In the wake of World Youth Day I found myself reminiscing about the good ol' days when I could just work, save up money, and travel all over the world. I realized as well how incredibly fortunate I am to have been able to travel to as many places as I have. Now that I'm a mom, I sometimes feel like the opportunities to travel and see the wonders of the world are slipping through my fingers never to return. I have this fear that I'll never see the fantastic places that I drool over on Pinterest before I die. One of my friend's t-shirt's proclaims FOMO. "Fear of missing out." I totally have this fear. I would love to go back to Paris, go see Barcelona and Greece, walk the camino, take Jon to Rome with me and spend more time in Assisi, go to the next World Youth Day in Poland, etc, etc, etc. God created such a wonderful world full of beauty didn't he?
Two weeks ago I was privileged to give a talk at my parish about my travels in Calcutta. While it was a pleasure to reminisce and impart the wisdom of Mother Teresa and my travel experiences and lessons to other parishoners, I found that one of the last "travel lessons" in my talk gave me pause.
The night before I left Calcutta I truly felt like I was going to die. My poor asthmatic lungs were just giving way to the pollution and I literally gasped for breath the entire night. If you don't believe me, ask Annie. I spent the whole night having a minor near death experience and praying the Act of Contrition over and over until I think I passed out for a couple of hours. I honestly thought I would die that night in that crazy, dingy, rooftop hostel room on Sudder Street. I mention this experience because it was while praying the act of contrition over and over that I realized what was most important. It was my relationship with Christ. Priority #1! I was praying the act of contrition because I was sorry for everything I had done wrong and I really, really, really, wanted to see Jesus on the flip side if I died.
What does this have to do with travel?
Well, I think that sometimes I forget about priorities. Are you with me? We all do this don't we? While travel, material goods, excitement, and rich experiences are fun, they aren't the main goal. They aren't our final destination. So should we feel like we're missing out if we're concentrating on priority #1?
Priority #1 for me right now entails changing diapers, being a supportive wife, not complaining all the time, being nice to my children, trying to teach my children about God, trying to teach my kids the alphabet, making dinner, cleaning high chairs, doing laundry, wiping poop off bums, and everything else being a stay at home mom entails.
Priority #1's details are definitely not as exciting as swimming in the mediterranean sea or hiking in the mountains of Spain. I have always known in my head that the "unforgettably exciting life experiences" shouldn't be made into an idol, but I suppose I never thought about what lies in heaven on a grand scale in comparison to them. I never imagined that all the wonderful places on earth will pale in comparison to heaven and being in the presence of God. I never imagined that I would still probably be able to see every place on earth while in heaven anyways.
This silly popular phrase "YOLO" keeps getting thrown around. "You only live once!" But really, if we have priority #1 in our sights, living once will mean living forever won't it? So I guess what I'm getting at is, while it's fun and sometimes good to chase after excitement and rich experiences, don't let those experiences get in the way of priority #1. Because ultimately, our relationship with Christ will get us the most unbelievable, all-inclusive, all expenses paid, never ending vacation we've ever had. If we have priority #2 in order, we might even be able to take all our friends and family with us!
Won't it be amazing?
Monday, August 05, 2013
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Marital Infidelity in the media
Does anyone else get bothered by all the marital infidelity in the media?
Honestly, this never used to bother me, or maybe I just never paid attention to it. Before I got married I watched lots of shows that had all sorts of cheating and lying and horrible things, but I guess I got desensitized to it. It's weird, and cool that marriage can re-sensitize you to some things.
I think someone (maybe Kristine?) blogged about something like this in relation to her children. Something like seeing children hurt makes you automatically sad because you think of your own child and how horrible it would be if he or she was hurt.
I think the same thing is happening in my mind with marriage.
Every time I see someone cheat, or flirt on tv or in a movie when they have a husband or wife it makes my skin crawl. Sometimes even if I'm enjoying the rest of the show I just want to turn it off because it's so offensive. I think, "Ugh, how could you do that to your husband or wife? How could you then just turn around and go back to them pretending you didn't cheat on them and lie to their face?" Ugh. It grosses me out. More than that it gives me irrational nightmares. Not that nightmares are usually rational, but you know what I mean, Jon would never do that (I am also pregnant and pregnancy dreams are usually crazy). I wish netflix had better descriptions on its movies so you'd know which movies had marital infidelity in them along with other offenses.
I suppose it's something that comes when you learn to appreciate marriage and your spouse and what this Holy Sacrament means in your life. I can't even imagine that this happens all the time in real life. Shame on you mass media for making it seem commonplace, fun, and daring.
Marital infidelity tears marriages apart, it ruins relationships, it scars husbands, wives, children, and society. Blech.
It makes the world believe LOVE doesn't really exist anymore. God is love. Work the logic friends. Marriage makes God and his love known to the world in an amazing way.
Let's pray for stronger marriages and those who have been hurt by marital infidelity. The world needs it.
(I'm starting to meld blogs now, I like the prayer thing on the food blog so I'm going to do it here too.)
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear God,
Honestly, this never used to bother me, or maybe I just never paid attention to it. Before I got married I watched lots of shows that had all sorts of cheating and lying and horrible things, but I guess I got desensitized to it. It's weird, and cool that marriage can re-sensitize you to some things.
I think someone (maybe Kristine?) blogged about something like this in relation to her children. Something like seeing children hurt makes you automatically sad because you think of your own child and how horrible it would be if he or she was hurt.
I think the same thing is happening in my mind with marriage.
Every time I see someone cheat, or flirt on tv or in a movie when they have a husband or wife it makes my skin crawl. Sometimes even if I'm enjoying the rest of the show I just want to turn it off because it's so offensive. I think, "Ugh, how could you do that to your husband or wife? How could you then just turn around and go back to them pretending you didn't cheat on them and lie to their face?" Ugh. It grosses me out. More than that it gives me irrational nightmares. Not that nightmares are usually rational, but you know what I mean, Jon would never do that (I am also pregnant and pregnancy dreams are usually crazy). I wish netflix had better descriptions on its movies so you'd know which movies had marital infidelity in them along with other offenses.
I suppose it's something that comes when you learn to appreciate marriage and your spouse and what this Holy Sacrament means in your life. I can't even imagine that this happens all the time in real life. Shame on you mass media for making it seem commonplace, fun, and daring.
Marital infidelity tears marriages apart, it ruins relationships, it scars husbands, wives, children, and society. Blech.
It makes the world believe LOVE doesn't really exist anymore. God is love. Work the logic friends. Marriage makes God and his love known to the world in an amazing way.
Let's pray for stronger marriages and those who have been hurt by marital infidelity. The world needs it.
(I'm starting to meld blogs now, I like the prayer thing on the food blog so I'm going to do it here too.)
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear God,
thank you for Jon my amazing husband. :) Help all of us who are married to always be faithful to our marriage vows and to you God. Bless and comfort those husbands, wives, and families who have been scarred by marital infidelity and help them to once again believe in love and in you as the source of all love. Amen.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
my Vision board? How about a vision list?
So my friend from High School (Natalia) has in the last little while become a really inspired/inspiring mom. She gave birth to her little Tiana just a few weeks before Mikey got evicted from the Mom motel and (I think) little Tiana has changed her mommy's life. It seems Nat has become really excited about being a mom and wants to tell everyone else that being a mom can be amazing!
She's started a business called Tutu Mama and now she's doing a series of vlogs for moms where she is basically trying to light a fire under our bums for whatever inspires us. Great idea. I love how energetic and inspired she is! Way to go Nat!
Well anyways, she has been asking her blog readers and vlog viewers to make vision boards on pinterest or the old fashioned way a la collage. Since I neither have the desire to register for another (probably cool, but at this point unpractical for me) time vacuum, and I don't own a plethora of magazines, I'm going to make a rather bland....Vision list! Ha ha! Sorry for being so boring Nat.
Here it goes.
Things I'd like to be really good at...or good at again.
Making time for prayer and meditation. Gosh it was so easy in college wasn't it? I just need to drag myself out of bed early in the morning so I can worship my amazing God. It's ridiculous how lazy I am in the morning, really. If my children could form more coherent sentences to describe my morning behavior, I'd be in trouble.
Playing piano, guitar, sax, flute, violin. - It saddens me a bit to think about how much I used to practice and play some of these instruments and probably how lethargic my fingers and embouchure have gotten in the last few years. C'est la vie. My arms are stronger from toting babies around and my vocals have improved from singing many a lullaby. There's hope yet.
Making sourdough bread. - I know I can feed a sourdough starter, because it bubbles happily. I know I can make good bread with conventional yeast. But gosh darn that sourdough just does not taste good, look good or have good texture. But I WILL get it. Gah. Tips?
Blogging more frequently...... Ha ha ha! I don't know if I actually feel a need to get better at this, or if I just feel bad for the people who have me on their blog roll. They probably think I've given up, but alas, every 3 or 4 months I do blog. Hopefully it won't be so long until my next installment.
Couponing. I am totally inspired by my friends who are saving loads of cash or getting paid to buy stuff. I know it would be a great asset to our family's budget if I could get toothpaste, toilet paper, or Kleenex for free. One of these days when I get life a teeny, tiny, bit more organized, I'm going hunting on blogs for those organic and all natural coupons. Gosh I wish they had coupons for organic produce. Ha ha!
Putting pictures into albums or frames. Some of you from high school and college who saw my room will probably remember seeing photos taped to the walls in creative shapes. No, I don't still do that in our apartment, but now the poor pictures just sit in boxes, or even worse, in folders on the computer never to be printed out. At least they're on facebook, right? I have been blessed with so many amazing experiences in my life and I have taken a lot of pictures of those experiences, but gosh no one else is seeing them! I suppose it'd help if I could hang a picture straight. I don't know what it is. It's like cutting paper, I can't cut straight either.
Canning/jarring fruit and other stuff. To be honest, we don't have a pantry so this isn't really do-able at the moment unless I want to stock Mikey's closet with jars full of peaches and tomatoes. But after reading food blog after food blog about canning and "putting up" summer fruits, it makes me want to seize the opportunity and stuff things into jars! When we have more space, and when Jon and I learn to break things less often, this will happen.
Reading! I used to read so much, but at the end of the day all I seem to want to do is veg out. We have so many amazing books on the shelves that could probably really help out my spiritual life and general human maturity. Seriously, we have a pretty nice looking Catholic library in here and so far Jon is the only one making use of it! The most reading I've done in the last few months is thumbing through my Medicinal Plants of the world book (reference book, not exactly a book you delve into) checking out herbal remedies.
It's not an incredibly exciting vision list, but that's as far as my "dreams" go at the moment. Not exactly glamorous, but exciting in their way. I don't know about you, but perfecting a stellar sourdough boule would be crazy fantastic!
But here's another short list of things I will be doing, for sure in the near future.
-Making cheese. I found a recipe for paneer/queso fresco/cottage cheese on saveur.com that looks super easy and I'm going to make it. Did you know that those were all the same thing? Yeah, me neither until I watched a few youtube videos tonight.
-Putting a bunch of photos into an album. My fabulous friend Annie gave me a coupon code for Snapfish last week. It's one of those photo sharing/printing websites. I printed out a huge load of photos from when Clare was born up until now and they will finally be out for viewing pleasure in our living room! Woohoo! Thanks Annie!
Any tips for my aspirations?
She's started a business called Tutu Mama and now she's doing a series of vlogs for moms where she is basically trying to light a fire under our bums for whatever inspires us. Great idea. I love how energetic and inspired she is! Way to go Nat!
Well anyways, she has been asking her blog readers and vlog viewers to make vision boards on pinterest or the old fashioned way a la collage. Since I neither have the desire to register for another (probably cool, but at this point unpractical for me) time vacuum, and I don't own a plethora of magazines, I'm going to make a rather bland....Vision list! Ha ha! Sorry for being so boring Nat.
Here it goes.
Things I'd like to be really good at...or good at again.
Making time for prayer and meditation. Gosh it was so easy in college wasn't it? I just need to drag myself out of bed early in the morning so I can worship my amazing God. It's ridiculous how lazy I am in the morning, really. If my children could form more coherent sentences to describe my morning behavior, I'd be in trouble.
Playing piano, guitar, sax, flute, violin. - It saddens me a bit to think about how much I used to practice and play some of these instruments and probably how lethargic my fingers and embouchure have gotten in the last few years. C'est la vie. My arms are stronger from toting babies around and my vocals have improved from singing many a lullaby. There's hope yet.
Making sourdough bread. - I know I can feed a sourdough starter, because it bubbles happily. I know I can make good bread with conventional yeast. But gosh darn that sourdough just does not taste good, look good or have good texture. But I WILL get it. Gah. Tips?
Blogging more frequently...... Ha ha ha! I don't know if I actually feel a need to get better at this, or if I just feel bad for the people who have me on their blog roll. They probably think I've given up, but alas, every 3 or 4 months I do blog. Hopefully it won't be so long until my next installment.
Couponing. I am totally inspired by my friends who are saving loads of cash or getting paid to buy stuff. I know it would be a great asset to our family's budget if I could get toothpaste, toilet paper, or Kleenex for free. One of these days when I get life a teeny, tiny, bit more organized, I'm going hunting on blogs for those organic and all natural coupons. Gosh I wish they had coupons for organic produce. Ha ha!
Putting pictures into albums or frames. Some of you from high school and college who saw my room will probably remember seeing photos taped to the walls in creative shapes. No, I don't still do that in our apartment, but now the poor pictures just sit in boxes, or even worse, in folders on the computer never to be printed out. At least they're on facebook, right? I have been blessed with so many amazing experiences in my life and I have taken a lot of pictures of those experiences, but gosh no one else is seeing them! I suppose it'd help if I could hang a picture straight. I don't know what it is. It's like cutting paper, I can't cut straight either.
Canning/jarring fruit and other stuff. To be honest, we don't have a pantry so this isn't really do-able at the moment unless I want to stock Mikey's closet with jars full of peaches and tomatoes. But after reading food blog after food blog about canning and "putting up" summer fruits, it makes me want to seize the opportunity and stuff things into jars! When we have more space, and when Jon and I learn to break things less often, this will happen.
Reading! I used to read so much, but at the end of the day all I seem to want to do is veg out. We have so many amazing books on the shelves that could probably really help out my spiritual life and general human maturity. Seriously, we have a pretty nice looking Catholic library in here and so far Jon is the only one making use of it! The most reading I've done in the last few months is thumbing through my Medicinal Plants of the world book (reference book, not exactly a book you delve into) checking out herbal remedies.
It's not an incredibly exciting vision list, but that's as far as my "dreams" go at the moment. Not exactly glamorous, but exciting in their way. I don't know about you, but perfecting a stellar sourdough boule would be crazy fantastic!
But here's another short list of things I will be doing, for sure in the near future.
-Making cheese. I found a recipe for paneer/queso fresco/cottage cheese on saveur.com that looks super easy and I'm going to make it. Did you know that those were all the same thing? Yeah, me neither until I watched a few youtube videos tonight.
-Putting a bunch of photos into an album. My fabulous friend Annie gave me a coupon code for Snapfish last week. It's one of those photo sharing/printing websites. I printed out a huge load of photos from when Clare was born up until now and they will finally be out for viewing pleasure in our living room! Woohoo! Thanks Annie!
Any tips for my aspirations?
Friday, June 10, 2011
I'm a doctor mama.
Clare walked into the bathroom this morning with her kiddo laptop and said, "I'm a doctor mama. I'm going to check you."
I said, "You're a doctor just like Dr. Platz?"
She said, "Yes just like Dr. Platz. I'm going to check you 'cuz your heart hurts."
She sat down on the floor and started typing on her toy laptop and said, "Don't move, I'm going to check you."
"Where's your stethoscope?" I said.
"Oh, let me go get it."
She got my old book light which actually does look like a medical instrument and proceeded to check me with it and now she is insisting that I stand on the scale. Ha ha ha!
Should we start saving for Med School now?
I said, "You're a doctor just like Dr. Platz?"
She said, "Yes just like Dr. Platz. I'm going to check you 'cuz your heart hurts."
She sat down on the floor and started typing on her toy laptop and said, "Don't move, I'm going to check you."
"Where's your stethoscope?" I said.
"Oh, let me go get it."
She got my old book light which actually does look like a medical instrument and proceeded to check me with it and now she is insisting that I stand on the scale. Ha ha ha!
Should we start saving for Med School now?
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
how much I LOVE to cook!
I recently sent an email to my sisters in law with some recipes that I make on a regular basis. I thought I'd share in case anyone was bored with their usual repertoire and in need of new recipes.
In no particular order.
Yucatan Lime Soup
Jon's fav (we had it at a restaurant on our honeymoon after a snorkeling excursion and he had me find a recipe when we got home! Ha ha!)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/yucatan-lime-soup-recipe/index.html
Filipino Adobo - serve over rice!
1lb chicken (pork ribs or country style ribs work too)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of vinegar
2 tablespoons of water
4 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
Pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients in a pot (the liquid should come half way up the chicken) and bring up to a boil. Don't stir until it boils (my grandma says that it gets sour if you stir it before it boils). Once it's boiled then stir it and turn the temp down to low and let it simmer for half an hour or more until the chicken or pork is tender. That's it! Enjoy!
Beef Pastel - Filipino Beef Stew (Pie)
This is actually supposed to be a beef stew with a pie top crust. I don't usually make the crust.
Ingredients
1lb stew meat (Mom uses sirloin since she doesn't usually use the slow cooker)
1tbsp butter or olive oil (grandma says use butter)
1/2 c onions
1 can mushroom soup
2 potatoes
2 carrots
1c peas
mushrooms (as much as you like)
Brown the beef lightly. Drain meat and set aside. Heat butter in pan, add onions and beef and saute until the
beef is completely brown. Add the can of mushroom soup (no water). Simmer on low-medium heat until beef is almost tender. Add potatoes and carrots, cook until almost done. Add mushrooms and peas, cook a bit more. Season with salt and pepper.
If you want you can do it in the slow cooker to make the beef really, really tender. Just add the vegetables (besides the onions) into the slow cooker an hour or two before you want it to finish.
Quiche!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/spinach-and-bacon-quiche-recipe/index.html
Beef and Spinach Burritos
http://shallwecook.blogspot.com/2009/02/beef-and-spinach-burritos.html
Tilapia Parmesan (You know, for Fridays)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Detail.aspx#
Indian Butter Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=24782&servings=6
Shepherd's Pie
Sorta goes something like this.
Saute ground beef with chopped onions and garlic.
Add veggies (carrots, peas, green beans)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add a tablespoon of flour and a bit of water to make a bit of gravy-ish substance.
Throw into a casserole dish, top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with a bit of cheese. Pop it in the oven until everything is warm and the cheese has melted.
Hot wings (or thighs or drumsticks)
Marinate chicken in buttermilk +salt and pepper for an hour or two.
Toss into a bag with breadcrumbs and a bit of whole wheat flour.
Bake in a 400 oven for 30 minutes until just about done.
Toss in 1/4cup of hot sauce and a tablespoon of butter.
Return to oven for 10 minutes.
(Variations) Plain Breaded Chicken or Lemon Pepper Chicken
If you just want to make breaded chicken this works too without the hot sauce step. I've also tried making lemon pepper chicken this way by marinating in lemon juice before, adding lemon pepper seasoning to the breading, then tossing in lemon and butter at the end.
I also love to drool at the recipes on Saveur.com and davidlebovitz.com
I find allrecipes.com very helpful too. Happy Cooking!!
In no particular order.
Yucatan Lime Soup
Jon's fav (we had it at a restaurant on our honeymoon after a snorkeling excursion and he had me find a recipe when we got home! Ha ha!)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/yucatan-lime-soup-recipe/index.html
Filipino Adobo - serve over rice!
1lb chicken (pork ribs or country style ribs work too)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of vinegar
2 tablespoons of water
4 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
Pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients in a pot (the liquid should come half way up the chicken) and bring up to a boil. Don't stir until it boils (my grandma says that it gets sour if you stir it before it boils). Once it's boiled then stir it and turn the temp down to low and let it simmer for half an hour or more until the chicken or pork is tender. That's it! Enjoy!
Beef Pastel - Filipino Beef Stew (Pie)
This is actually supposed to be a beef stew with a pie top crust. I don't usually make the crust.
Ingredients
1lb stew meat (Mom uses sirloin since she doesn't usually use the slow cooker)
1tbsp butter or olive oil (grandma says use butter)
1/2 c onions
1 can mushroom soup
2 potatoes
2 carrots
1c peas
mushrooms (as much as you like)
Brown the beef lightly. Drain meat and set aside. Heat butter in pan, add onions and beef and saute until the
beef is completely brown. Add the can of mushroom soup (no water). Simmer on low-medium heat until beef is almost tender. Add potatoes and carrots, cook until almost done. Add mushrooms and peas, cook a bit more. Season with salt and pepper.
If you want you can do it in the slow cooker to make the beef really, really tender. Just add the vegetables (besides the onions) into the slow cooker an hour or two before you want it to finish.
Quiche!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/spinach-and-bacon-quiche-recipe/index.html
Beef and Spinach Burritos
http://shallwecook.blogspot.com/2009/02/beef-and-spinach-burritos.html
Tilapia Parmesan (You know, for Fridays)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Detail.aspx#
Indian Butter Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=24782&servings=6
Shepherd's Pie
Sorta goes something like this.
Saute ground beef with chopped onions and garlic.
Add veggies (carrots, peas, green beans)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add a tablespoon of flour and a bit of water to make a bit of gravy-ish substance.
Throw into a casserole dish, top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with a bit of cheese. Pop it in the oven until everything is warm and the cheese has melted.
Hot wings (or thighs or drumsticks)
Marinate chicken in buttermilk +salt and pepper for an hour or two.
Toss into a bag with breadcrumbs and a bit of whole wheat flour.
Bake in a 400 oven for 30 minutes until just about done.
Toss in 1/4cup of hot sauce and a tablespoon of butter.
Return to oven for 10 minutes.
(Variations) Plain Breaded Chicken or Lemon Pepper Chicken
If you just want to make breaded chicken this works too without the hot sauce step. I've also tried making lemon pepper chicken this way by marinating in lemon juice before, adding lemon pepper seasoning to the breading, then tossing in lemon and butter at the end.
I also love to drool at the recipes on Saveur.com and davidlebovitz.com
I find allrecipes.com very helpful too. Happy Cooking!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
..how important Guardian Angels are.
A conversation I had with Clare today while we were getting in the car.
Clare: It's (seatbelt) too tight!!
Me: Your seatbelt has to be tight. Your seatbelt protects you while you're in the car.
Clare: No, my angel protects me.
Duh. I should know better. Ha ha ha!
Clare: It's (seatbelt) too tight!!
Me: Your seatbelt has to be tight. Your seatbelt protects you while you're in the car.
Clare: No, my angel protects me.
Duh. I should know better. Ha ha ha!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
...that I knew nothing about liturgical music in College.
This post may catch some of you off guard. This post may even upset some of you, but I feel this needs to be said so that I can come clean with all of you. It’s somewhat of a confession. It also lets you in on my educational journey. I’ll get on with it then.
I knew nothing about liturgical music in college. During my junior year I was blessed to have been chosen to serve as peer minister of music. I happen to have some musical abilities and had been in many choirs and church choirs at the time. For some reason this led me to believe that I was qualified to lead music at Mass.
I tell you now, I am not qualified to lead music at Mass. Retreats? Sure. Praise and Worship sessions? Sure. Campfires? Sure. Mass? No, definitely not.
Throughout high school I was part of choir and at my Catholic high school, the choir provided music at Mass. During my 12th grade year our choir changed leadership and our protestant calculus teacher took over the duties of choir director. She was anglican I believe. She was full of faith, full of vibrancy and had a special love for praise and worship music. This is where my interest in Praise and Worship music entered. At first I was hesitant and constantly thinking, “We shouldn’t sing this music, it’s protestant.” At some point I voiced this opinion to one of the teachers at my high school who responded, “So? It speaks about Jesus doesn’t it? It’s Biblical isn’t it? What’s wrong with it?” At the time this answer satisfied me and from there my desire to sing the faith filled ballads grew.
Fast forward to college. At the Campus Ministry Masses where I went to college our choir sang “Catholic Top 40”. You know the songs - On Eagles Wings, You Are Near, One Bread One Body etc. When I was chosen to be the music minister I began to think about “spicing”things up a bit. I decided that I’d add in some praise and worship music because I knew that many people at the campus ministry came from a “Life Teen” background and I knew that “Life Teen” was heavily influenced by praise and worship music. I thought that it would make Mass more inviting and familiar to freshman coming in from “Life Teen” parishes. I also happened to like a lot of PnW songs from my high school experience.
To all of you who I led in song, I apologize. To all of you who questioned my choice of music after I took the music ministry in a new direction, I apologize. I did not know what I was doing.
After I graduated and while I was discerning I came to an appreciation of a few things, namely sacredness and reverence. At the time, I was discerning religious life and the order that seemed to strike me the most was the Benedictine Order. Benedictines are known for (among other things) being contemplatives and for their liturgy. Through spending time with the Benedictine Monks in Mission and the Sisters of St. Walburga I came to an appreciation of chant and polyphony. I began to more fully understand why the Church claims these forms of music as her music. This appreciation grew even more as Jon and I talked and grew closer and has grown even more so in our marriage. Somehow I began to understand how chant and polyphony don’t disrupt the silence that should envelop your soul while at Mass. I began to understand that music at Mass shouldn’t distract you from Christ, it should invite you to focus more precisely on Him who you came to worship.
Last year we were fortunate to go to half a workshop (at my parent’s parish in BC) on Liturgical Music by a UBC Music Grad named Peter Mulholland. We missed the first half which was an overview of Liturgical Music from the beginning of the Church onward. During the second half we learned about what the Popes have said about liturgical music, how it is supposed to be evaluated (how to tell which music is fitting), how liturgical music flows with and out of the liturgy, and we even learned how to chant a bit. It was so incredibly enlightening.
Did you know that the music at Mass should be evaluated by Holiness, Universality and Goodness of Form? Did you know that what the Pope said about liturgical music has been ignored by many Bishops? Did you know that the songs at Mass are supposed to be replacements for the antiphons? Did you know there isn’t really supposed to be a Recessional hymn? Did you know that the Church favors the Organ as the instrument for Mass Music? Did you know that when Readings are chanted there are specific intonations to designate specific statements? Did you know that different readings during Mass have specific chants? How intricate!!! How beautiful!!! How much is being lost in our quick and generic song choices!
Do you know that feeling when you hear the truth? It’s as if you hear Christ’s voice and a light goes on in some room of your soul. That’s what it felt like to discover the beauty of liturgical music in this workshop.
Unfortunately, many people like me have made mistakes (though with good intentions) with Mass music. I can understand that if music sounds nice and if it speaks about Jesus that you could think it’s appropriate for Mass. But if you contrast it with the beautiful music our Church has claimed for herself and pair that with what our Vicar of Christ has said about music, I don’t see how some of the music that is played at Masses today can be accepted.
Mass music is supposed to lift our minds and hearts to God. The Mass is supposed to help us transcend time to meet with Christ himself in the Blessed Sacrament. Our souls should be filled with reverence, solemnity and wonder while we behold Christ at Mass. Doesn’t it seem fitting that the music at mass should be reflective of this?
When I think of playing music with the electric guitar and people dancing around in silliness during Mass as a result of my Music leadership my heart is heavy. I want everyone to learn what I’ve learned. I want all music ministers to know what the Church says. I wish I had bothered to ask, learn, seek, and study what the Church says about Music while I was a music minister. I pray no one was scandalized by the music I chose and sang.
God help me. If only I had more humility. Forgive me for my mistakes!
UIOGD. Sing well, pray well, Christ deserves it.
If you want to know more about liturgical music and read the documents from the Vatican many of them can be found on the Adoremus website.
I knew nothing about liturgical music in college. During my junior year I was blessed to have been chosen to serve as peer minister of music. I happen to have some musical abilities and had been in many choirs and church choirs at the time. For some reason this led me to believe that I was qualified to lead music at Mass.
I tell you now, I am not qualified to lead music at Mass. Retreats? Sure. Praise and Worship sessions? Sure. Campfires? Sure. Mass? No, definitely not.
Throughout high school I was part of choir and at my Catholic high school, the choir provided music at Mass. During my 12th grade year our choir changed leadership and our protestant calculus teacher took over the duties of choir director. She was anglican I believe. She was full of faith, full of vibrancy and had a special love for praise and worship music. This is where my interest in Praise and Worship music entered. At first I was hesitant and constantly thinking, “We shouldn’t sing this music, it’s protestant.” At some point I voiced this opinion to one of the teachers at my high school who responded, “So? It speaks about Jesus doesn’t it? It’s Biblical isn’t it? What’s wrong with it?” At the time this answer satisfied me and from there my desire to sing the faith filled ballads grew.
Fast forward to college. At the Campus Ministry Masses where I went to college our choir sang “Catholic Top 40”. You know the songs - On Eagles Wings, You Are Near, One Bread One Body etc. When I was chosen to be the music minister I began to think about “spicing”things up a bit. I decided that I’d add in some praise and worship music because I knew that many people at the campus ministry came from a “Life Teen” background and I knew that “Life Teen” was heavily influenced by praise and worship music. I thought that it would make Mass more inviting and familiar to freshman coming in from “Life Teen” parishes. I also happened to like a lot of PnW songs from my high school experience.
To all of you who I led in song, I apologize. To all of you who questioned my choice of music after I took the music ministry in a new direction, I apologize. I did not know what I was doing.
After I graduated and while I was discerning I came to an appreciation of a few things, namely sacredness and reverence. At the time, I was discerning religious life and the order that seemed to strike me the most was the Benedictine Order. Benedictines are known for (among other things) being contemplatives and for their liturgy. Through spending time with the Benedictine Monks in Mission and the Sisters of St. Walburga I came to an appreciation of chant and polyphony. I began to more fully understand why the Church claims these forms of music as her music. This appreciation grew even more as Jon and I talked and grew closer and has grown even more so in our marriage. Somehow I began to understand how chant and polyphony don’t disrupt the silence that should envelop your soul while at Mass. I began to understand that music at Mass shouldn’t distract you from Christ, it should invite you to focus more precisely on Him who you came to worship.
Last year we were fortunate to go to half a workshop (at my parent’s parish in BC) on Liturgical Music by a UBC Music Grad named Peter Mulholland. We missed the first half which was an overview of Liturgical Music from the beginning of the Church onward. During the second half we learned about what the Popes have said about liturgical music, how it is supposed to be evaluated (how to tell which music is fitting), how liturgical music flows with and out of the liturgy, and we even learned how to chant a bit. It was so incredibly enlightening.
Did you know that the music at Mass should be evaluated by Holiness, Universality and Goodness of Form? Did you know that what the Pope said about liturgical music has been ignored by many Bishops? Did you know that the songs at Mass are supposed to be replacements for the antiphons? Did you know there isn’t really supposed to be a Recessional hymn? Did you know that the Church favors the Organ as the instrument for Mass Music? Did you know that when Readings are chanted there are specific intonations to designate specific statements? Did you know that different readings during Mass have specific chants? How intricate!!! How beautiful!!! How much is being lost in our quick and generic song choices!
Do you know that feeling when you hear the truth? It’s as if you hear Christ’s voice and a light goes on in some room of your soul. That’s what it felt like to discover the beauty of liturgical music in this workshop.
Unfortunately, many people like me have made mistakes (though with good intentions) with Mass music. I can understand that if music sounds nice and if it speaks about Jesus that you could think it’s appropriate for Mass. But if you contrast it with the beautiful music our Church has claimed for herself and pair that with what our Vicar of Christ has said about music, I don’t see how some of the music that is played at Masses today can be accepted.
Mass music is supposed to lift our minds and hearts to God. The Mass is supposed to help us transcend time to meet with Christ himself in the Blessed Sacrament. Our souls should be filled with reverence, solemnity and wonder while we behold Christ at Mass. Doesn’t it seem fitting that the music at mass should be reflective of this?
When I think of playing music with the electric guitar and people dancing around in silliness during Mass as a result of my Music leadership my heart is heavy. I want everyone to learn what I’ve learned. I want all music ministers to know what the Church says. I wish I had bothered to ask, learn, seek, and study what the Church says about Music while I was a music minister. I pray no one was scandalized by the music I chose and sang.
God help me. If only I had more humility. Forgive me for my mistakes!
UIOGD. Sing well, pray well, Christ deserves it.
If you want to know more about liturgical music and read the documents from the Vatican many of them can be found on the Adoremus website.
....why I shouldn't worry about my children's future
For the last couple of weeks I’ve caught the end of the show “The Biggest Loser.” After this show there’s one called “Parenthood.” Last week “Parenthood” looked interesting, so yesterday, I thought I’d stay up and watch an hour of it.
In this episode two parents find out that their daughter (I think she’s supposed to be 16 or 17) has begun having sex with her boyfriend. The girl’s parents find this out in a terrible way when the girl accidentally calls her parents on her iphone by hitting it with her foot during sex. When her parents answered their phone while they were in the car they heard ….something they did not want to hear.
A little later, the girl’s mother confronts her and asks her if she’s having sex with her boyfriend, to which the girl responds, “no, no, no.” A few days later she comes to her mom and says, “Okay yes, we’re having sex.” Her mother responds with a look of shock and begins to ask her if she’s using condoms and “being safe”, if she’s being forced, etc. The girl says she’s using a condom and that she wasn’t being forced, to which her mother responded with more looks of disbelief and nothing else. When her father finds out he avoids her and tells her mother that he doesn’t have anything to say to her. At some point during the show the daughter breaks down and doesn’t understand why she’s being shunned and judged by her father and her mother only says, “we wish that you would have waited”. Her father at some point says, “I don’t ever want you to get hurt.”
This episode at first glance would seem pretty normal for a modern family. As I watched it, I empathised with these people more than I ever have with characters on a television show because I realized that this is the world in which I am parenting my children. I had a few panicked moments of horror saying over and over to myself, “THIS CANNOT, WILL NOT, happen to Clare or Mikey.” I was stuttering in my thoughts with sheer terror at the situation the parents in the show were faced with. I kept thinking, “What would I do? What would I say? How would I react?”
Towards the end of the show the father was talking to his sister (who is a parent of an incredibly rebellious teen who had at that point in the show run away). Of his emotional distance from his daughter he said, “I figured what she needs now is space”, to which his sister responds saying something like “When they think they know better than you and when they push you away that’s when you need to show up, to push harder, to be there. It may be too late for me.” I thought that was great. That’s exactly what a parent needs to do, to show up for their work, to guide their children, to lay down the law and show them how to pull themselves out of the miry clay.
It was strange watching this show as a Catholic parent. I found it odd that the girl’s parents didn’t seem to have any idea of why they were upset by their daughter having pre-marital sex. They also didn’t seem to address what they wanted their daughter to wait for. They merely said, “We wish you would have waited.” These parents seemed ill prepared to talk to their daughter about this situation and the only questions they posed to her were to ask if she was using a condom and if she was being forced. I fear this is the case with many parents today.
Most parents will acknowledge that they are upset about their child losing his or her virgininty, but don’t understand why and don’t know what to say or how to talk to their children. I hope and pray this never happens to us as parents and I feel more and more blessed and hopeful because I know that Jon and I are equipped with Christ’s truth. Thank God for John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Thank God we have heard the good news and know the freedom that the Church proclaims about human sexuality. God help us when our children hit their teen years (or pre-teen years) and start to feel society’s pressure to have pre-marital sex.
This show just reminded me that we as parents need to pray SO hard for our children. Please pray for us as we struggle to raise up holy souls. Dear God use us in our brokenness and help us to be instruments that bring you glory.
Gah, what a horrible episode. I don’t recommend that show, but I guess I’m glad that watching it stirred up this reflection.
UIOGD.
In this episode two parents find out that their daughter (I think she’s supposed to be 16 or 17) has begun having sex with her boyfriend. The girl’s parents find this out in a terrible way when the girl accidentally calls her parents on her iphone by hitting it with her foot during sex. When her parents answered their phone while they were in the car they heard ….something they did not want to hear.
A little later, the girl’s mother confronts her and asks her if she’s having sex with her boyfriend, to which the girl responds, “no, no, no.” A few days later she comes to her mom and says, “Okay yes, we’re having sex.” Her mother responds with a look of shock and begins to ask her if she’s using condoms and “being safe”, if she’s being forced, etc. The girl says she’s using a condom and that she wasn’t being forced, to which her mother responded with more looks of disbelief and nothing else. When her father finds out he avoids her and tells her mother that he doesn’t have anything to say to her. At some point during the show the daughter breaks down and doesn’t understand why she’s being shunned and judged by her father and her mother only says, “we wish that you would have waited”. Her father at some point says, “I don’t ever want you to get hurt.”
This episode at first glance would seem pretty normal for a modern family. As I watched it, I empathised with these people more than I ever have with characters on a television show because I realized that this is the world in which I am parenting my children. I had a few panicked moments of horror saying over and over to myself, “THIS CANNOT, WILL NOT, happen to Clare or Mikey.” I was stuttering in my thoughts with sheer terror at the situation the parents in the show were faced with. I kept thinking, “What would I do? What would I say? How would I react?”
Towards the end of the show the father was talking to his sister (who is a parent of an incredibly rebellious teen who had at that point in the show run away). Of his emotional distance from his daughter he said, “I figured what she needs now is space”, to which his sister responds saying something like “When they think they know better than you and when they push you away that’s when you need to show up, to push harder, to be there. It may be too late for me.” I thought that was great. That’s exactly what a parent needs to do, to show up for their work, to guide their children, to lay down the law and show them how to pull themselves out of the miry clay.
It was strange watching this show as a Catholic parent. I found it odd that the girl’s parents didn’t seem to have any idea of why they were upset by their daughter having pre-marital sex. They also didn’t seem to address what they wanted their daughter to wait for. They merely said, “We wish you would have waited.” These parents seemed ill prepared to talk to their daughter about this situation and the only questions they posed to her were to ask if she was using a condom and if she was being forced. I fear this is the case with many parents today.
Most parents will acknowledge that they are upset about their child losing his or her virgininty, but don’t understand why and don’t know what to say or how to talk to their children. I hope and pray this never happens to us as parents and I feel more and more blessed and hopeful because I know that Jon and I are equipped with Christ’s truth. Thank God for John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Thank God we have heard the good news and know the freedom that the Church proclaims about human sexuality. God help us when our children hit their teen years (or pre-teen years) and start to feel society’s pressure to have pre-marital sex.
This show just reminded me that we as parents need to pray SO hard for our children. Please pray for us as we struggle to raise up holy souls. Dear God use us in our brokenness and help us to be instruments that bring you glory.
Gah, what a horrible episode. I don’t recommend that show, but I guess I’m glad that watching it stirred up this reflection.
UIOGD.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
....that I need prayers this week.
Hi,
just asking for a few quick prayers this week.
Please pray for:
1. Thursday night I'll be starting week 1 of 3 weeks of Theology of the Body with our Confirmation class. We're talking about Masculinity and Femininity.
2. Friday afternoon we leave for the Confirmation Retreat. We're running our own this year and not just joining with another parish. Jon and Clare will be hanging out with Grandma. I'll be taking Mikey with me. I'm not worried about anything on the retreat, but I am worried that Mikey is all of a sudden going to go out of character and be a psycho, screaming, noisy baby. Lots of prayers please.
3. Please pray for our teens this weekend as they learn how and why to defend the Kingdom of God.
Thanks!!!
UIOGD.
just asking for a few quick prayers this week.
Please pray for:
1. Thursday night I'll be starting week 1 of 3 weeks of Theology of the Body with our Confirmation class. We're talking about Masculinity and Femininity.
2. Friday afternoon we leave for the Confirmation Retreat. We're running our own this year and not just joining with another parish. Jon and Clare will be hanging out with Grandma. I'll be taking Mikey with me. I'm not worried about anything on the retreat, but I am worried that Mikey is all of a sudden going to go out of character and be a psycho, screaming, noisy baby. Lots of prayers please.
3. Please pray for our teens this weekend as they learn how and why to defend the Kingdom of God.
Thanks!!!
UIOGD.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
...that Holy is not the same as "okay".
Do you ever have conversations in your head? Do you ever test out conversations and have them play out in your mind? I have been doing this a lot lately, mainly because I've been thinking a lot about a few big decisions we'll have to make when the kids get older. The decision I've been thinking a lot about lately is school. But before I get into that, let me give you some background.
For the past year I have had the honor (or should I write honour? Hee hee!) of being on the Seattle Archdiocese's Womens commission for Marriage and the Family. It's basically a committee of women and a few married couples who have been nominated and approved to serve the Archbishop in finding out what Catholic Married couples and Families in the Seattle Archdiocese need most. So we've been talking a lot about raising up good and holy Catholic families by supporting and properly catechising those entering Catholic Marriage. Etc, etc.
During the preparation of our document for the Archbishop we've come across the idea of raising saints. I was told, by my good friend Fr. Oakland, at Michael's baptism that my job (and Jon's) as a parent is to raise up Michael as a saint. This is no easy task or light order. That statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Thanks Father! I need to raise saints? I need to do my best to make Clare and Michael saints? Yikes! I mean, I knew this when I got married, but it hit me in a different way, a more tangible way at Michael's baptism when Father res-iterated our duties as good Catholic parents.
So back to the conversation in my head. I've been thinking about what to do about Clare's schooling, since we'll be headed that way in a few years. I really don't want her to go to public school because that's not something I did for elementary school, nor is it something Jon did.
My personal preference would be to find her a wonderful Catholic school for her to attend that we could afford. This is no small feat, since Catholic schools are incredibly expensive here. They were a large chunk of money in Canada where I grew up, but at least there, they were subsidized by the government. Here people pay almost double of what my mom did.
Then.....there was the third option. The option that I didn't want to acknowledge at all. The option that I wasn't open to at all. The option that I have so many horrible stereotypes in my own head about. Homeschooling.
Now I know many people who are going to homeschooling route. Many of them are cool, young, trendy, Catholic moms my age. Many of them have degrees. Heck, I even know some amazing young adults who were home schooled. I love and respect these people. But for some reason the word homeschooling in my head just conjures up images of denim jumpers, awkward children, cultish people and snooty families.
I have almost convinced myself that it's okay though. Almost.
So the conversation that was going on in my head last night as I was brushing my teeth, was me trying to convince person x (anyone really, probably more myself) that homeschooling is the best option. Here's how the conversation played out:
person x: What the heck? Why would you home school your kids?
Me: Because right now it seems like the best option financially and spiritually.
person x: Why don't you just send them to public school?
Me: because I don't want them to be so influenced by the junk that's floating around in our culture and I want them to be solid in their faith.
person x: But there are lots of kids that go to public school that turn out okay.
Me: But that's just it. I don't want my kids to be "okay".
And this is where the conversation stops and my reflection begins again. Whenever I hear people say, "but we turned out okay. You turned out okay." I used to think, "yeah ....but" and then I never had a quick answer. The answer is this: I don't want my kids to be "okay" I want them to be Holy. I want my kids to be the least messed up emotionally and spiritually as they can possibly be. If this means I have to home school them so that they know their faith, trust their parents, and don't buy into the lies our culture tells them about...well everything, then so be it. If God gives me another wonderful option, then Thanks God!
Anyways. I thought I would share my insane conversations. Sometimes they're pretty good.
Oh, and speaking of another option. Ha ha! Last night, I heard about this amazing school, which
happens to have lower tuition, is less than 20 minutes away from us, and just happens to be so solidly Catholic that they teach the children LATIN. Crazy eh? I wonder if this is one of those Abraham type situations where God tests you to the breaking point and just says, "Okay, nevermind. I just wanted to see if you'd be obedient." and then hands you what you were looking for all along. I feel like that happens to me a lot.
Here's the link for that school.
Veritas Academy Kenmore, WA
UIOGD
For the past year I have had the honor (or should I write honour? Hee hee!) of being on the Seattle Archdiocese's Womens commission for Marriage and the Family. It's basically a committee of women and a few married couples who have been nominated and approved to serve the Archbishop in finding out what Catholic Married couples and Families in the Seattle Archdiocese need most. So we've been talking a lot about raising up good and holy Catholic families by supporting and properly catechising those entering Catholic Marriage. Etc, etc.
During the preparation of our document for the Archbishop we've come across the idea of raising saints. I was told, by my good friend Fr. Oakland, at Michael's baptism that my job (and Jon's) as a parent is to raise up Michael as a saint. This is no easy task or light order. That statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Thanks Father! I need to raise saints? I need to do my best to make Clare and Michael saints? Yikes! I mean, I knew this when I got married, but it hit me in a different way, a more tangible way at Michael's baptism when Father res-iterated our duties as good Catholic parents.
So back to the conversation in my head. I've been thinking about what to do about Clare's schooling, since we'll be headed that way in a few years. I really don't want her to go to public school because that's not something I did for elementary school, nor is it something Jon did.
My personal preference would be to find her a wonderful Catholic school for her to attend that we could afford. This is no small feat, since Catholic schools are incredibly expensive here. They were a large chunk of money in Canada where I grew up, but at least there, they were subsidized by the government. Here people pay almost double of what my mom did.
Then.....there was the third option. The option that I didn't want to acknowledge at all. The option that I wasn't open to at all. The option that I have so many horrible stereotypes in my own head about. Homeschooling.
Now I know many people who are going to homeschooling route. Many of them are cool, young, trendy, Catholic moms my age. Many of them have degrees. Heck, I even know some amazing young adults who were home schooled. I love and respect these people. But for some reason the word homeschooling in my head just conjures up images of denim jumpers, awkward children, cultish people and snooty families.
I have almost convinced myself that it's okay though. Almost.
So the conversation that was going on in my head last night as I was brushing my teeth, was me trying to convince person x (anyone really, probably more myself) that homeschooling is the best option. Here's how the conversation played out:
person x: What the heck? Why would you home school your kids?
Me: Because right now it seems like the best option financially and spiritually.
person x: Why don't you just send them to public school?
Me: because I don't want them to be so influenced by the junk that's floating around in our culture and I want them to be solid in their faith.
person x: But there are lots of kids that go to public school that turn out okay.
Me: But that's just it. I don't want my kids to be "okay".
And this is where the conversation stops and my reflection begins again. Whenever I hear people say, "but we turned out okay. You turned out okay." I used to think, "yeah ....but" and then I never had a quick answer. The answer is this: I don't want my kids to be "okay" I want them to be Holy. I want my kids to be the least messed up emotionally and spiritually as they can possibly be. If this means I have to home school them so that they know their faith, trust their parents, and don't buy into the lies our culture tells them about...well everything, then so be it. If God gives me another wonderful option, then Thanks God!
Anyways. I thought I would share my insane conversations. Sometimes they're pretty good.
Oh, and speaking of another option. Ha ha! Last night, I heard about this amazing school, which
happens to have lower tuition, is less than 20 minutes away from us, and just happens to be so solidly Catholic that they teach the children LATIN. Crazy eh? I wonder if this is one of those Abraham type situations where God tests you to the breaking point and just says, "Okay, nevermind. I just wanted to see if you'd be obedient." and then hands you what you were looking for all along. I feel like that happens to me a lot.
Here's the link for that school.
Veritas Academy Kenmore, WA
UIOGD
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
...how beautifully you created the female body.
Last weekend Jon and I were listening to a great cd while driving to my parent's house. It was a talk given by Dr. Alice von Hildebrand. The talk was entitled "Women as the Guardians of Purity."
You can click on the title for the text. **(later note. This is not the exact text, but the bulk of the talk is here). You can order the cd (for $1) here. It was a very refreshing and enlightening talk.
I sometimes slump into the "I know it all" sort of mentality when it comes to things like what the Church teaches about human sexuality, because I've taught it to a few teenagers a few times. Then I listen to something like this by a real theologian and I realize how little I actually know. (Maybe the title of this post should be" ....how little I know." Heh.)
A few things that struck me about the talk were how she talked about the female organs being hidden and veiled. Now if you follow along with me, in the Theology of the Body we know that the female body is supposed to be an archetype for humanity and the Church. So our bodies are considered sacred and holy and show the world that we are supposed to be recipients of Christ and bear forth fruit to the world like Mary. This is pretty amazing.
So imagine my surprise when Alice Von Hildebrand makes this even more amazing by going further. She says that biologically the female organs are veiled. In medical terminology they are veiled by a membrane called a hymen. She says that medically there is no reason for the hymen. I haven't really checked up on it, but I'll take her word for it. So we all know when this is broken in the female body. Okay... yes. But think about this.
When Christ dies on the cross his last words are "consummatem est" or "it is consummated". He was referring to His marriage to the Church. Now what happens after this? The veil of the temple is torn in two. The (now I'm quoting Fr. Frank Schuster) profanis (common people) and the fanis (sacred) are now free to mingle because Christ has conquered death. He is now joined to his bride the Church. We are now free to live eternally with God if we so choose.
At this point, my brain pretty much explodes. Really exciting. How cool is that? The female body is such a well designed sign. God did a lot of planning! How cool is it when we can understand some of his mysterious and glorious ways!!
Well, I hope I made your brain explode for the day. Theology of the Body is really amazing.
Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus.
You can click on the title for the text. **(later note. This is not the exact text, but the bulk of the talk is here). You can order the cd (for $1) here. It was a very refreshing and enlightening talk.
I sometimes slump into the "I know it all" sort of mentality when it comes to things like what the Church teaches about human sexuality, because I've taught it to a few teenagers a few times. Then I listen to something like this by a real theologian and I realize how little I actually know. (Maybe the title of this post should be" ....how little I know." Heh.)
A few things that struck me about the talk were how she talked about the female organs being hidden and veiled. Now if you follow along with me, in the Theology of the Body we know that the female body is supposed to be an archetype for humanity and the Church. So our bodies are considered sacred and holy and show the world that we are supposed to be recipients of Christ and bear forth fruit to the world like Mary. This is pretty amazing.
So imagine my surprise when Alice Von Hildebrand makes this even more amazing by going further. She says that biologically the female organs are veiled. In medical terminology they are veiled by a membrane called a hymen. She says that medically there is no reason for the hymen. I haven't really checked up on it, but I'll take her word for it. So we all know when this is broken in the female body. Okay... yes. But think about this.
When Christ dies on the cross his last words are "consummatem est" or "it is consummated". He was referring to His marriage to the Church. Now what happens after this? The veil of the temple is torn in two. The (now I'm quoting Fr. Frank Schuster) profanis (common people) and the fanis (sacred) are now free to mingle because Christ has conquered death. He is now joined to his bride the Church. We are now free to live eternally with God if we so choose.
At this point, my brain pretty much explodes. Really exciting. How cool is that? The female body is such a well designed sign. God did a lot of planning! How cool is it when we can understand some of his mysterious and glorious ways!!
Well, I hope I made your brain explode for the day. Theology of the Body is really amazing.
Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus.
Contemplating the title of the blog
I've been thinking a lot about the title of my blog and it served its purpose very well while I was discerning my vocation, but I think lately it's been taking a back seat. I'd like to revive the name a bit by starting my new posts as continuations of the sentence. We'll see how well this works. For those of you who actually read my blog, you know I'm not the best at updates on .....anything really. So hopefully this new mini-resolution will help me keep the blog on my mind.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
All Hallows Eve
We didn't do too much for Halloween this year, but I did make the kids costumes!! My sister in law sent me this link for making the Mother Teresa costume. The habit Michael is wearing was a quick sewing project for me! I made the mistake of not measuring his head, so the hood is too small! 
Monday, October 04, 2010
Feast of the Guardian Angels
I went to the Abbey this weekend with Jon and little Michael because Father Abbot was giving a conference on the document Christifideles Laici called "Salt, Light and Leaven". It was a great conference! One of the things that struck me most about the day though, was the homily given at Mass in the morning by Fr. Peter.
Saturday was the feast of the Guardian Angels and so Fr. Peter preached on this topic.
He began by saying that the reason we have a guardian is because we need to be guarded against something. "Against what?" you may ask. He said there are 2 types of enemies you fight against and that your guardian guards you from. 1. yourself. 2. demons. He said they often work together.
It was so refreshing to hear Father speak about this so plainly and without reservation. We don't often hear about the spiritual battle spoken about with such a sense of reality devoid of an almost "Hollywood horror" type of exaggeration. Again, so refreshing!
Fr. Peter mentioned the seven deadly sins and the demons that tempt you to those sins and said that the one sin that attacks you most is sloth. He explained sloth in a different way than most people tend to think about it. He said that the demon of sloth doesn't so much tempt you to laziness as he does to busy-ness. He said it can tempt you to be busy doing bad things and even good things. But the goal of this demons temptations are for you to be so busy that you are inattentive to your relationship with Christ. So basically, you're so distracted that you've neglected your one end. You are tempted to be lazy about your life in Christ while being so busy.
This was so important to hear. While it is important for us as lay persons to get things done in the world, even while praying and offering everything up, it is more important that we remember our reason for being, our reason for working, our reason for life. Our beginning and our end is Christ and we must not be allowed to be tempted to be lazy about our relationship with Him. I often find so much difficulty making time for this relationship with Christ amid daily activities and the routine. So this for me was a wonderful wake up call. One that I've been receiving a lot lately, "Make time for Jesus! He's the most important part of your life! You can't give what you don't have!"
These messages have been said to me recently a lot in homilies and Masses and those words have been popping out like crazy.
I don't blog very often, but I felt such a push to blog about this. I think it's a message I need to hear often and I thought it'd be worthwhile to share.
So to sum up:
We have guardians for a reason.
We need to guard against sloth, which can be different than the sloth we normally think about.
Our relationship with Christ is our primary obligation.
Otherwise, I'd highly recommend checking out the Apostolic Exhortation written by JPII on the laity. It's very important that we recognize our vocation as lay persons and how we are an integral part of the life of the Church. We literally make up 99.9% of the Catholic Church today. If we depend on the .01% alone to sustain her, then we're not really fulfilling our role as "priest, prophet, and king". Good stuff!
The Church is so amazing. Being Catholic rocks!
Saturday was the feast of the Guardian Angels and so Fr. Peter preached on this topic.
He began by saying that the reason we have a guardian is because we need to be guarded against something. "Against what?" you may ask. He said there are 2 types of enemies you fight against and that your guardian guards you from. 1. yourself. 2. demons. He said they often work together.
It was so refreshing to hear Father speak about this so plainly and without reservation. We don't often hear about the spiritual battle spoken about with such a sense of reality devoid of an almost "Hollywood horror" type of exaggeration. Again, so refreshing!
Fr. Peter mentioned the seven deadly sins and the demons that tempt you to those sins and said that the one sin that attacks you most is sloth. He explained sloth in a different way than most people tend to think about it. He said that the demon of sloth doesn't so much tempt you to laziness as he does to busy-ness. He said it can tempt you to be busy doing bad things and even good things. But the goal of this demons temptations are for you to be so busy that you are inattentive to your relationship with Christ. So basically, you're so distracted that you've neglected your one end. You are tempted to be lazy about your life in Christ while being so busy.
This was so important to hear. While it is important for us as lay persons to get things done in the world, even while praying and offering everything up, it is more important that we remember our reason for being, our reason for working, our reason for life. Our beginning and our end is Christ and we must not be allowed to be tempted to be lazy about our relationship with Him. I often find so much difficulty making time for this relationship with Christ amid daily activities and the routine. So this for me was a wonderful wake up call. One that I've been receiving a lot lately, "Make time for Jesus! He's the most important part of your life! You can't give what you don't have!"
These messages have been said to me recently a lot in homilies and Masses and those words have been popping out like crazy.
I don't blog very often, but I felt such a push to blog about this. I think it's a message I need to hear often and I thought it'd be worthwhile to share.
So to sum up:
We have guardians for a reason.
We need to guard against sloth, which can be different than the sloth we normally think about.
Our relationship with Christ is our primary obligation.
Otherwise, I'd highly recommend checking out the Apostolic Exhortation written by JPII on the laity. It's very important that we recognize our vocation as lay persons and how we are an integral part of the life of the Church. We literally make up 99.9% of the Catholic Church today. If we depend on the .01% alone to sustain her, then we're not really fulfilling our role as "priest, prophet, and king". Good stuff!
The Church is so amazing. Being Catholic rocks!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Pain vs. Harm
Today I was poking around on the cosmetics database website, which tells you about toxicity levels in different self-care and cosmetics. I was wondering about the toxicity levels of the new soap I bought for Clare at Babies R Us and how it compared to the soap we previously used, Avalon Organics Baby. I stumbled onto the listings of least toxic baby shampoo and soap and read one of the labels from the third least harmful soap. It said, "We do not add numbing chemicals, so this is not a tear free soap." I was shocked! At first I was stupidly shocked because I thought, "who makes soap that isn't tear free for babies?" then I realised how backwards this was and then freaked out realising, that if a soap isn't tear free it contains numbing chemicals and is actually interfering with my child's nervous system!!! WHAT THE HECK??
So I have to ask, when did this become acceptable? In my mind, allowing something to disrupt a natural pain reaction is pretty harmful. This is of course unless we're talking about having surgery or something like that. Usually our bodies react to pain because the stimulus is hurting us in some sense. So if we're numbing the pain stimulus isn't something wrong? Aren't we teaching our bodies to stop reacting to harmful things?
Furthermore, when companies say things like, "our products are mild, pure, and gentle" are they really being honest with you? Is something that numbs your baby's nervous system really gentle and mild?
So I guess I should probably just be more careful about getting soap in Clare's eyes when I give her a bath instead of getting soap with numbing agents that disrupt pain receptors. Heh!
This just got me thinking a lot about how our society deals with pain and how we've really become wimps, to the point of actually hurting ourselves more so that we don't have to deal with pain. I might eat my words in a few days if I totally cave and scream for an epidural in labor. Hopefully this doesn't happen and all that reading about natural childbirth and practicing relaxation techniques will actually work. But seriously, back to the pain and harm thing. Is pain really harmful? Not usually. Can we harm ourselves by numbing everything? Yes definitely.
At least I think so.
There's my random rant for the day. Yikes, numbing baby eyes!!!
Still makes me cringe to think about it.
So I have to ask, when did this become acceptable? In my mind, allowing something to disrupt a natural pain reaction is pretty harmful. This is of course unless we're talking about having surgery or something like that. Usually our bodies react to pain because the stimulus is hurting us in some sense. So if we're numbing the pain stimulus isn't something wrong? Aren't we teaching our bodies to stop reacting to harmful things?
Furthermore, when companies say things like, "our products are mild, pure, and gentle" are they really being honest with you? Is something that numbs your baby's nervous system really gentle and mild?
So I guess I should probably just be more careful about getting soap in Clare's eyes when I give her a bath instead of getting soap with numbing agents that disrupt pain receptors. Heh!
This just got me thinking a lot about how our society deals with pain and how we've really become wimps, to the point of actually hurting ourselves more so that we don't have to deal with pain. I might eat my words in a few days if I totally cave and scream for an epidural in labor. Hopefully this doesn't happen and all that reading about natural childbirth and practicing relaxation techniques will actually work. But seriously, back to the pain and harm thing. Is pain really harmful? Not usually. Can we harm ourselves by numbing everything? Yes definitely.
At least I think so.
There's my random rant for the day. Yikes, numbing baby eyes!!!
Still makes me cringe to think about it.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Clare's singing debut
Clare really enjoys singing along to just about anything. I think Unforgettable is currently her favorite.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is so awesome.
So every time I help prepare teens for Confirmation I rekindle my friendship with a great book called the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I'm currently doing some prep for a talk on Theology of the Body this weekend. Here are the latest gems....
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I. "In the image of God"
356
Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator." He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake," and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundatmental reason for his dignity:
What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her, for my love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good. (St. Catherine of Siena)
--------------------------------
Rarely can you read something where every phrase is important. The catechism is so packed with knowledge! I don't know, I just love it. Gives me goosebumps.
------------------------------
Each for the other "--A unity in two"
371
God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him." None of the animals can be man's partner. The woman God "fashions" from the man's rib and brings to him elicits on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Man discovers woman as another "I," sharing the same humanity.
372
Man and woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be "helpmate" to the other, for they are equal as persons ("bone of my bones...") and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that by forming "one flesh," they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator's work.
----------------------------------
The Catholic Church is so beautiful. What an amazing vessel of grace Christ has left us.
----------------------------------
I. "In the image of God"
356
Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator." He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake," and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundatmental reason for his dignity:
What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her, for my love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good. (St. Catherine of Siena)
--------------------------------
Rarely can you read something where every phrase is important. The catechism is so packed with knowledge! I don't know, I just love it. Gives me goosebumps.
------------------------------
Each for the other "--A unity in two"
371
God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him." None of the animals can be man's partner. The woman God "fashions" from the man's rib and brings to him elicits on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Man discovers woman as another "I," sharing the same humanity.
372
Man and woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be "helpmate" to the other, for they are equal as persons ("bone of my bones...") and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that by forming "one flesh," they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator's work.
----------------------------------
The Catholic Church is so beautiful. What an amazing vessel of grace Christ has left us.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Michael Benedict
We had the ultrasound yesterday! Here he is! Almost halfway there!
Facing forward.
There's a foot.
Another facing forward. I think you can see a hand.
And my favorite, profile. So cute!
Facing forward.
There's a foot.
Another facing forward. I think you can see a hand.
And my favorite, profile. So cute!Monday, March 01, 2010
Olympics
Clare and I went up to Vancouver to check out some of the Olympic festivities. Sadly, Jon had to stay at work. At first I didn't want to go anywhere near Vancouver while the Olympics were happening because I figured the border lines would be horrendous. There were in fact no waits at the border!!! I think this was due to the fact that every lane was open at the crossings. If only it could be like that every day.
In any case, I realized what an idiot I would be if I missed out on the Olympics being in my home town. So off we went!
The Olympic Mascot ice show.
Clare and I in front of the Olympic Cauldron.
Clare waiting for the train.
Bobsled!
Canada pride everywhere!
In any case, I realized what an idiot I would be if I missed out on the Olympics being in my home town. So off we went!
The Olympic Mascot ice show.
Clare and I in front of the Olympic Cauldron.
Clare waiting for the train.
Bobsled!
Canada pride everywhere! Lent, scripture and the office......of readings (not the show).
It has been way too long since I've blogged. Often Advent and Lent bring on more blogging because of the Divine office. It's just to cool not to share.
Lately I've been loving the book of Exodus. I think this is mainly because it's much easier for me to understand the foreshadowing in this book and it's relation to Christ and the sacraments especially Baptism and the Eucharist. There's a great second reading from St. John Chrysostom today(Monday the 2nd week of Lent).
Check it out HERE
Lately I've been loving the book of Exodus. I think this is mainly because it's much easier for me to understand the foreshadowing in this book and it's relation to Christ and the sacraments especially Baptism and the Eucharist. There's a great second reading from St. John Chrysostom today(Monday the 2nd week of Lent).
Check it out HERE
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