make you breathless at Mass. You love the saints, the sacraments (even confession, which you’ll learn to like more!), and the liturgy. You cannot image giving up any of this, or thinking that any of it isn’t true.
Most of the people in your life will not be Catholic. You will be, in some places, the only Catholic they’ve ever met. You will have to talk about the church over taco salad at your office (it’s always over lunch!).
The Church is your home. It’s your family’s home—generations and generations of Heilmanns and Dorrians and Ireardis and Corrados, back and back and back, to Ireland and Germany and Italy and Scotland. It’s *you*. You are welded to its body, grafted into it—and it will feed you forever. In every moment of your life, it is home. You will weep in pews. You will rail against God’s designs there. You will rejoice. You will cry from happiness. You will be filled with thanksgiving. You will ask why.
Everything, everything is laid bare at the altar. It’s your strength. Never lose it.
Love,
Emily
To 23 year old me, about holiness:
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Doing something a little different and giving you weekend quick takes! So enjoy!
We’ll start off with a Patticake photo, per usual….
Taking a nap on her mom’s lap in the yard.
(For new folks, Patty is my cousin’s girl and my goddaughter. She is not my child. :) )
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I wrote an essay earlier this week about risk and medicine and…well, things. Sort of COVID related, but it’s more like things I’ve noticed with COVID and….well, thoughts. So take a gander at it if you will. I guess I could call it a “long-form” piece?
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I’ve started working on this Moonwhistle Shawl from Drea Renee Knits and oh my goodness, I adore it.
Ignore all the ends! I’m also fairly sure the bit on wonkiness on the left side will ease up post-blocking.
Here are the yarns I used: Light blue is Wool of the Andes worsted in Whirlpool; Dark blue is Swish Worsted in Marine Heather; and the color change ball is Chroma Worsted in Drawing Room.
This is a pretty easy knit, in that I think I’d great for learning color work, and it’s simple. It’s all knit stitch (garter stitch) and slipped stitches, and one M1L (Make one left), which is explained in the pattern. One of the great things about Andrea’s patterns is that she explains everything, which is so great, and she lists the skills/techniques you need before you buy the pattern, which I WISH all designers did! If you want to check out the pattern for Moonwhistle, here you go.
One of best parts about the design is what she calls the “tweed” sections—where you work with the color change yarn. Oh my gosh this is so fun. So I am addicted to this and am trying to not knit all day, but it’s hard not to when a pattern is this great.
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Reading: The Hour of the Witch, Drums of Autumn, and the last book in Alison Weir’s Tudor Queens series, Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife, which then led me to go back and re-read the entire series, so I’ve read Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, and now I’m on Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession. The great thing about Weir is she’s a historian first, so her books are all informed on the latest scholarship, which in the case of Katherine of Aragon, Ames it pretty clear that she was not lying to the king about her relationship with Prince Arthur. (Yes, I’m a British history nerd, sorry.)
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I don’t really need a reason to re-read any of the Outlander books, but I’m doing it because I’mw working on my new project! Presenting….
There is so much good Catholic stuff in the books and even the TV series, and I’ve wanted to do a deep-dive into it for awhile, so I figure now is the time. So I’m re-reading all the books and making notes. I’m also trying to marshal my thoughts on organization—by book, by theme, by….? But anyway, that’s what’s going right now in my research. Very excited for this.
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No movie reviews this week (did you like that? Because I liked doing it), but I’ve been watching some opera. I do love opera. I sort of wish I would’ve loved it more when I was younger, because my voice teacher is an opera singer who now sings with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. But alas. However, I am classically trained! So I love watching opera—I find it much easier to watch than to listen to, if it’s a new work. Once I know it, then I can listen to it. I have quite a few operas on DVD because of that, as opposed to CD recordings. So I pop them in when I’m knitting (or really any time, I don’t need an excuse.) . This week is was La Fancuilla del West.
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And finally, the Ohio bishops have reinstated the Mass obligation, beginning the weekend of June 5/6. Has your diocese re-instated the obligation yet?
Anddd if you’d like to learn more about the basics of Catholicism, check out my ebook, Catholic 101! :)
I wrote a guest post for my friend Kelly about what the Church says about organ donation, and some tips for parents whose child/children might be facing a transplant in the future!
Fra Angelico “Resurrection” (one of many he did!)
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Happy Easter everyone!
Patty had a very good easter…. (her first!)
When she wasn’t giving her oldest brother the Glare of Death for waking her up….
Apparently he made a VERY LOUD NOISE that WOKE UP THE PRINCESS. She was not pleased.
Whether you were back in church, or watched from home, I hope that you had a joyous Easter Day—which in the Catholic Church is still continuing—and that you remember to celebrate the Resurrection for fifty days!
Easter is a season! Living liturgically is a great gift and I want us all to make the best of it by actually living the liturgy!
So after 40 days of fasting and penance, we have 50 days of party!
I was so glad to get back to church.
Holy Thursday is one of my favorite Masses of the year.
Before Holy Thursday Mass—the beginning of the Triduum, the holiest three days of the year.
We didn’t have the washing of the feet this year—I’m wondering if that had to do with COVID stuff—but it was beautiful Mass, especially the singing of the Tantum Ergo, which is special to Dominicans anyway because it was written by St. Thomas Aquinas (OP).
There’s also adoration after the Mass in the “place of repose”—where the Sacrament is taken out of the main church to another room. My parish had adoration until 10 PM. I went home well before that, said compline, and then read Jesus’ “great and final discourse” from the Gospel of John (John 14-17) .
Hear more solo chant from Donna Stewart: https://www.mignarda.com/cds/index.html ANDhttps://mignarda.bandcamp.com/album/adoro-te-gregorian-chant-hymns-maria...
Good Friday my parish had two services, one t 3 PM and one at 7. It’s. service, not a Mass, because there’s no sacrifice of the Mass on Good Friday. The priest consecrated enough hosts on Thursday for Thursday and Friday.
The fourth Station of the Cross: Jesus Meets His Mother
Since I was born on Good Friday I really love Good Friday service. I hope that next year I’ll be reading the First Reading from Isaiah at the service!
After Good Friday Mass I go home and watch The Passion of the Christ. The rest of the day is pretty quiet and I try to go to bed early.
On Holy Saturday there is no Mass until the Vigil, which I attended with my parents. It started at 8:30 and we were out by about 10:45, which led to the annual blasting of the Hallelujah Chorus:
WHEWWW!
And then yesterday my parents went out and had dinner together. And I got lots of cute pictures of Patty and her siblings!
(And Patty is CRAWLING NOW!)
So that was my Holy Week. How was yours? Let me know!
I am so, so, SO glad to be back at Mass. Have I mentioned that?
Oh, Jesus, I have missed you.
The last Mass I attended was March 1, 2020. I went to confession and then heard Mass.
I have never gone a year without Mass, and I’ve definitely never gone this long without The Eucharist. During my longest hospitalizations, I still had the Eucharist almost every week (except for the time I was in the ICU and, you know, not able to swallow things). Right before my transplant I was able to receive a sip of the Precious Blood. After transplant, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion came to our house to give me the sacrament.
I haven’t had the Eucharist since July, when my good friend Fr. H came to hear my confession, give me communion, and have lunch with me.
That’s so long without Jesus.
I was so excited to go to Mass that I couldn’t sleep last night. The idea of wearing nice “church” clothes, of getting all my prayer books together from their disparate places around my house, and actually attending Mass and not listening to a podcast homily, was…really exciting. I’m not going to lie.
Entering the pew and being in the presence of God was a thrill, and I’m not lying. Usually I come to Mass “prepared”. I have a list of who I’m going to pray for and what I’m offering Mass for.
This Mass? Nothing but pure thanksgiving.
The closest thing I can compare it to is when I was in the ICU in college. I was flat on my back or two weeks. My muscles had completely lost the knack of doing things like sitting up, or standing, or going to the bathroom. I was amazed at how my body just took those things for granted.
That’s how I felt today. Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, being filled with that grace—it was like, “I got this every week?” It felt completely new and I was so grateful for it.
Discover & share this Disney GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.
Catholics, let’s talk for a second.
I am totally vaccinated. You might not be. You might still be wary of going back.
Please go back soon. Jesus misses you!
One of my goals was to get to Mass for Holy Week. The idea of celebrating Holy Week, going to the Masses, going to confession, having real holy hours again…I’m a bit verklempt thinking about it.
I wrote in the back of my prayer journal that “Jesus is essential.” I had missed Mass but I didn’t realize how much I had missed it until I was back in the parking lot and getting out of the car.
It really was like coming home.
Fra Angelico, “Annunciation” (one of many he did! More of them are below.)
Hail, Mary!
The Annunciation is a solemnity on the Church calendar—meaning that it’s treated like a Sunday. During Lent, when it usually falls, you can relax your penances because it’s a day that we are meant to REJOICE.
A few years ago the Annunciation fell on Good Friday and it was transferred to my birthday, which was pretty cool. The Church wants us to celebrate with her, so the feast was moved so that we could celebrate it.
Botticelli, “Annunciation”
There’s a lot of baggage associated with the word “handmaid” these days. But let’s remember that it’s Biblical—in the Annunciation account, Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord"! And that’s what we’re all called to be, man or woman—handmaids of God. Let’s follow Mary’s instructions and “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5)
We’re afraid to do whatever God tells us, aren’t we? We don’t think that God really wants our ultimate good. But He does. He wants it so much that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1: 14)
Mary shows us how to do whatever God asks of us—with trust and confidence, a confidence and trust that carries her even to the foot of the cross where she watched her son die. She pondered these things in her heart (Luke 2:19). She might not have always understood, because Mary isn’t God. She’s not omnipotent. But she knew that God’s plan, “crazy” as it might be, lead to her good, and the good of her son.
Here’s a poem about the annunciation that I really like, so I’ll leave you with it:
The Annunciation
Edwin Muir
The angel and the girl are met.
Earth was the only meeting place.
For the embodied never yet
Travelled beyond the shore of space.
The eternal spirits in freedom go
See, they have come together, see,
While the destroying minutes flow,
Each reflects the other’s face
Till heaven in hers and earth in his
Shine steady there. He’s come to her
From far beyond the farthest star,
Feathered through time. Immediacy
Of strangest strangeness is the bliss
That from their limbs all movement takes.
Yet the increasing rapture brings
So great a wonder that it makes
Each feather tremble on his wings.
El Greco, “The Annunciation”
Outside the window footsteps fall
Into the ordinary day
And with the sun along the wall
Pursue their unreturning way.
Sound’s perpetual roundabout
Rolls its numbered octaves out
And hoarsely grinds its battered tune.
Fra Angelico, “The Annunciation”
But through the endless afternoon
These neither speak nor movement make,
But stare into their deepening trance
As if their gaze would never break.
Leonardo da Vinci, “The Annunciation”, 1472.
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ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMASSSSSS!!!!!!!!
WOO WOOOOO!
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OK with that said…I wrote an Advent reflection for Dec. 14 on my friend Elizabeth’s Joyful Momentum blog.
I also have a whole post on Christmas movies and Christmas Books for Grown-Ups! (Well, two whole posts. They’re linked in the link above!)
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Have you heard about the Year of St. Joseph? And did you know you can get plenary indulgences during the year?! Here’s how!
I am really happy about this because St. Joseph needs some love, y’all! If you haven’t read the Consecration to St. Joseph, I HIGHLY recommend it!
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It was Jane Austen’s 245th birthday on Wednesday! PARTY!
Basically, party like Patty…..
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In the “awesome stories abut saints” category: THIS.
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Quick Health Note: One of the annoying things about being diabetic is that sometimes you want to do things and your body goes NOPE! I mean, CF did this too, but it wasn’t quite as dramatic. I started exercising and then felt like I was going to throw up. Checked my BGL. Oh it’s LOW! OK then. Time for some orange juice and no more workout. Oh well. I guess some workout is better than NO workout, right?
It’s GOOD TIMES! :)
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What are you guys doing for Christmas? Share your plans in the comments!
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St. Therese’s feast day was yesterday!!!!
I love this, and I post it every year. Bless whoever made this!
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St. Therese was my confirmation saint. If you want to learn about how I picked her—or she picked me—go here.
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Some St. Therese books? THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK!
I love this edition of Story of a Soul, because it has an introduction by my friend Elizabeth Foss!
My FAVORITE book about St. Therese: I Believe In Love. Seriously. Desert island book, folks.
Want some St. Therese every day? Then you want Mornings With St. Therese.
And this one: 33 Days to Merciful Love. (also, that image of St. Therese is my favorite, and you can get it here.)
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Want a movie? Here you go.
OR A STICKER or a MUG…..OR A KEYCHAIN?????
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My parish has a lovely St. Therese shrine….
(Use the arrow keys to scroll through it!)
A parishioner carved that. Can you believe that? I can’t.
There’s a relic of St. Therese, and it’s just such a beautiful place to pray. It’s so beautiful that you often have to wait! :)
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Right now I’m really missing the ST. Therese retreat center. This weekend would’ve bee the Women’s Silent Retreat weekend for the fall, and I almost always went to this one. Sigh.
If you know of places near Ohio that have silent retreat opportunities, please let me know? I MISS THEM!
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And to leave you this week—Anne Shirley. :)
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