I just felt like looking up the religious communities my friends are in on facebook and I found some cool stuff! I'm so proud of these ladies, I thought I'd showcase them on my blog.
Sister Kristina (novice) - Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburga [she's the Filipino one!]
http://walburga.org/Novitiate.html
Renee Myrick (postulant) - Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal
http://www.franciscansisterscfr.com/postulants.htm
Sister Donne Davidson (I don't know if she's received a new name as a novice yet) - Poor Clares of Mission BC [the one with the white veil]
http://www.poorclare.org/mission/pageone.html#intro
Sister Antoniana - Sisters of Life [the one in the picture]
http://sistersoflife.org/apostolates.html
Sister Julia Shideler - Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
http://www.mklsisters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=986&Itemid=1
Wonderful witnesses !!!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Too good not to share.....
Here's the second reading from the Office today. It was just too beautiful not to share. It's from the Imitation of Christ.
Uh.....as I was going to copy it from Universalis onto here I realized I read the wrong day's second reading. It's the feast of St. Mary Magdalene..... So.... anyways, here's the reading from another day as if it weren't that feast day. And I'm going to go read the real office for the day now....
From book 2 of the Imitation of Christ:
"Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.
Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.
Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him."[9]
Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others, for when you have Christ you are rich and He is sufficient for you. He will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that you need not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing firmly with us to the end.
Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.
You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ.
Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.
If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ's passion and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and you will easily bear their slanderous talk.
When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.
Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself."
Uh.....as I was going to copy it from Universalis onto here I realized I read the wrong day's second reading. It's the feast of St. Mary Magdalene..... So.... anyways, here's the reading from another day as if it weren't that feast day. And I'm going to go read the real office for the day now....
From book 2 of the Imitation of Christ:
"Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.
Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.
Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him."[9]
Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others, for when you have Christ you are rich and He is sufficient for you. He will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that you need not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing firmly with us to the end.
Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.
You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ.
Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.
If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ's passion and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and you will easily bear their slanderous talk.
When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.
Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Office of Readings
I love doing the Office of Readings, but it is something I struggle with. In lent I tried to pray it every day and that went very well, but as soon as Easter came, I found myself growing lax in it once again. I know it's soooo good for me, but for some reason there's always this hurdle in front of it. I guess that's the way it goes with many things that are good for us. There always seems to be a great temptation to stay away from them. So, I'm attempting to re-discipline myself once again and get back into it during the laziest time of the year, summer.
I usually find myself saying the psalms in the office of readings quickly to get to the readings which I often find most fruitful, but today God had me really chew on the third psalm for the day. It's a good one! (In case you're wondering where to find it in the Bible it's a chunk of Psalm 73)
Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.
And so when my heart grew embittered
and when I was cut to the quick,
I was stupid and did not understand,
no better than a beast in your sight.
Yet I was always in your presence;
you were holding me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel
and so you will lead me to glory.
What else have I in heaven but you?
Apart from you I want nothing on earth.
My body and my heart faint for joy.
God is my possession for ever.
All those who abandon you shall perish;
you will destroy all those who are faithless.
To be near God is my happiness.
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
I will tell of all your works
at the gates of the city of Zion.
Glory to the Father....
Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.
I thought this was really great to read this morning. The first stanza really spells out what we all fall into now and again. When we are bitter and short, when we are stupid and don't understand we're like beasts in the sight of the Lord. Hah! So true! It's often so difficult to look past the "stupid little instances" (the deacon at Bl. Sacrament mass mentioned these moments) and remember the peace and joy that we're constantly called to. We're always called to be in the presence of the Lord and to remember that the only thing we should want is heaven with Him. So even amidst the wonderful pleasures and irritating annoyances we're supposed to remember that our happiness and long lasting joy comes from God. Which brings me back to one of my favorite quotes from St. Teresa of Avila (mom's patron saint).
"Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth."
Well I hope that was as fun for you to read as it was for me to think!
I usually find myself saying the psalms in the office of readings quickly to get to the readings which I often find most fruitful, but today God had me really chew on the third psalm for the day. It's a good one! (In case you're wondering where to find it in the Bible it's a chunk of Psalm 73)
Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.
And so when my heart grew embittered
and when I was cut to the quick,
I was stupid and did not understand,
no better than a beast in your sight.
Yet I was always in your presence;
you were holding me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel
and so you will lead me to glory.
What else have I in heaven but you?
Apart from you I want nothing on earth.
My body and my heart faint for joy.
God is my possession for ever.
All those who abandon you shall perish;
you will destroy all those who are faithless.
To be near God is my happiness.
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
I will tell of all your works
at the gates of the city of Zion.
Glory to the Father....
Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.
I thought this was really great to read this morning. The first stanza really spells out what we all fall into now and again. When we are bitter and short, when we are stupid and don't understand we're like beasts in the sight of the Lord. Hah! So true! It's often so difficult to look past the "stupid little instances" (the deacon at Bl. Sacrament mass mentioned these moments) and remember the peace and joy that we're constantly called to. We're always called to be in the presence of the Lord and to remember that the only thing we should want is heaven with Him. So even amidst the wonderful pleasures and irritating annoyances we're supposed to remember that our happiness and long lasting joy comes from God. Which brings me back to one of my favorite quotes from St. Teresa of Avila (mom's patron saint).
"Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth."
Well I hope that was as fun for you to read as it was for me to think!
Friday, July 17, 2009
a bit of St. Ambrose
I thought the office of readings today were really cool. Here's the second reading from St. Ambrose.
Reading
From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop
To the newly baptised on the eucharist
Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.
It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.
Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.
If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow. They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us. You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.
Reading
From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop
To the newly baptised on the eucharist
Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.
It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.
Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.
If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow. They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us. You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Last night made me come to appreciate some things....
Here are a few things I love about my faith.
I thought I'd share.
1. 2000 years unbroken. We don't have any gaps in our history, the Holy Spirit has been guiding us along the same path (the path Christ gave us) for 2000 years.
2. I love these words, "You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."
3. I love that faith and reason are to go hand in hand. You can use your mind and your heart to glorify God because the Catholic faith makes sense!!!
4. I love the Eucharist. Christ in our Church, just like he said....until the end of the age.
5. I love the Bible and the fact that it is a product of Catholic Tradition. It didn't just pop out of thin air and King James didn't put it together!
6. I love that our sacraments are documented and they're the same from the beginning. I guess that goes with tradition, but it's also cool on its own.
7. I have more than emotion or blind faith to back up my religion.
8. I can count on the saints to pray for me. What great examples!
9. With the Catholic faith there is always an answer. I just have to go find it.
10. I'm so glad we have the Pope and Bishops and Priests. Where would we be without them? Thank you awesome priests and thank you awesome seminarians who are going to be there someday!
The conversion story of a former protestant pastor.
Read it here!!
I thought I'd share.
1. 2000 years unbroken. We don't have any gaps in our history, the Holy Spirit has been guiding us along the same path (the path Christ gave us) for 2000 years.
2. I love these words, "You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."
3. I love that faith and reason are to go hand in hand. You can use your mind and your heart to glorify God because the Catholic faith makes sense!!!
4. I love the Eucharist. Christ in our Church, just like he said....until the end of the age.
5. I love the Bible and the fact that it is a product of Catholic Tradition. It didn't just pop out of thin air and King James didn't put it together!
6. I love that our sacraments are documented and they're the same from the beginning. I guess that goes with tradition, but it's also cool on its own.
7. I have more than emotion or blind faith to back up my religion.
8. I can count on the saints to pray for me. What great examples!
9. With the Catholic faith there is always an answer. I just have to go find it.
10. I'm so glad we have the Pope and Bishops and Priests. Where would we be without them? Thank you awesome priests and thank you awesome seminarians who are going to be there someday!
The conversion story of a former protestant pastor.
Read it here!!
Friday, July 10, 2009
business?
Soo....I've been thinking of starting an Etsy store, but I'm not sure about the whole paypal thing and the whole $0.20 per item listed thing, and just a general feeling of "I don't know if this is right for me" hangs over the whole thing. Anywhoo, I talked to the owner of Alleluia Catholic store in Mill Creek today and she said that she'd sell some of the stuff I make consignment! Cool! Anyways, here's some of what I'll be selling. Still working on prices, but I think the bracelets will be $15. I'll probably get chains for the pendants too. Let me know what you think! I'll probably be taking a trip to Michaels soon to get some materials to start making my own cameos too. We'll see how that goes.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Coerced abortion
This is disgusting. I just saw an article on American Papist talking about a Men's magazine that gave tips to men about how to coerce their girlfriends into having an abortion. Check it out.
"Outrageous: Absolutely vile’ advice column tells men how to pressure pregnant women to abort"
The blatant disregard for the fact that the woman is carrying a human person is disgusting. The liberal media's approval of abortion is just disgusting. Blech, I don't know what else to say.
Pray to end abortion.
"Outrageous: Absolutely vile’ advice column tells men how to pressure pregnant women to abort"
The blatant disregard for the fact that the woman is carrying a human person is disgusting. The liberal media's approval of abortion is just disgusting. Blech, I don't know what else to say.
Pray to end abortion.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
Jon just finished reading this book, "Modern Physics and Ancient Faith". While he was reading it he described a lot of it to me and it sounded soooooo interesting I had to start it as soon as he finished. It's by Dr. Stephen M. Barr a physics professor at the University of Delaware. He received a Papal medal for it. Yeah, it's that good!
I'm only on page 15 and so far the book is so great that I need to share some things.
Did you know that St. Augustine, St. Clement, Origen and other early Church people held this view about creation
"St. Augustine held that the six days of creation were not to be taken literally as a period of time or a temporal sucession. He held, rather, that all things were produced simultaneously by God in a single instant and subsequently underwent some natural process of development."
Sounds a little like Big Bang and evolution :)
I knew St. Augustine was an awesome doctor of the faith, but I didn't know he wrote stuff like this:
"Usually even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics, and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.... If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe our books in matters concerning the ressurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falshoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren, ... to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture, ... although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make the assertion."
SO AWESOME!!
This is why believers have a responsibility to educate themselves about the natural world and science. Basically you don't want to be caught spouting nonsense. Faith and Reason people, faith and reason. JPII said something at one point about Science and Faith both being out to find the truth. Since faith and reason go hand in hand we can't deny that which is found to be true! Something like that anyways....
In short, this book is rad. I highly recommend it, even though I'm only on the 15th page. Jon said the whole thing is awesome so I'd trust his opinion. I'll update more as I go on!!
I'm only on page 15 and so far the book is so great that I need to share some things.
Did you know that St. Augustine, St. Clement, Origen and other early Church people held this view about creation
"St. Augustine held that the six days of creation were not to be taken literally as a period of time or a temporal sucession. He held, rather, that all things were produced simultaneously by God in a single instant and subsequently underwent some natural process of development."
Sounds a little like Big Bang and evolution :)
I knew St. Augustine was an awesome doctor of the faith, but I didn't know he wrote stuff like this:
"Usually even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics, and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.... If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe our books in matters concerning the ressurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falshoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren, ... to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture, ... although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make the assertion."
SO AWESOME!!
This is why believers have a responsibility to educate themselves about the natural world and science. Basically you don't want to be caught spouting nonsense. Faith and Reason people, faith and reason. JPII said something at one point about Science and Faith both being out to find the truth. Since faith and reason go hand in hand we can't deny that which is found to be true! Something like that anyways....
In short, this book is rad. I highly recommend it, even though I'm only on the 15th page. Jon said the whole thing is awesome so I'd trust his opinion. I'll update more as I go on!!
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