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

Seven Quick Takes No. 107

I. 

So this week has been interesting from a medical perspective. Not terribly bad interesting, but Interesting, Capital "I". 

I have a port (an implantofix) implanted under my collarbone. I got this before transplant, so I've had it now for more than 11 years. A port is a place where, with a special needle, nurses and other Medical People can draw blood and give meds without having to hunt for a vein. Since my veins suck, my port has been a good and valiant friend for all these years. It means that when I need things--blood draws, fluids, meds--we know we're going to have access. 

Until Monday, when it decided not to. 

II.

Every month, the port has to be flushed with saline and heparin, to keep it from clotting. Since the port is placed in a big vein near my heart, this is important--we don't want any clots flying around and causing trouble, or clogging up the line. And for 11 years, it has worked splendidly. Sometimes we have to finesse the needle, but normally, we get blood return. 

(The "We" in this case, is me and mom. Mom does the port accessing. Yes, she's awesome like that. She wields Huber needles with aplomb, and she's better at it than a lot of nurses I've had.)

This time, no blood return. And I'd also had problems with it in the ER a few weeks ago....so I'm wondering....

III. 

Ports aren't permanent--the silicone cover that you actually poke can only take so many pokes. It's a few thousand. So I'm thinking it's died and gone to port heaven. 

But when we call clinic, oh, no! This might not be the case. Apparently there are many Magical Things we can do to see if the port just has a glitch. 

IV. 

So on Monday, we get to try the first of the Magical Things--a special drug that "sits" in the line and can remove any clots that might be at the tip of the line. The drug sits there for two hours. I sit in clinic for two hours. And then we see if we can draw it off the port and get blood return. 

If so--yay! If not--dye test! 

(I don't really know what the dye test entails.)

V. 

The benefit to this is that I'm going to get new books....so that's something, right? 

VI. 

In other news, though: SPRING!

And yes, that orange barrel also equals Spring in Ohio. 

VII. 

During the March Madness kick off yesterday I managed to wind two hanks of yarn and clean. And I have pink tulips!

Yarn Along No. 44: A Tour of the Stash

Today's a bit of a different Yarn Along here. I don't have a new project on my needles yet, but (sorry guys) it's probably going to be another dishcloth/trivet/something for the house, because I have a TON of yarn for dishcloths that I want to use up, and I need some more washcloths here. And if I'm going to practice the basketweave pattern, I'd rather do it in a washcloth. So, with all that, that's what the next projects are going to be. Eventually, I swear, it will get more interesting. 

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to show you some photos of my current yarn stash. I have some really wonderful colors in here and while they're waiting their turn to be on the needles, they hang out in this large basket I got at Target.

Some of them are in various stages of preparation--you can see that some come ready to use, but others come in hanks, and have to be wound into balls. This is something that takes me awhile, since I don't have a swift, and I have to do it by hand. It involves sitting on the floor in front of a game or a movie, so with March Madness starting tomorrow, that would be a great time to wind some of these hanks. 

I knit for a lot of the reasons I draw--it's creative, it's fun, it's for me. I don't knit sweaters or things like that (yet), and I don't have to knit to clothe people. There's no need for my knitting. Sometimes I like to make gifts for people, but just about everyone I know has a scarf from me now. Until I can knit something more than that for them, my knitting gifts are done. But it's incredibly peaceful to me, to watch something grow from the very first row to the last, on the needles. I love having a project in progress. 

One of the last things I need in way of tools is a set of circular needles. Hopefully I can make that purchase pretty soon. I'm well set for straight needles, thanks to a set I got for Christmas two years ago, but I don't have any circulars. 

Catholic 101: Passiontide and Holy Week

a continuation of the Catholic 101 series

Juan de Juanes, L'ultima cena (the last supper)

I love Holy Week. It's my favorite week of the year. This may be because I was born on Good Friday and so it always feels like "birthday week" to me, whether or not it actually is, but there's something about the solemnity and pageantry of Holy Week that speaks to me on a deep level. 

"Passiontide" is what we're in right now, liturgically--the last two weeks of Lent. If your parish is like mine, all the statues and paintings that can be covered, are covered, usually in purple cloth. The closer we get to Easter, the more our liturgy is stripped--first, no Alleluia; then, no Gloria; music (should become) less prominent, and more stark in melody; there are no flowers in the sanctuary, and now the images are veiled. On Good Friday, the church will be bare of any decoration at all; even the Tabernacle will be empty. 

So, this week isn't really anything terribly unique, other than "the week before" Holy Week. Next week, things start to get interesting. 

We start with Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, where we commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, with the crowds waving palm branches and singing Hosanna. The passion is read at Mass. 

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week might have special observances at your parish. Mine has adoration in the afternoons and sung Vespers in the evenings. Wednesday is also called Spy Wednesday, because it's traditionally the day that Judas betrayed Jesus to the temple leaders. 

Lent ends at Sundown on Holy Thursday, and the triduum begins. In these three days, we reckon time the way the Jews do--by sundowns, not sunrises. So the Holy Thursday liturgy begins in the evening, usually around 7:00. 

Since these liturgies are loaded with symbolism and things we don't do the rest of the year, we give the kids a head's up in CCD so they know what to look for, and know what we're doing. 

Holy Thursday can contain the washing of the feet; at my parish, it's done with altar boys, the Dominican community members, and a few other men to reach twelve. The rite is optional, so your parish doesn't have to do it, and it might not. Of course the rite is done to remember what Jesus did to the apostles at the last supper; "you ought to wash each other's feet"--the idea of service to each other. 

After the Eucharist is distributed, things get pretty different. The Eucharist isn't put back in the tabernacle; instead, the Eucharistic procession begins, with the sung Pange, Lingua (written by St. Thomas Aquinas). The Mass celebrant carries the Eucharist to the altar of repose, and there is adoration there for a few hours--but not past midnight. At my parish, the Eucharist is taken to Patrick Hall, where it is surrounded by flowers and the altar candles, and adoration is until midnight. 

There is no dismissal, after either Holy Thursday or Good Friday services. It's all one long service, until the end of the Easter Vigil. 

Good Friday doesn't have a proper Mass. It's called the "Mass of the Presanctified"--the priest, on Holy Thursday, consecrates enough hosts to serve for the service the next day. 

There are no Introductory Rites, since the service is a continuation of the one the night before. We have my favorite passage from Isaiah for the first reading ("See, my servant shall prosper")--the Suffering Servant who will redeem the world. The Passion According to St. John is read as the Gospel. 

After the homily, the Veneration of the Cross takes place. A large cross of crucifix is brought before the congregation, and the members of the congregation venerate it in various ways--kneeling before it, kissing it, bowing, etc. The Dominicans do the venia before it, and venerate the cross in bare feet. 

After the veneration, communion is distributed and a prayer is said. Again, no dismissal. Some churches have the service of tenebrae on Good Friday (mine does).  It's a beautiful service, and if you have the chance to attend, I recommend it. 

On Holy Saturday, there are no Masses said. Holy Communion is only given as viaticum (to people who are in danger of death). It is a day of deep quiet and recollection. 

Of course, all that changes at sundown, when the Easter Vigil begins. But that's another entry. :) 

I hope this entry helped give you a deeper idea of some of the triduum customs. What Holy Week service is your favorite? 

Yarn Along No. 43 (and a little bit about Mystery)

The scarf progresses! I'm getting so much better at purling. I've found that these are really great projects for me to get my bearings with new things, even though I know all of you are tired of seeing scarves and washcloths. I promise I will eventually give you something more challenging. Promise! 

As is my wont, I'm re-reading Outlander. Again. I usually do this at least once a year. At the moment I'm in the middle of book 7, An Echo In The Bone. As I was re-reading, I came across this passage, which I liked and thought I'd share: 

"I talked to Mama a little bit about it," Bree said after a moment's thought. "She laughed."

"Did she?" Roger said dryly, and got the breath of a laugh from Bree in answer. 

"Not like she thought it was funny," She assured him. "I'd asked her if she thought it was possible for a traveler to change things, change the future and she told me it was, obviously--because she changed the future every time she kept someone from dying who would've died if she hadn't been there. Some of them went on to have children they wouldn't have had, and who knew what those children would do, that they wouldn't have done if they hadn't...and that was when she laughed and said it was a good thing Catholics believed in Mystery and didn't insist on trying to figure out exactly how God worked, like Protestants do." 

--Diana Gabaldon, A Echo in the Bone

The reason I like this is because it's true. In general, Catholics are really comfy with Mystery. When I taught the kids about the Eucharist last week, they just went with it. Now, sure, there are the Eucharistic miracles, which show the validity of Transubstantiation (this one, from Italy, is my favorite), but there generally comes a point where we have to just accept mystery. We teach the kids this early on. We'll never fully understand the Trinity, or God, or really, anything else, probably--just like Bree and Roger can't ever understand why they're time travelers. 

Catholic 101: Lent bonus! Laetare Sunday and Annunication/Good Friday FAQ

Part of the Catholic 101 series. 

Murillo, Annunciation, 1655

So, just like in Advent, Lent has its "halfway" point--Laetare Sunday. This is when the rose vestments can come out, we can have instruments at Mass, and flowers on the altar. "Laetare" comes from the Latin in the introit, "Laetare, Jerusalem!"--Rejoice, Jerusalem! In England, it's also Mothering Sunday--Mother's Day. 

We are at the midpoint of Lent--three weeks left. Next week, we enter what's more formally called "Passiontide"--the two weeks before Easter. In some places, statues will be covered with purple cloth (like at my church), so we are "fasting" from images, in a sense. Our churches become more stark, leading to Good Friday, where there will be no decoration at all in the church (no candles, no altar cloths, etc.). 

I found an interesting question on Facebook the other day: This year, the Annunciation is on the same day as Good Friday. The questioner wanted to know how that worked: do we celebrate both? 

Nope. The Triduum makes up the three holiest days of the year (we're talking about them next week, FYI). Nothing supplants them. So we don't technically "celebrate" the Annunciation this year--the Liturgical texts are all for Good Friday, and that's the office you'll say, if you say the Liturgy of the Hours. It's the same way that Sunday will bump saints' feast days. But next year, for example, Laetare Sunday is the 26th--so we'll celebrate the Annunciation on its proper day, March 25. 

(Updated: One of my Deacon Friends has told me that we will celebrate the Annunciation--on April 4. Five days before my birthday! :-D) 

Seven Quick Takes No. 106: A Squirrel Saga

No, my squirrel is not this cute....

I. 

So, let me tell you, squirrels are not cute and cuddly. Disney has lied to us, people!

II. 

On Super Bowl Sunday, I came up to my bedroom and was going to get ready for bed, when I noticed a large hole about the size of a softball, 11 or 12 feet up on my wall. This had not been there when I'd gotten home from church, and I thought maybe, since the kids were using the side of my house as a goal for soccer (It had been a really nice day), that they'd hit the wall hard and dislodged a bit of the drywall. OK. Fine. I was annoyed, but not terribly worried. 

The next day I went to the apartment office and told them that the wall needed patched. A guy came out, took a photo, and said he'd be back to fix it.

III.

Two weeks later...still  not fixed. And the hole is getting bigger. 

Maybe they had to order a new piece of drywall, or something. Because holes should be patched quickly, right? 

IV. 

My patience ran out when I came up one day and saw that the hole was MUCH bigger, and there was now drywall and insulation all over the floor. Patience gone! 

Go to the apartment office again. Guy comes out, re-plasters the hole, says he'll finish it the next day--Thursday.

V. 

Wake up Thursday morning. The hole is back. 

OK, now I know there's something in there. I am officially freaked. I go back to the office and tell them. 

"OK, we'll send out a guy to look and trap the squirrel."

A squirrel? Eating my drywall and insulation and living in my attic? EATING MY BEDROOM WALL??!?!?!

I slept on the couch that night. 

VI. 

On Friday I went to my parents, where I would stay until this was dealt with. The office told us that they had to fix the roof, set traps, catch the squirrel, and then they would fix the wall. And there would be no more squirrel. 

Finally, last night (AKA, a week later) we got a call from them saying that the roof was fixed, and while the squirrel wasn't in the traps, he wasn't in the house, either--so maybe he had escaped to get food while the roof was being fixed and couldn't get back in. Whatever it was, the squirrel was gone. 

VII. 

I came home--there is a huge piece of wood bolted over the very large hole. No way the squirrel is getting through that sucker. 

I slept the sleep of the Just--or at least, the sleep of the Non Squirrel Infested Bedroom. 

And now I really, really hate squirrels. 

Catholic 101: Who Built the Ark? (And other Old Testament Figures)

(And in case you didn't know that song as a kid, the answer is, "Noah! Noah!") 

After we cover Adam and Eve, we move on to three major Old Testament Figures: Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Noah is essentially the store of the ark and the 40 days he and his family were on it with all the animals. 40 of anything is a theme that comes up a lot, so we try to emphasize it when we can. 

Abraham is next, and we talk about how he was asked to sacrifice Issac, demonstrating how much Abraham trusted in God. We do mention to the kids, though, that God is unlikely to ask them to sacrifice their family members on a mountain top, so they don't freak out. 

Finally, we talk about Moses. I love telling the story of Moses to the kids. They may have seen Prince of Egypt, but usually there are a few who haven't, so I get to tell them all about Pharaoh wanting to kill the hebrew baby boys, and how Moses' mom set him off in a basket, to be found by....Pharaoh's daughter. (The kids always gasp when we get there.) We move on quickly through his desert years and marriage, to the burning bush, the plagues, and then when they get to leave Egypt. Of course, I tell all of this with flair. 

Michelangelo, "Moses", marble 

Finally we get to the Red Sea parting, the destruction of Pharaoh's army, and the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai. The book really just talks about the 10 commandments, but I think the kids need to know the whole story, because it's awesome and it's important! So we cover the 10 commandments, and let me tell you, it's really fun to explain adultery to six and seven year olds....they just look at you like you're crazy. We also emphasize the idea that "honor your father and mother" doesn't just apply to them; I have to do it too, and so does Miss Mary Beth, and the priests, etc. 

At this point in the year, the kids know what sin is, and they know that sin causes your soul to have a little less grace than it did before. We don't cover venial vs. mortal sins in first grade. We also tell them that a sin is something they know is wrong--and believe me, first graders can sin. We see it all the time when they keep doing something we've told them not to do, and I"m sure all you parents of little guys know this. The Church puts the age of reason at 7, so most of them aren't quite there yet, legally (in a Church law sense), but we do stress to them what God expects of kids. They may not be able to covet their neighbor's wife, but they can still sin. 

That doesn't mean that we're teaching them that they are bad, bad people. We're not. But we do tell them about sin and make sure they understand that sin is serious. At our parish, they receive the Sacrament of Confession before they receive First Communion. (We talked about Confession last week in class, actually.)

After we cover these three, we're up to John the Baptist, the last Prophet before Jesus came. (Our book has Noah, Abraham, and Moses lumped together as prophets.) By this point, we're really close to Christmas, and we're going to talk about Advent and all the stuff we talked about here back in December.

Government Incompetence

(I know, it's Monday, and that means Catholic 101. But y'all are going to get that tomorrow, because I'm using this space to vent a bit. Sorry.)

As we know, I have a cochlear implant. As you may or may not know, everyone who has one has varying degrees of success with it. Some of it is how hard you work at it (like I do with music). Some of it is just....well....blah. 

Like the phone. The phone is hard. If I need to make phone calls, I usually need someone like my parents to relay information to me, so I can answer and understand what the person on the other end wants. 

Some places have excellent chat capabilities, and I don't have to do this. My bank, for example (Telhio Credit Union, giving you a shout-out here!). I can do things without other people helping me, or having to drive to a bank branch to deal with things that other people could do over the phone. Even things like roadside assistance are being done via apps, so you don't have to call. You can just hit buttons and voila! Your flat tire gets changed! 

But then there are places that are ridiculous. One of them is in the realm of state government (which, as longtime readers know, used to be my place of employment). 

The state says it wants to keep its employees information secure. That's a nice thing, right? We want our information to be secure in this age of scams and identity theft. 

But the problem is, if you're deaf, you're screwed. If you have a hearing impairment, you're screwed. Why? Because the State of Ohio doesn't offer a chat window on their DAS or Public Employee Retirement System site. You have to call. 

If you can't make a phone call, you have to physically drive down to the building to reset the password. Let me tell you how ridiculous this is: If you live in, say, Cleveland, which is three hours from Columbus, you have to drive to Columbus to reset your password for the website access, if you can't use the phone. No, I'm not kidding. I cannot have someone else relay the questions to me, and I answer. That's not "secure" enough. Nope, you have to do it in person. 

I'm in my thirties. It's a fifteen minute drive for me to the retirement system headquarters. But what if I was, say, seventy? Or older? 

And in case you're saying, well just remember you password, Emily, the site is stupid. If you try to reset it over email, they will send you a temporary password--which will not work. I just did this. I know. They send you a password that doesn't work? What is that about? Fortunately, my dad, when he called the system, got a nice person who told him the "real" password reset password (real meaning the one that works) and I was able to reset my password without any problem. 

But see, Dad had to call. Someone else had to do it. And some people are not nice, like this person was. 

I wrote awhile back about the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it doesn't really help hard of hearing/Deaf people.  This is just another example of things that people don't think about. In the name of "security," they make life much harder than it has to be for those of us who can't use the phone. 

Let's Clarify a Few Things

In reading one of my favorite blogs this morning, there was a post on how brain death isn't "death", and thus, how organ donation is basically people killing other people for parts.  The blog post linked to an "article" (which is really a charitable term for what it was), where the comment box was full of uneducated, conspiracy-theorist things about organ donation and how it's all a government plot to help SKYNET! Oh, and only rich people get organs because they bribe doctors. 

Also, transplants are "glamorous."

Yes. They so are. Let me tell you how glamorous it is to be cut in half and not able to take a real bath for a month. Let me tell you how glamorous it was for me to almost lose my right arm due to IV infiltrate. Let me tell you how glamorous it is to walk up and down hallways and have X-rays at 6 AM and to be in so much pain that just sitting up is difficult. Yes, that sounds super glamorous!

And it was so glamorous for my doctors and nurses and the rest of the staff, too. Because nothing says glamor like a twelve-hour surgery for my surgeon, where he's doing NOTHING but surgery. And it's also super glamorous to stay at a hospital for days on end making sure your patient doesn't die, and not be able to go home until you're certain she's stable. That is also super glamorous. 

And of course my family and I are just loaded. We live in Downton Abbey, didn't you know that? We have a private jet and everything. My parents don't have two other kids, or bills, or a mortgage. Nah. We're just dripping in extra money that we can use to bribe hospitals in two states to kill people so I can grab their organs. Yup. That's how it goes over here. 

(If you're sarcasm-impaired: the above is all sarcasm.)

Can we be real, please? If it really worked the way these people thought it worked, then 21 people wouldn't die every day waiting for organs that don't come. 130,000+ people wouldn't be on the transplant waiting list. Every hospital would do them, instead of only the relative handful that do. And everyone who needed one would get one, regardless of whether or not they're a good transplant candidate. 

Money, power, position....none of those things have anything to do with organ donation. Sorry. I hate to burst the conspiracy theorist's bubble. 

And also--guys. Brain death isn't some magical thing that we cooked up as part of a big racket. Again, see stats above. People aren't prowling hospitals looking for people to kill off for their organs. If that happened, people would lose their jobs. Centers would shut down. There would be an enormous public outcry and no one, understandably, would be an organ donor! 

All major religions support organ donation. St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI supported/support organ donation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it's "Meritorious." 

You want to see how glamorous it is? How awful the surgeons and hospitals are? OK. Here you go. 

Catholic 101: In The Beginning....

a continuation of the Catholic 101 series. 

Michelangelo, Adam and Eve are Tempted and Sent from Eden

When you teach first graders, crafts come with the territory. And in fact, it's the one part of teaching where I am a huge fail. I like to paint, and sketch, and knit, but I cannot, for the life of me, do little-kid crafts. (This may be because I failed cutting in Kindergarten.) 

Fortunately, I am saved by two things: the fact that we often have a very large class (20-30 kids), in which case it's just impractical to do a lot of crafting, because it becomes chaos; and that my co-catechist has some great crafts that we do pull out every year, and the kids love. 

One of them in the creation craft. The kids make a sheet illustrating the days of creation, and they basically get to let their imaginations run wild. I remember one year where I was watching the kids drawing, and I saw something interesting on Issac's paper. 

"Issac, what is that?" 

"It's a SEA MONSTER!" 

"What's it doing on land?"

"Eating the people!" 

Well, OK then. 

Michelangelo, God Dividing the Waters

Since the kids can't read (usually), this is a great way to take them through the beginning of Genesis, and how God created the world and the first people. 

Yup, that's right--Adam and Eve. 

One of the things we tell the kids is that, before the Fall, Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with nature and with God. Animals didn't hurt them, for example. Snakes wouldn't bite them, they didn't have to worry about being around lions or other large animals. Everything was...perfect. 

There is some debate about what the "fruit" actually was--in Europe it became an apple, but some people suggest it was probably a pomegranate. Whatever it was, it doesn't matter. The Fall--when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge--is what ending that idyllic existence in Eden. 

One of my favorite poems is Milton's Paradise Lost, and this is how he starts his masterwork: 

Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden...

See, before the Fall, there was no sin. There was no death. There was no pain. And then, bam. Original sin--and everything was lost. Everything was irrevocably changed. 

In Milton's work, Jesus is seen as pleading with the Father to go save humanity--it's something he wants to do. I love that imagery; it's almost like Jesus as Knight, as Champion. But however you want to think about it, we needed to be saved and restored. And Jesus was going to do it. 

But that's thousands of years in the future. For now, Adam and Eve are cast out of paradise. 

(We don't teach the kids about Cain and Abel at this point--they learn that in later grades. Instead, we move on to Abraham, Noah, Moses, and John the Baptist--which is what we'll talk about next. )

Seven Quick Takes No. 105

I. 

The snow is melting! The snow is melting!

Really, I don't mind snow--around Christmas. I do mind it when it's crazy cold and I have to scrape off my car whenever I want to go somewhere, and deal with the ice around my car. But it's going to be 50 today, and almost 60 tomorrow! Yay!

II. 

I'm glad about that 60 in particular because tomorrow is the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference, and last year a huge snowstorm kept me from getting there. It starts at 8, but you have to get there early to get a decent seat--and registration opens at 7. So that means you get up early. And getting up early plus dealing with snow? Just, no. But this year, no snow! No ice! Yay!

I'm especially excited because Jen Fulwiler is one of the speakers.

At Edel with Hallie Lord (L) and Jen Fulwiler (center)

III. 

This week I went to my audiologist and got my cochlear implant (CI) tuned up. That's not the technical term, by the way. I hadn't been to see her in awhile, so I went it and we "reprogrammed" my processor. 

The big difference between a CI and a hearing aid is that a hearing aid just makes sound louder, while I CI helps you understand what the sound is. And if you're like me, and your hearing is basically shot, you need the CI, and not a hearing aid, becaus making sound louder won't help you. The cells in the cochlea have been destroyed, and thus the sound isn't getting processed correctly by my brain. Thus--the CI. An "array" was threaded into my cochlea during surgery, and that relays the sound I get directly to my brain, bypassing the broken bits. 

So anyway, with the programs, I can have various settings depending on what I need at the time. I generally use one that allows me to get a wide array of sounds, but there are ones for when I want to focus on quieter sounds, or when I want to focus the microphone to just the person or people directly in front of me (meaning, where my head is pointed is where I'm going to pick up sound.) 

After we fine-tuned the programs (they're called MAPS, if we're being technical, but I forget what that stands for), my audiologist took me to the booth where they run hearing tests. If you are hearing-impaired, these booths are generally awful because you feel like an idiot. But with the new program, I was able to hear a really wide range of sound at various levels (meaning I detected the sound--I could hear it at all) of pitch and volume. So yay! 

IV. 

The other thing about CIs? They're covered by insurance. Hearing aids aren't. 

V. 

I've been doing a TON of drawing this week. Bust out the paints and pencils! 

This is my Atlantic Puffin. I didn't get quite the result I wanted on the black parts, but I did it on watercolor paper, which has that grain. So, whatever. But how cool is this animal? Orange eyes!

I'm also working on sketching and painting teacups. I need to take some pictures of those, though, to show you. 

VI. 

Reading: Not a whole lot, sadly, other than my Lent books. But when one gives up book buying for Lent...also, the library hasn't had any interesting books on the ebooks roster lately. I love that you can borrow ebooks. No worries about returning things on time!

VII. 

This week in CCD we're doing Sacraments--we've broken them up into parts. The book does a chapter on the Eucharist when we talk about Holy Thursday, so that's coming up. This week we're covering Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. Next week: Marriage, Confession, and Anointing of the Sick.  

Yarn Along No. 42

Linking up with Ginny. 

So it's been awhile since I've showed my scarf progress. Here you go!

And I'm reading A Time for Renewal, by Mother Mary Francis, PCC, who is also the author of my favorite Advent devotional. 

(Does Lent seem really long to anyone else? I have to keep reminding myself that I can't buy books because it's Lent. I know, it's been a week! But it seems longer. Or is that just me?) 

Catholic 101: A bit of theology

A continuation of the Catholic 101 series

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam

 One of the first things we teach the kids is a bit of theology. I know, you're thinking that it's all theology, right? Well right, but this is a bit different. 

We teach kids about the qualities of God--omnipresence (he's everywhere), omnipotence (he's all-powerful), and omniscient (he knows everything).  There are other qualities of God, obviously, but this where we start. 

The next thing we talk about is the hierarchy of creation. This is important, and I've found a lot of adults have missed this in their education. So, here we go!

Draw a set of stairs, or imagine one. At the top of the staircase is God. Each step up indicates that the created thing is "closer" to God, and more like him. 

We start with "dead" things--things that can't grow, things that can't think, things that can't feel. My computer, for example. The table the computer is currently sitting on, or my cup of coffee, or a piece of wood. 

The next step are things that are alive, but don't think. Plants, for example. The rose bush outside grows, and dies, and blooms again, but it doesn't think about this. The rose bush doesn't have higher thoughts. Roses don't have feelings. They don't get all huffy if you walk by them and don't acknowledge them. Grass doesn't have feelings when it's cut, and an ocean doesn't think about the number of people swimming in it. 

The third step are things that thing and feel--but don't have free will. Animals. You can hurt an animal, for sure. Animals think. But animals also work a lot on instinct. A lioness on the savannah isn't thinking about the feelings of the animal she's hunting. She's not thinking that the wildebeest or whatever might have a family. She's thinking about feeding herself and her pride. So, she hunts. Jellyfish sting. Cats eat mice. And on and on. They do what they have to do to survive. 

Now, certain animals, like cats and dogs, are domesticated (for the most part, although they are still animals). Fluffy  and Fido make excellent companions for a lot of people. And the fact that they don't have free will--or that plants and other natural things don't think--doesn't mean we can abuse them. God created them, and we have to demonstrate good stewardship. As the crown of creation, we have a duty to take care of everything God has given us. 

But--animals are not people. I feel the need to point this out. (Strangely, I've never had a kid ask if their dead pets are in heaven.) 

Finally, we have people: we have free will, and we are created in the Image and Likeness of God.  We "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). We are not angels (even when we die, guys!) , and we're not God. But we are created in his image and likeness. 

Seven Quick Takes No. 104

I. 

Well, Winter has finally shown up here in Ohio. It's going to be three for a low this weekend. Brrrrr. Glad I have lots of warm socks and boots and a heavy coat that's good for clearing off the car. 

II. 

I'm learning Italian! I'm using the Duolingo app and I have to say it's really fun, although there's some weird Italian grammar things that do not exist in French or English. For example, the word "dinner" (cena) can mean the noun, dinner, or  "eating dinner." So if you want to say I'm having dinner, It's "Io cena." IT IS WEIRD. In French, it would be Je mange diner. You need a verb! Not in Italian! 

Also, their possessives are sort of tricky. I'm working on it. But learning Italian is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, so I'm glad I'm finally getting on it. 

III. 

Lent has begun, but you can still join Restore! It's not too late. 

IV. 

I'm taking my first Barre3 class next week. I will hopefully survive. ;-) Cristina loves them, and I've taken similar classes before, so I think I'll survive.....It's only an hour! One can do anything for an hour! (Right?)

V. 

One of the great things about winter is that I get to experiment with my cooking. When it's summer and gorgeous I don't want to be working with a hot oven. But tonight is perfect for something like Tuscan marinated chicken and couscous with feta and lemon. It's warm and filling and really easy! 

VI. 

Fasting is something I didn't have to do for the first 23 years of my life. And now that I have to, it's HARD. Man, I was GRUMPTASTIC Wednesday night, and I also inhaled my dinner like there was no tomorrow. 

VII. 

Outlander season 2 premieres on my birthday! (April 9) Happy birthday to me! I can't wait for Season 2 with my favorite time travelers. 

Lent 2016: My plan

Happy Ash Wednesday! 

(Can we say happy Ash Wednesday?)

I've never minded walking around with ashes on my forehead, and no one's ever commented on it, except my boss's boss one year. He walked into our office around lunch and looked at the Catholics assembled, thought for a second, and said, "I didn't know you guys were Catholic." 

Ashes. A way of marking us out. :) 

So, we've talked a lot about Lent lately, and here's my plan: 

• I'm going to try to follow the Nuns of Summit, NJ horarium as best I can. No, I probably won't be getting up before 6 AM. But I said try. :) 
• No book buying. None. Nada. Zilch. (Except for the Women's Conference. I am making one exception, because it can be hard to find good Catholic books round these parts!)
• My Lenten reading is A Time for Renewal, by Mother Mary Francis, PCC; Death on a Friday Afternoon, by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, and On the Passion of the Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I'll also be sure to watch Jesus of Nazareth and The Passion a few times. (Both of them are great, if you haven't seen them.) 
•  

Lenten Practices 6: The Liturgy of the Hours

The Liturgy of the Hours (AKA the Breviary, AKA the Divine Office) is, after the Mass, the most important thing for priests and vowed religious to pray. Cloistered orders usually pray all seven offices. Active orders pray, at a minimum, morning, evening, and night prayer. It is a way of sanctifying all the hours of the day, to pray  without ceasing.

And lay people do it too!

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 BY EMILY

Lenten Practices 6: The Liturgy of the Hours

The Liturgy of the Hours (AKA the Breviary, AKA the Divine Office) is, after the Mass, the most important thing for priests and vowed religious to pray. Cloistered orders usually pray all seven offices. Active orders pray, at a minimum, morning, evening, and night prayer. It is a way of sanctifying all the hours of the day, to pray  without ceasing.

And lay people do it too!

I wrote about this earlier: 

If you like structure in your prayer life, try saying the Liturgy of the Hours. A great site for this is divineoffice.org, where the prayers for the different hours are listed, and all you have to do is pray them! I have the four-volume set of the office, which I prefer, but I also love this website because it’s great on days when I’ve forgotten my breviary at home. (hey, it happens) The office is the daily prayer of the church, which priests are required to say. Monks and nuns chant these prayers as well, around the clock. Sisters and lay people don’t have to say as many “offices” of the Liturgy of the Hours. Usually I try to pray lauds (Morning Prayer), the Office of Reading, Vespers (Evening Prayer) , and Compline (Night Prayer). Morning and Evening prayer are called the “hinges” of the hours, since they sanctify both ends of the day–beginning and end.

But now it’s time to really talk about it. :) Get excited.

As a Lay Dominican, I’m required to say morning and evening prayer, the “hinge” offices as I call them, above. This isn’t binding under pain of sin–if I can’t, or forget, it’s OK. I usually don’t forget, but with my medical issues, there are times when I may have to miss an office, because I’m indisposed in some way/shape/form. That’s OK.

The offices (except for compline, which is the shortest office) are made up of: an opening hymn, three psalms or canticles (the canticles can be from the Old or New Testament), a short reading, a responsory, another canticle (morning prayer has the Canticle of Zachariah, from Luke; evening prayer is Mary’s Magnificat), petitions, the Our Father, and a closing prayer. The breviary has this all written out for you, so you just follow along when you’re praying it.

Now, it can get complicated. There are feasts and memorials that have separate things. For example, when it’s the Octave of Christmas, we say the Christmas office for eight days. For Feasts, there are usually special readings and psalms that are said. There are lots of “commons”: common of virgins, common of martyrs, common of apostles, common of pastors, etc. It sounds complicated, but once you get used it it, it’s not–and if you’re following at a site like  Divine Office, it’s all laid out for you anyway. For the most part, though, when you’re just starting, you can focus on the regular psalter.

The breviary has a four week cycle of psalms and readings, so every four weeks, you’re back to Week 1 in the book. I’ve found that saying the office, far from being boring, is always speaking to me afresh; I’ve read some sections three of four times by now as I’ve gone through the Liturgical Year, and sometimes it’s only on my latest reading of something that I go aha! It’s constantly speaking to me, and I know others who say the office regularly feel the same way.

If you want to start gently, find a website, or use Magnificat, which gives you a sample morning and evening prayer, as well as the Mass readings for every day. I love mine. If you’ve been saying it for awhile and you’d like the big physical books, you have options. There is the four-volume set, and the one volume Christian Prayer. I use the 4 volume set, which is broken down as:

1. Advent and Christmas
2. Lent and Easter
3. Ordinary Time I
4. Ordinary Time II

Christian Prayer has all these things together, and as such is usually a bigger book. These can be ordered online or found at any good Catholic bookstore. I find the books excellent because I can write in them (yes, I write in my books) and mark them with post-its for the more complicated offices. I also recommend you get the covers to go with them, otherwise your books will fall apart a lot earlier  (at least if you’re like me and bring them everywhere with you).

Lenten Practices 5: Almsgiving

OK, the third pillar of Lent (the other two are prayer and fasting/abstinence): Almsgiving.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear this word I think of Robin Hood in the Disney movie, disguised as a beggar in smoked glasses and croaking, “alms for the poor!”

This is not, really, what I should be thinking. :)

Anyway: Almsgiving. Alms is defined as: charity, or something (as money or food) given freely to relieve the poor. Some churches have poor boxes in the back for this purpose (mine does). Other have special collections for the poor throughout the year.

But during Lent, we should definitely be thinking about the poor, and how to relieve their poverty. So some increase in charitable giving is to be considered. There are lots of ways to do this: donate to a food pantry, work in a soup kitchen, pick something from a charity’s gift catalog (like World vision or other such), sponsor a child who lives in a poor nation, participate in Operation Rice Bowl, or donate to your diocese’s ministries for the poor. There are so many ways you can participate in almsgiving.

To be “poor” in the United States often means things like these statistics (from 2010):

• 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• 92 percent of poor households have a microwave.
• Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.
• Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite TV.
• Two-thirds have at least one DVD player, and 70 percent have a VCR.
• Half have a personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers.
• More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.
• 43 percent have Internet access.
• One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD TV.
• One-fourth have a digital video recorder system, such as a TiVo.

But to be poor in other countries means destitute–you’re living in hovels. You have no food or clean water. Your children are dying from malnourishment, or malaria, because of a lack of basic necessities. When we say dire poverty, this is what we mean. And yes, you can find this in pockets of America, as well. But I think during Lent it’s important to consider those who live in countries where the government cannot help them–there is no safety net. 

At the beginning of this series, I posted a list of 10 countries with the highest population of hungry people. It’s shocking to think that in Burundi, almost sixty-eight percent of the population is hungry. Think about that for a minute. Where I am right now, I am less than 50 feet away from a cafeteria that serves salads, sandwiches, burgers, coffee, cookies, artisan ice cream, and a variety of beverages. There are three vending machines down the hall. There are at least 10 places to eat within walking distance. My office has a water cooler of fresh, clean water for anyone who wants it. According to World Vision, “more than 1,600 children under age 5 die every day from diarrhea caused by unsafe water — that’s more than AIDS and malaria combined. Clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education are some of the most effective ways to prevent child disease and death.” 

We might not think we can make a difference with our few dollars that we can donate. But we can. A $20 (that’s a ticket to the movies and snacks, or a dinner out, or–for me–a hardback book, or a DVD/Blu-ray) donation to a clean water fund can save lives.

Like I said above, there are so many worthy places out there to give your money–this Lent, think about it. Think about the incredibly poverty that exists in our world, and do what we can to help alleviate it.

We can’t do everything, but as Mother Teresa said: “if you do something, and I do something, then together, we will do something beautiful for God.”

Lenten Practices 4: Stations of the Cross

Anyone who’s been in any Catholic church notices them–the Stations of the Cross. Sometimes done in plaster molding, sometimes in steel and wood, sometimes on plaques, sometimes in bas-relief–they are always there, in every church, a gift of St. Francis to the Church.

The Stations of the Cross are always there, but seem to gain popularity during Lent, with many parishes offering communal services to pray the stations. As a child, we “did” the stations of the cross every Friday during Lent with our class at the parochial school I attended, every year.

The Stations recount Jesus’ journey to His crucifixion, from His condemnation by Pilate (the first station) to the burial in the tomb (the fourteenth, and last, station). While the number of stations varied over the years, St. Francis codified the stations, in a sense, and gave us the fourteen stations we see today.  The object of the stations is to travel, spiritually, to Jerusalem, and thus walk with Jesus on Good Friday, often with a spirit of penance and reparation for our sins.

The stations are:

1. Jesus is Condemned to Death
2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross
3. Jesus Falls the First Time
4. Jesus Meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
7. Jesus Falls the Second Time
8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus Falls the Third Time
10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
11. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross (sometimes called the Crucifixion)
12. Jesus Dies on the Cross
13. Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

Often in communal services, the hymn Stabat Mater (“At the cross her station keeping”) is sung. On Good Friday, the pope recites the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum, complete with prayers and meditations.  An excellent set for meditation are these, written by (then) Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before Bl. John Paul II died in 2005; the pope was too ill to complete his normal Good Friday practices, so the Cardinal took his place, writing his own series of prayers and reflections.

The stations are a superb Lenten practice, since the graces we receive from doing them in a spirit of prayerful recollection and penance are so immense. It is good for us to ponder these things, to realize why Jesus died, to see the supreme mercy of God–the extreme depth of God’s love for us. We all see the signs that say John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” By mediating on the stations of the cross, we can truly see that love–love that was so deep it sustained Jesus through His horrible torture and death.

(As a side note: The 2004 film The Passion of the Christ shows all the stations, in some depth. For older children and adults, I often recommend watching this film, because I haven’t found a better example in media of Jesus’ passion and death, and what it truly was. It’s easy to whitewash what happened to Jesus; even the Gospels don’t give us explicit accounts, probably because their audiences knew all too well the horror of crucifixion. But we need to see it, I think, to really get it, and to see how deep and how great that love was. )

So, check and see if your church has a communal stations service on Fridays during Lent, or just go to your church sometime and walk the stations. If you can’t get to a church, you can also meditate on them at home by using a prayer book or an online guide, like the one I posted above. The important thing is that, at some point during Lent, you really focus on what the season is about, and what happened on Good Friday.)

Lenten Practices 3: Prayer

Lent is a great time to renew/revamp/reassess our prayer lives, and establish one, if you don’t already have one.

Prayer, as I explain to my first graders, is just talking to God. That’s it. It’s not some big mysterious thing that takes a lot of time. It’s just talking to someone who loves you.

I know a lot of Catholics trot out the “well I go to Mass every week.” At the Catholic Women's Conference I went to two years ago, one of the speakers (Rebecca Dussault) made a good point. She is a former Olympic cross country skier, and compared prayer to talking with her coach and training. If she only met with her coach one hour a week, she wouldn’t get to know her coach, the coach wouldn’t get to know her, and her training wouldn’t be that great. Thus, how can we possibly expect to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength if we don’t talk to Him more than an hour a week?

There are so many different prayer traditions we have as Catholics; it is a rich tradition! As a Domincan, I’m partial to the rosary, of course. One set of mysteries takes me about 15 minutes to say. 15 minutes to say the Rosary is 1% of your day.  If you can’t say five decades, say one, one the way to work, or as you clean the kitchen, or take a shower. Starting slowly is better than not starting at all.

There are many good Catholic prayer books available at any Catholic bookstore or Amazon. But you can also use your own words. Tell God what you need; tell Him what you’re thankful for; tell Him about people you love. The four main types of prayer are: intercessory (praying for someone else), praise, thanksgiving, and petition (asking Him to help you). Any combination of these is great.

If you like structure in your prayer life, try saying the Litrugy of the Hours. A great site for this isdivineoffice.org, where the prayers for the different hours are listed, and all you have to do is pray them! I have the four-volume set of the office, which I prefer, but I also love this website because it’s great on days when I’ve forgotten my breviary at home. (hey, it happens) The office is the daily prayer of the church, which priests are required to say. Monks and nuns chant these prayers as well, around the clock. Sisters and lay people don’t have to say as many “offices” of the Liturgy of the Hours. Usually I try to pray lauds (Morning Prayer), the Office of Reading, Vespers (Evening Prayer) , and Compline (Night Prayer). Morning and Evening prayer are called the “hinges” of the hours, since they sanctify both ends of the day–beginning and end. (I’ll be talking more about this in a separate post, since it’s a big part of my life as a Lay Dominican.)

A great book for beginners is  Prayer Primer, by Fr. Thomas Dubay (or even not beginners–people who just want to read and learn more about prayer). This is followed by Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer. (If you want something that boosts your exiting prayer life, the latter book is a great way to start)

During Lent, you may want to pray the Seven Penitential Psalms.  These are psalms that particularly express the idea of penitence and are particularly a propos during Lent.

Prayer is our intimate time of conversation with God. Sometimes you may wish to try contemplative prayer, or a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Sometimes I’ve kept a prayer journal where I write down specific intentions, or insights I’ve gained in prayer.

Whatever you’ve been doing, this Lent, try to add more. By giving things up, like facebook (which I’m doing), there is more time for prayer and spiritual reading. Let’s use those pockets of time to talk to God and deepen our relationship with Him.