tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18970693483033796632024-03-12T22:58:04.542-06:00S'aint EasyMusings on Catholicism from someone who doesn't know everything, but wishes she did...Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-17012577584340400682014-03-05T07:00:00.000-07:002014-03-05T07:00:01.372-07:00An Open Letter To Women Who Have Left The Church
<span id="docs-internal-guid-79fba508-7e77-1bfb-513e-1a331528fa04"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3333333333333333; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An open letter to women who have left the Catholic Church:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We want to invite you to come talk with us, and we are excited to meet you! Just like you, we are daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers; students, professionals, and stay-at-home moms. We are teenagers, 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and beyond. We are from many walks of life and from diverse backgrounds, but we share a common faith - one we want to invite you to revisit. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of us have been away from the Church, and by one way or another we've come back. Some of us never left - but that doesn't mean we’ve never questioned nor been confused. Some of us were raised outside of the Church, and made the decision to join as adults. In one way or another, each one of us has come to know and love Christ in the Catholic Church - and in keeping with Pope Francis’ request we want to share that love and joy with you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-90f06454-8d8a-3cd6-ea62-bf7ef1c217c4"><img height="301" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/gW2xnLbosox6JLsvxY0H0GcZTkoKkFeARSa4nkaXeBDQ4cGh49AB-x8lxChUs6CGs6e_gKMCXou7uC22Hfm572cj3vOGX-PSc24c3k9VeyxwflsfsYHWYBk5fxTvnA" style="border: none;" width="400" /></span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-90f06454-8d89-f1bd-e48c-69972622f03e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3333333333333333; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being Catholic isn’t easy, and we’ll be the first to tell you that we aren’t perfect; we have many planks in our own eyes to worry about. Our faith embraces paradoxes, challenges our culture's values, and makes us feel uncomfortable when we are called to examine our actions and our motivations. But - as you already know - just because something is challenging does not mean it is not worthwhile.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We know that you are intelligent and capable. We believe that you deserve answers to your questions, and explanations for the teachings with which you're struggling. We’ve all struggled with various aspects of our faith, but we aren’t here to judge or condemn you. We simply want to listen to what you’re feeling. We want to understand what is making you uncertain about being part of our Catholic faith. We want to help you find the answers and explanations that helped bring us home. We want to meet you, we want to hear about your experience, and most importantly, we want to invite you back.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3333333333333333; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feel free to email any of us with questions or concerns you may have about the Church, her teachings, or what reversion means. If you’re not ready to bare your soul to complete strangers, </span><a href="http://www.catholicscomehome.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: ; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we’d love to direct you to sites that helped us</span></a><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (and still help us) as we discerned our calling in life. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3333333333333333; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wherever you are, whatever you believe, know that we are praying for you. You are our sister - another woman navigating a challenging world. We look forward to talking with you!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In The Peace and Love of Christ,</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: ; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The members of #cathsorority</span></div>
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Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-15921211141466718162013-11-02T16:18:00.004-06:002013-11-02T16:41:29.584-06:00A Minion Is Born<div class="MsoNormal">
The last week of my pregnancy was brutal. Not because I was
having any issues with it. I wasn’t. My whole pregnancy had been pretty easy,
even when factoring in the gestational diabetes. But going to work every day
was the worst. I was just tired of people asking me how soon it would be (as if
I knew), telling me I “looked ready” (loose translation: you look haggard) and
generally making themselves annoying. I wanted to be done and I hated it,
because I loved being pregnant. Of course I was ready to meet the little baby
inside me since we hadn’t found out the gender, but I was still mostly enjoying
the fun of the kicks and spins and feeling good. The unknown was killing me.
Not being able to plan anything, cleaning up my desk every evening in the
chance that I wouldn’t be in the next day, getting the “you’re still here?”
every morning I came in. I told my husband the Sunday before my due date after
a particularly bad morning at Church that being 39 weeks pregnant was the only
time in my life that I felt like people were actually disappointed to see me.
As much as people wanted to meet my child, didn’t they think that I wanted to
meet it more? </div>
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The Monday before my due date (June 24) I told my mom that I
was convinced the baby was never coming out. I was under a lot of stress as I
had been told at my last midwife appointment that I would not be allowed to go
past 40 weeks due to the GD. This was my worst nightmare. I wanted an
unmedicated birth, not because I was some kind of crunchy mama, but because I
was deathly afraid of needles and didn’t want one stuck in my back for any
reason. I knew my chances of this went way down with induction as well as
increased my chances of c-section at the worst and constant IV drip at the
least. Neither option was very appealing to me. I started a St. Therese Novena,
downed evening primrose oil and red raspberry leaf tea and did all kinds of
pelvic opening exercises. I had called them that previous Tuesday and told them
I was refusing an induction unless they had a medical reason to do so. They
didn’t, gave me the legal spiel and scheduled a bunch of appointments for July
1. At that appointment that day (the 24), they checked my cervix. I was 4cm
dilated and 80% effaced and at a -1 station. My MW was shocked. I was shocked.
But I was also secretly vindicated. I was hoping it would happen Wednesday,
which was the day my grandmother was flying in from <st1:state>Louisiana</st1:state>
for the birth. I hadn’t received my roses from St. Therese, but I was sure she
was working on it. She had to be, right?</div>
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It didn’t happen Wednesday (the 26). I cried to my mom
telling her that I wanted Mimi to postpone her trip,that the baby wasn’t going
to come on time. I was scared to be induced, defiant of the so-called standard
of care, and annoyed with my body for dawdling. I started an Our Lady, Undoer
of Knots Novena in the hopes I wouldn’t have to finish it. I got text messages
daily from my mother in law and auntie asking me how I was feeling. I was
feeling pregnant. Just pregnant. </div>
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Thursday the 27, I woke up at 3am with the thought of “I am
going to take a half day today and come home and clean, since Mimi will be here
Sunday regardless of whether or not Minion is.” When I got to work, I emailed
my boss and told him, citing exhaustion. I texted my BFF Jenny and told her,
who cited nesting. Around <st1:time hour="11" minute="0">11am</st1:time>, about
an hour before I was about to leave, I started to have back pains. I told Jenny
I felt like I was having mild cramps, like the kind you get days before you
have your period. She informed me these were contractions and told me to go
home to take a nap. I told her I wanted to do laundry, but took her advice. I
got home, laid on the couch and all contractions stopped. I was crestfallen.
That evening, when Greg got home, we went for a walk. My mom told me the day
she went into labor with me, she sat on the swing and just swung for hours. So
I got on the swing at the playground, hoping something would happen. I went to
bed that night feeling pregnant. Just pregnant.</div>
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Friday, June 28 was my five year wedding anniversary. I
swung my legs over the bed and hobbled out as best as I could. But as I was
doing it, I burst into tears. “You can come out now, Minion” I told my
still-sleeping belly, “everyone is excited to meet you. Your room is ready, the
world is ready.” Gathering myself, I checked my blood sugar and wandered to the
bathroom. Blood. Lots of blood. I told Greg who was getting ready to leave. He
asked me if I should stay. I told him no, everything was fine and to go to
work. I told him I was going in and would come home if anything happened. I
said it was probably my mucus plug, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
As soon as he left, I texted the doula (Christie), Jenny and consulted the hive
mind of #CathSorority Moms. Moms said no big deal, Jenny said go to the
doctor’s office, Christie said wait an hour to see if bleeding stops. I called
my boss and told him I wasn’t coming in and sent up a prayer that the baby at
least came over the weekend so I didn’t have to show up at work Monday after
missing a day and a half. I got into the shower and decided to throw in that
load of laundry after all. Jenny texted me a little bit later and asked me if I
wanted company. I told her I was fine, but she insisted I not be alone if I
went into labor. The bleeding had stopped and nothing was happening, so I told
her I was not in labor. She came with Gabi and Grant at around 11. We watched
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for what felt like hours (realizing later the thing was
on loop, so it was only like 10 minutes of the show over and over), before
deciding to take a walk to the park to get me moving, hoping it would coax
something else to happen. After having spent my entire pregnancy dreading this
part of it, I was not in the least bit anxious. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63_T52k_b_Tibq_JCRjd4Zv98DRLBhKIbAzetWERUNYLdGYYcWgFp7kHvBDwg_gWOIFo4kMROga-TFNgZymPHJMgzvYiEqE-yMygKheIePUgDSmGnq8R34DL1T8jDJEO5KNnfOd36HIc/s1600/iphone+photos+194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63_T52k_b_Tibq_JCRjd4Zv98DRLBhKIbAzetWERUNYLdGYYcWgFp7kHvBDwg_gWOIFo4kMROga-TFNgZymPHJMgzvYiEqE-yMygKheIePUgDSmGnq8R34DL1T8jDJEO5KNnfOd36HIc/s400/iphone+photos+194.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 28, 10am. Last belly shot. 39 weeks, 6 days</td></tr>
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Jenny asked me if I needed to do anything and I declared I
needed toilet paper (note to self: next time you buy toilet paper when you
think you’ll have a newborn in the next few days, buy the BIG pack and spring
for the good, soft stuff). We went to Target and decided lunch was probably in
order. We dropped the kids off at Ed’s (Jenny’s father in law) and went off to
Red Robin, which was one of the only places I could eat with my GD. After
ordering approximately 10 fries and downing our food, I went to pay the check
and BAM. Contraction. Big one. It hurt. Jenny paid the check pronto and we went
to pick up the kids. It was <st1:time hour="14" minute="0">2pm</st1:time> on
the dot. Jenny told me to time them, and I texted Greg but told him not to come
home, he only had a couple of hours left and it was likely going to be a long
night. They were sporadic and really short, lasting maybe 30-45 seconds and
between 5-15 minutes apart. I texted Christie, who had a meeting in <st1:city>Boulder</st1:city>
(45 minutes away) at 4. I told her to go, but that I would keep her informed.
She was concerned that I would dilate really fast since I was 4cm nearly a week
before. Greg texted me at <st1:time hour="15" minute="45">3:45</st1:time> to
ask me what I wanted for dinner. Since it was our anniversary, I told him to
get Carrabba’s takeout since that’s where we would have gone. I told him I
didn’t think I wanted to sit in a restaurant. Jenny left at about <st1:time hour="16" minute="15">4:15</st1:time> and Greg got home at about <st1:time hour="16" minute="30">4:30</st1:time>. He downed his food, and got in the
shower while I bounced on the yoga ball and timed contractions. Christie told
me she was leaving and I told her things were still sporadic. Greg was feeding
me between contractions and noticed that they were getting pretty close
together. After being famished, I suddenly wasn’t very hungry and told him to
put the stuff in the car so it would be ready “for later or tomorrow.” He timed
my next few contractions and they were 3 minutes apart. I called my mom and
said we’d be leaving for the hospital in about 30 minutes. Christie had just
gotten to <st1:city>Boulder</st1:city> and decided to
turn around. At about <st1:time hour="17" minute="15">5:15</st1:time> Greg
decided we should go to the hospital, since it was a Friday, rush hour and we
had to get on the highway to get to the hospital. I called my mom for an ETA
and she said she was on her way. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3UD_QhGHZd0RMQTRiVg0vT9tX64rVenDyh694lV2_M0xwGNjqABSsre3KRRTkdawBjLNXdAk8LtuGHwex89j4Yq0VKfH0gqcX4hhIibrLzjRqzHcNUybjcIzaff7ClSeEUfTjKFlcxc/s1600/iphone+photos+195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3UD_QhGHZd0RMQTRiVg0vT9tX64rVenDyh694lV2_M0xwGNjqABSsre3KRRTkdawBjLNXdAk8LtuGHwex89j4Yq0VKfH0gqcX4hhIibrLzjRqzHcNUybjcIzaff7ClSeEUfTjKFlcxc/s400/iphone+photos+195.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmm... Carrabba's Chicken Bryan. </td></tr>
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When we got to the hospital, I realized I hadn’t called the
midwife. I called the after hours line and they asked me a bunch of really
stupid questions. We got up to the labor and delivery floor and they put me in
triage. Martine (the midwife who had been on my shitlist most of my pregnancy
because she’s the one who put me on meds and told me I would have to be
induced) was the on-call midwife that night, and she came in to check me. I was
7cm dilated and 90% effaced and at -1 station. She commented on my shirt, which was an <a href="http://imaginesisters.org/" target="_blank">Imagine Sisters</a> t-shirt (because I refused to wear a hospital gown). It was admittedly, a strange thing to wear in labor. They decided to admit me
(hooray, since I was in labor). Christie got there sometime after 6, and we
hung out there as they apparently had a baby boom and all the l&d rooms
were full. My charge nurse, Terri (who was surly and I did not like her) came
in to insert my IV and failed twice. This was, I would later report, one of the
worst parts of my labor. </div>
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[I don’t remember a lot from my actual labor. I have two
theories on this. One is that I had taken off my glasses and I am basically
legally blind. Because I couldn’t see, I kept my eyes shut for most of my labor
and have literally NO visual record of anything. The other is that, well, we’re
not really supposed to remember it.]We were moved to an l&d room around <st1:time hour="19" minute="45">7:45</st1:time> and someone came in to insert my IV in my
hand. I was not happy about this. All these nurses need better training.
Apparently, the weather had changed as it started to hail. One thing that Greg
does not like is bad weather. So I was getting an IV (my worst fear) and it was
hailing (his worst fear). I smashed my face into the bed and prayed Hail Marys
like they were going out of style. Greg put on my CD of chant and rubbed my
head. I looked up at him, barely coherent and asked him how HE was! Once the
hail finally stopped, things just went on like that, contraction after
contraction, breath after breath. Martine came in to check on me and told me
she wanted to tap the baby’s head to see if they could get its heart to adapt
to the contractions (or something like that). When she did this, the baby’s
heart rate dropped. I had to ask Greg about this. He said a bunch of nurses
rushed in all of a sudden. I remember one of them picking up her walkie talkie
and telling someone that they would have to wait because she was in an
emergency. Hubbs said that he prepared himself mentally at that moment that
both the baby and I would die. I remember thinking this was all really stupid
because my baby was fine. They put me on an oxygen mask, and broke my water.
Baby’s heart stabilized and labor went on. The contractions were bad, but I
breathed and listened to the music and prayed and at one point said I wanted to
cry, but I couldn’t. Christie encouraged me to move and change positions, they
put me on a peanut ball (which I think is probably the most uncomfortable thing
ever). I was 9.5cm dilated and not budging. Christie suggested I try to pee
because maybe my bladder was full and emptying it could help, but every time I
got up, I felt like I had to push and I couldn’t because of the stupid lip.
Finally, Martine told me to go ahead and push with the next contraction and she
would try to move the lip. BAM, just like that, it was baby time. It was <st1:time hour="10" minute="30">10:30</st1:time>. Martine announced we would be having an
anniversary baby. I got excited and told Christie “I did it! I had an
unmedicated birth!”</div>
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Pushing was glorious. Finally! A way to DO something with my
contractions and my labor. They put me up on the squat bar because my pelvis
was narrow and baby had a “large head.” I pulled myself up and was grateful I
had done all those squats in prenatal yoga. I was too good at it, though.
Baby’s heart rate dropped. Again. Martine told me they might need to use the
forceps or vacuum and I told her whatever they had to do for baby to be safe
was fine (and I was so happy no one even mentioned a c-section once). The <st1:place>OB</st1:place>
came in to see what was going on, and checked me (seriously, I think everyone
in that hospital had their hand up there at least once). He patted my leg, said
we were fine and for me to just push every OTHER contraction. Agony. It was
absolute agony. The contractions were so intense and hard and I had been
pushing. I wanted to push. But I breathed and pushed hard. Everyone was saying
encouraging things, everyone was rubbing my head or putting cold compresses on.
I felt every single woman in my family all throughout history there with me—it
was a true communion of Saints moment. I talked to my baby,“come on baby, we
can do this, we will do this together.” I randomly got the song “Eli’s Comin’”
by Three Dog Night in my head. It was almost time and I was tired, I had been
pushing for nearly 2 hours, in labor for 10. My mom, who has been away from the
Church for 20 years came to my side and whispered “Undoer of Knots” in my ear. I don't know where she got it from or heard it. I thought I imagined it, but I read my mom's journal entry and it was in there, too. Martine said “One more!” I pushed and… BABY.</div>
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They had to sort of wrench the baby out because its shoulder
was stuck, they cut the cord to check the collar bone and make sure it didn’t
have a dislocated shoulder. I said to Greg “what is it?” “It’s a girl?” He
said. “She’s a girl?!” I said. My mom asked if she could call her by her name,
and they laid little Eliana Claire on my chest. I had a daughter. A beautiful,
wonderful daughter who was pink and perfect. 7lbs 8oz and 21 inches long. Born
25 minutes after <st1:time hour="0" minute="0">midnight</st1:time> so she got
to have her own day. She was born on her due date, 40 weeks exactly. Take THAT, standard of care. </div>
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I didn’t finish the Our Lady Undoer of Knots novena. I
didn’t have to. She came through for me (like she always does). And as for St.
Therese, well, when I woke up the next morning in my hospital room, I noticed
there was only one decoration on the wall: a picture of a vase full of roses. </div>
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Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-51199048676001693962013-04-07T14:52:00.000-06:002013-04-07T14:52:43.719-06:00Blood, Sweat and TearsI have reached that point in pregnancy where you stop to think "am I done yet?" I actually hate that, because I was very much so enjoying being pregnant. I think the second trimester lulls you into some kind of fantasy land where you get to reap all the rewards of pregnancy (minus the baby, of course-- but all the cute clothes! naps! people being extra nice to you! wearing yoga pants most of your days!), and have none of the drawbacks (I can still tie my shoes! shave my legs! wear low heels! walk upstairs!)<br />
<br />
All of this was compounded by the fact that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Not the biggest deal in the world, seeing as how I could have been diagnosed with many other much more perilous pregnancy complications, but it was still devastating to hear nonetheless. I felt like my pregnancy that had been perfect all along was some kind of a sham and I was actually sick and poisoning my baby with all the carbs I had consumed in the past 7 months. It's really not as dramatic as all that, thank goodness. But it's definitely not fun! I, for many reasons, was skeptical of the diagnosis, but I am trying to do what I am asked so that I can continue to see my midwife as well as not be branded as a trouble patient.<br />
<br />
The first few days of the diagnosis were the worst, I had almost a week before I could meet with the dietician and I was petrified to eat anything. I had no idea what I really could eat, though I had found some guidelines online, but I was hesitant to trust any of them, since everything I read said the diet would be tailored to me. Once I met with the nurse and learned how to poke my finger and test my sugar, I felt better... for exactly 2 hours. You see, aside from GD, I also have a condition called hyperhidrosis which causes my hands and feet to sweat almost constantly. I couldn't get a reading that first day at all because after poking all my fingers and wasting 5 strips per try (which equals approximately $20 in wasted strips), all the blood was just spreading out on my fingers and I couldn't get a good drop to test. I spent 30 minutes crying to my sister in law, a nurse, on the phone and got some tips and have been okay since. Have I mentioned I hate needles? I hate needles. The diet is pretty easy to follow, but the worst part so far (which I am confident will get easier) is having to plan EVERYTHING regarding food in advance. I have to eat every 2 hours, and I have to test my blood sugar after meals. I always have to know when I am eating and what I am eating. I had to walk out of the Easter Vigil 10 minutes in so I could test my blood and eat a snack. It takes a lot of planning and I have enough stuff to get done.<br />
<br />
In any event, that is the update on my pregnancy. I will say that as all of this occurred the week before Easter, I did get to spend some time contemplating suffering and gratitude and openess to God's will. I had a pretty horrible Lent (in that, I feel like it's hard to truly live Lent when you can't fast and you're subject to the whims of your fetus!), but my Easter was truly joyful. I got to see someone who had gone through RCIA 3 times waiting for his annullment to go through be baptized! It was so, so amazing. I also sponsored the female half of a couple who is having their marriage convalidated this month. She told me on Easter that she is having her tubal ligation reversed so they can try for another baby. God really is wonderful and is making things happen in people's lives.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-36938865005370023932013-01-30T17:48:00.003-07:002013-01-30T17:48:54.646-07:00I'm Not Dead (Yet!)I received a very lovely comment from a reader the other day asking if I had moved blogs. Well, I have not. And I apologize, dear readers, for my absensce. I owe you all an explanation (because I know I want one when someone stops blogging for no real reason)!<br />
<br />
I had gotten myself into quite a funk with the HHS Mandate and the election cycles and stuff going on in my day-to-day life, that I found myself only wanting to write scathing posts about how stupid the world was and why we (the Catholics, of course) were just oh-so-much smarter and I really couldn't quite get anything out charitably. And I suppose that's what happens when your blog doesn't really have a niche. I like to say I write about the intersection of faith and daily life, but when your daily life has become consumed by chatter that makes you nuts, there's not much to blog about. So... I didn't. And I didn't tell you why. And I'm sorry for that if that upset anyone.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinymwEI6Be3h4IT9E3fOmxfRhYa0IFM1LFX6FdkuOZvjG22EEvsCzGbJb9qAU4hfRbQg_OAMLkWiWOhHaRYIMCErPsS1DafcSzOS-k6d0z75BXrIipxC6XXnVy2vEnXLYHxfJvu6J1ijk/s1600/hipster+cat-holic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinymwEI6Be3h4IT9E3fOmxfRhYa0IFM1LFX6FdkuOZvjG22EEvsCzGbJb9qAU4hfRbQg_OAMLkWiWOhHaRYIMCErPsS1DafcSzOS-k6d0z75BXrIipxC6XXnVy2vEnXLYHxfJvu6J1ijk/s1600/hipster+cat-holic.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooler than you and we know it. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
That being said, I'm having a baby!! So that should distract you from my bitterness for a little bit. S/he's expected to make a debut June 29, but we'll see. My co-workers predict I'll go 10 days late. Because they are jerks. But honestly, for all the fear and anxiety and sleepless nights that went into this, being pregnant is so much better than I thought. I had very little morning sickness with my first trimester, so the worst of it was the bone-crushing fatigue that hits you. And the eating. I literally got tired of eating. Now I'm 18 weeks along, in the second trimester and nesting, which is awesome. The only thing I can really complain about is the horrendous transition between normal clothes and maternity clothes.<br />
I'm also still teaching RCIA, and I'm sponsoring someone this cycle. So there's that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3ZKpVETx7uU4kmsjUyYIbKXwto2-iUHT_nhq7qB7330btXHA9bvkSJvIhiH4UfFEjorjXmlqk3f8kl4dlZewJKiCrBPps_3pCFAcV98R4h2aQGPfaMUfNnAB7lJTQd5pq4oHVWUAip4/s1600/crafty+making+people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3ZKpVETx7uU4kmsjUyYIbKXwto2-iUHT_nhq7qB7330btXHA9bvkSJvIhiH4UfFEjorjXmlqk3f8kl4dlZewJKiCrBPps_3pCFAcV98R4h2aQGPfaMUfNnAB7lJTQd5pq4oHVWUAip4/s1600/crafty+making+people.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And make people Catholic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
That's an update on me, and I think I have a few posts up my sleeve. Hope to see you all soon!!Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-60916643369041602212012-08-10T21:30:00.004-06:002012-08-10T21:33:24.969-06:00We Interrupt This Catholic Blog For Some Auntie FodderMy goddaughter's mom, J, and I have a long history together. And we also have a similarly weird habit: we make up songs. About everything. Not off the top of our heads, but from real songs, inserting words to make them fit. Her big achievement was "Puppies in the Dark" (when you come home to your dogs after being out all day) mine was probably something about cats. Until now. Working off of the most annoying song ever written, and one she sings to Miss G, I present to you: Red Sippy Cup. You're welcome.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt;">Now, red sippy cup is the
best receptical<br />
For music class, playdates, fairs and festivals<br />
And you, my friend, may be kind of a noob<br />
If you prefer drinkin' from boob<br />
<br />
Hey, red sippy cup makes snack time easy<br />It travels in diaper bags, clean up is breezy<br />
And unlike my diapers, it’s not too skeezy<br />
Those Pampers can be kind of crass, whow<br />
<br />
Red sippy cup, I fill you up<br />
Let's have a party, let's have a party<br />
I love you, red sippy cup, I lift you up<br />
Proceed to party, proceed to party<br />
<br />
Now, I really love how you're easy to sip<br />
But I really hate how you're easy to drip<br />
'Cause when juice runs down my lower lip<br />
Well, that, my friends, is quite yucky<br />
<br />
But I have to admit that mommy gets smitten<br />
Admirin' how happily I can be sippin’<br />
On you so she’s not gettin' bitten<br />
I’ve got teeth- so that’s pretty lucky<br />
<br />
Red sippy cup, I fill you up<br />
Let's have a party, let's have a party<br />
I love you, red sippy cup, I lift you up<br />
Proceed to party, proceed to party<br />
<br />
Now, I've seen you in blue and I've seen you in yellow<br />
But only you, red, will do for this fellow<br />
'Cause you are the Abbot to my Costello<br />
And you are the fruit to my loom<br />
<br />
Red sippy cup, you're more than just plastic<br />
You're more than amazing, you're more than fantastic<br />
And believe me that I am not the least bit sarcastic<br />
When I look at you and say<br />
<br />
Red sippy cup, you're not just a cup<br />
(No, no, no, God, no)<br />
You're my, you're my<br />
(Friend?)<br />
Friend<br />
(Friend, friend, friend, life long)<br />
Thank you for being my friend<br />
<br />
Red sippy cup, I fill you up<br />
Let's have a party, let's have a party<br />
I love you, red sippy cup, I lift you up<br />
Proceed to party, proceed to party</span>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-82481891799092358632012-07-19T19:57:00.001-06:002013-02-14T21:18:37.635-07:00"Tell The Truth Through Whichever Veil Comes to Hand..."<br />
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I’m not much of a discerner. First off, I don’t honestly
know how to discern (despite my best efforts and trying to buddy up with the
Holy Spirit), but also because I tend to be an over-thinker in most things and
so when I feel moved to just implusively do something, I kind of just do it. In
my experience, when I do something impulsively, it has always, always worked
out for me. I think the Holy Spirit knows this (of course He knows this) so, I
find when I start to have the desire to know or do something, He puts it
everywhere for me and makes me REALLY want to do it.</div>
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So it was with veiling. People often ask me why I do it, and
I do wish that I was one of those really lovely, holy Catholic women who could
say “I had it on my heart and so I prayed on it for a few weeks and I felt a
deep calling to do it, discerned that it was a calling from God and not from my
own pride and I went along with the call.” (I will admit that I wish I said
this because I just really like freaking people out with all the Catholic
jargon I know.) No, with veiling, I
heard about it somewhere, read a website or two and I promptly went to the only
Catholic store in town at the time—owned by a SSPX parishioner-- and bought a
chapel cap. The next time I went to Mass, I pinned it to my hair and never
looked back. I actually got quite a few compliments on it- mainly from older
ladies in the parish- and so I felt less weird about switching to a full on
mantilla when I was given one that belonged to Hubbs’ grandma. I won’t go in to
all the stuff about whether it’s required still but no one observes it or no
longer required but we should do it. I do it. It’s not <i>not</i> allowed, so I do it.</div>
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In my parish, there are only about 5 women who veil that I
have seen and they are all under the age of 30. All but one is married. My
parish is the most traditional in town (aside from the SSPX one, of course) but
it’s by no means stodgy; both of our priests have been priests for fewer than 5
years and we have an elementary school attached to our parish. There are a lot
of older people, but there are also a ton of kids. I never felt as if anyone
gave me weird looks or scoffed at me or anything like that. </div>
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I have heard people say that they don’t want to veil because
they feel like they will call attention to themselves because they will be the
only one. I have heard people say that being the only one will make them
prideful. I understand both of these inclinations. I know, for me, that it has
made me less prideful, actually. For me, veiling is a reminder of my
submission. This may be surprising to exactly none of you, but I’m sort of
rebellious and incorrigible. Wearing the veil, which, to the person I was
before I came back to the Church, would have seemed really backwards and
patriarchal (“what do you mean I should cover my hair? I will cover my hair
when men have to cover <i>their</i> hair!”),
is a sign that I am submissive to the Church that Jesus founded on Earth- to
the teachings and traditions she gave us by His authority. It’s an outward
sign, not to everyone around me but to ME that I said yes to this life; that I
chose, against all the “rational” thoughts of a former me, to be authentically
feminine, to think of myself as a daughter of God. Standing out in front of
people when I would rather have disappeared in some back row is breaking down
my pride. It says “yes, I know I look a little silly, but I am a Catholic and
this is how I show it.” Because, let’s be honest: without the veil, I could be
going to work. Priests wear collars, nuns and brothers wear habits- I wear a
veil when I’m at <st1:state>Mass.</st1:state> There are
benefits, too. My mantilla blocks my peripheral vision so I can’t see when
people dress inappropriately, or read the bulletin through the entire Mass,
which allows me to be more focused on what’s going on and less judgmental. </div>
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So, if you are thinking of veiling (and you have discerned
if that’s how you do things) here are my practical tips for veiling:</div>
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<b>
Wear what’s comfortable to you.
</b><br />
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You can wear any kind of head
covering that makes you happy- from a hat to a wide headband to a full-on veil.
Since I live in a colder climate, I don’t go for the hat because it would feel
more disrespectful to me to leave it on, since I am in the habit of always
taking them off when I get inside. However, there is a lady at my parish (who
must be either British or Southern) who wears SPECTACULAR vintage style hats
and dress suits. She looks great. That would make me prideful, personally,
since I’d be trying to match my awesome hat to my awesome outfit.</div>
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<b>Start slow!</b><br />
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If you feel a little hesitant at
first, that’s okay- try something small like a chapel cap or even just try it
out at daily <st1:state>Mass.</st1:state> If you feel
really weird after wearing it a few times, maybe it’s not for you.</div>
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<b> Remember it’s not required</b><br />
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If it’s not for you, then no big deal. We all
have ways of expressing our devotion. I have never been able to stand a
scapular.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Be prepared for questions</b><br />
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Someone somewhere will ask. Even if your answer is as simple as "I just feel like it's a really beautiful tradition" have an answer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Still interested? Here is a website that I like <a href="http://mantillawithme.com/Why.html" target="_blank">Mantilla With Me</a></div>
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Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-63246047275262711612012-07-06T17:45:00.003-06:002012-07-07T15:57:06.965-06:00Captain America and the Catholic Church<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure, if in all the time I have been writing this
blog (admittedly sporadically), that I have ever mentioned that Hubbs is a HUGE
comic book nerd. I am not exaggerating either. The top shelves of my closet are
full of long-boxes, the office is littered with pages in process for his very
own comic book and every month there is a giant box on my doorstep that comes
from Discount Comic Book Service. I have lately started to embrace this aspect
of his personality more fervently, and it has gone from a mild curiosity about
his interests into something that I find somewhat more fascinating. I have seen
every XMen movie, every Spiderman movie and all the origin stories for the
Avengers (except the Hulk, during which I fell asleep- I don’t think I missed
much.) After seeing the most recent Avengers movie, I slightly switched my
allegiance from Tony Stark/Iron Man (an allegiance that, to be fair, came just
as much from his portrayal by Robert Downey Jr. and a penchant for AC/DC than
anything else) to Captain America. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My husband loves to tease me about my overtly girly-ness
when I talk about how much I love Captain <st1:country-region>America</st1:country-region>.
I guess it says something about me that I love BOTH the bad boy (Tony Stark)
and the All American Good Guy (Capt. Steve Rogers). Fine. He’s probably right.
But hear me out on this one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In light of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the
health care bill which, in turn, upholds the HHS mandate, I found this little
gem from Captain <st1:country-region>America</st1:country-region>.
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajzJG4XjQmrg17ua02uHYlccfpm2dK8rnbnJH8WTPIg0AEnBqF0yZBOjXIpoRNjZrAwHTHfuUkmsXV5SLDOxgEdZuR95XdV5kcUZ9anEXpP5qc2Iqqx_q4f9lKh8PvA7NSNR5ChCYmeo/s1600/1542594-captain_america_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajzJG4XjQmrg17ua02uHYlccfpm2dK8rnbnJH8WTPIg0AEnBqF0yZBOjXIpoRNjZrAwHTHfuUkmsXV5SLDOxgEdZuR95XdV5kcUZ9anEXpP5qc2Iqqx_q4f9lKh8PvA7NSNR5ChCYmeo/s1600/1542594-captain_america_super.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know, right?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
That’s right, folks. Captain America. And do you know why I like good ol’ Cap so much? Because Captain America is like the Catholic Church! He is full of heroic virtue! As a military man, he obviously knows what it’s like to have to sacrifice for a greater good, a higher ideal. He was chosen to become a super soldier based on his character, not his physique. He has always, always stood up for what he believed in, even in the face of doing something “unpatriotic.” He knows that patriotism goes deeper than just following orders; if the orders are unjust, the best a patriot can do it disobey them. This was apparently the theme of a recent series called Civil War (where that panel comes from) in which he defied a law based on the fact that it was not a just law. These are characteristics that we, as Catholics, should embody. No, we should not be laying down our lives for a secular government (as Cap is essentially doing as a military member), but, we are the Church Militant! This means that we should be fighting to live out a Truth, even if that is made difficult for us.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-86035643973247439602012-06-23T02:14:00.000-06:002012-06-23T02:14:03.206-06:00It's 2am...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the spiritual works of mercy is to admonish the
sinner, but we are also supposed to be charitable and loving, right? I know it’s
<st1:time hour="2" minute="0">2am</st1:time> and so I don’t pretend that this
post is going to make much sense, but this is something that is really
troubling me (hence the 2am.) I hear all the time that we are to speak the
Truth even when the Truth is unpopular. Is this whole “don’t be judgmental”
thing coming from society? How can I speak the Truth when it is unpopular and
admonish the sinner without being “judgmental”? Isn’t just pointing out that
they live in sin a judgment, or, again, is that just society that says that? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have some acquaintances (a couple) who used to be friends.
There are personal issues I have with them, but there are also moral ones. I
have actually had to cut myself off from them, but Hubbs is still involved.
Whenever I bring up something about how they are not living their lives
correctly and how that makes me uncomfortable, he always tells me I’m not
supposed to judge. I insist I am not judging, I am not saying they are bad
people or making any kind of prediction of where they are going in the
afterlife. But they are in mortal sin. I can’t just pretend that they are exempt
from being in mortal sin just because they aren’t Catholic or because Hubbs
likes them. It really… pisses me off that he constantly tells me I’m being
judgmental. He says that all I can do is be a good witness, but I have cut
myself off so I can’t do that anymore. I do sincerely hope that if I they think
I’m a bitch, they attribute it to me and not that I am Catholic. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But again, this brings me to my question: am I being
judgmental? My problems with this particular couple are more personal and less
moral, but the fact that there are personal problems make the moral ones feel
bigger than with other people. I know that I have made mistakes, the very same
mistakes that they are making, in fact. I know that I am not above sin. We are
fallen and we all sin. I know that. How do we admonish sinners, speak the Truth
and still be loving people in a society where no one will take responsibility
for anything they do and any kind of questioning of anything is judgmental or
intolerant? I don’t want my attitude to reflect badly on my faith (and I know
it will) but I also don’t want to be relativist or permissive about things I
know are wrong. </div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-21793771622372430152012-05-30T17:24:00.002-06:002012-05-30T17:26:17.506-06:00Someday You Will Be Loved<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/18gDQU2gNkg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
In a very dark part of my life, this song was extraordinarily comforting to me. I wanted these words to come off of the lips of the person who did the very same thing as the author of this song. I wanted to know that someday I would be loved, and someday everything that hurt, that made me feel as if I were cheap and used and disgusting and not worth it would go away, like bad dream. But you know what? It didn't. Because that's not how we work no matter what society and mildly romantic emo songs tell us. They don't tell us that we will continue to feel this way even when we ARE loved. In fact, we might even feel worse, and all of those feelings will be amplified, because once you know what you are worth you mourn even more that you didn't believe it enough to be strong. That if we let other people tell us that it's okay to feel hurt when we're used, then that's okay, but buying that we are going to feel fine about it once someone <i>doesn't </i>use us is just buying into yet another one of their lies. This song... this song is just wrong. And while maybe, MAYBE these things do fade to memories that "seem more like bad dreams" they're still vivid and they still can hurt. If you buy into the lie that "well this one didn't love me, but someday someone will" you will continually make the same mistake. Hopefully, when anyone who has been in this situation is loved, the person who loves them is themselves. Because until you can love yourself and not get your self-worth from someone else who is likely lying to you, just looking for the "someone" who will love you, you will never be able to truly love. Until that day, you will likely be too broken to give or receive the love needed.<br />
<br />
The person who loves you will not ever use you. They will not ever pressure you. They will never make ultimatums. The person who loves you will wait.<br />
<br />
I am now going to hug my husband and thank God that we found one another.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-19291605213607192832012-05-01T20:42:00.000-06:002012-07-05T15:30:20.474-06:00The Death of Masculinity<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week I was at work, doing a monthly project that
requires me to work in our warehouse for the day doing an inventory of certain
product and then boxing them up to have them shipped. I had to move a box full
of something heavy from one table to another so all of the order was together.
I grabbed one of the guys, the shipper, who is thin and kind of spindly and
said “Can you do something manly for me?” He just looked at me and said “I’m
not very manly, but I can try.” I thought about that all afternoon, because
here I am: 5 ft tall, about 100 pounds and a guy told me he wasn’t manly. As if
I was somehow more manly than he was?! </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHD6K2tcG9C09CCm7fYgPNxdh2oyD0nSkFVXz76RM5A_ekMp2fP3x4p0aoKaPvv_JHBnucKpVg4V5kH5IMd0yS8Kz9Ja2xvpfmd_rb-rlS4HdYtxVdVXjpvkdAKsSQen2PuQsa_ku_uk/s1600/Patriarchy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHD6K2tcG9C09CCm7fYgPNxdh2oyD0nSkFVXz76RM5A_ekMp2fP3x4p0aoKaPvv_JHBnucKpVg4V5kH5IMd0yS8Kz9Ja2xvpfmd_rb-rlS4HdYtxVdVXjpvkdAKsSQen2PuQsa_ku_uk/s320/Patriarchy.jpg" width="320" /></a>Young men today are floundering, and I think I might know
why. Women are told they can do anything and so they do everything. I believe
it was Mandi (<a href="http://catholicnewlywed.blogspot.com/2012/03/let-him-be-man.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CatholicNewlywed+%28Catholic+Newlywed%29" target="_blank">Catholic Newlywed</a>) who had a post about letting your husband be
the man, and she hit it right on the head. In the wake of the sexual
revolution, women stepped out of the home and into the work world. But they
didn’t relinquish control. So men and women are equals, but men no longer have
a domain. Not saying I want all women back in the home taking care of the
babies. Some women (me included) would likely go stark raving mad if that were
to be their fate. But at least when women were in charge of the home they had a
clear domain. Men went out and made the money, women had the home and everyone
had a place. It might not have been as equal of a partnership as people claim
to have nowadays, but at least each partner took a role and went with it. Now,
women do both and men do…. What? They stay at home with mommy and daddy and expensive
gaming systems till they are out of college, then marry, and go out and make
half the money and on weekends play video games or watch hours of sports or
hang out with the guys while mom suffers from higher rates of stress and
depression than ever. Our men are stunted. And it’s our fault. We need to let
our men do something for goodness sake. Even if they are the ones that stay at
home with the kids all day. We need to let them be in charge of something so
that they can feel like they are providing value. I really believe that many
men today feel like they are replaceable. And they are, aren’t they? A woman
can have a career and no children. If she decides she wants children, she can
run down to her local sperm bank, pick out someone who is a doctor or has an
MBA and blue eyes and brown hair and create the perfect little human for
herself. She can have that baby and show it off like the newest handbag. Why
would you need a man? There are women out there, single moms, who have genuine
hardship and have to do it all. My mom was one of them. She had to be mom and
dad, and she tells me all the time that she wished she had done a better job of
it. Which is absurd because my mom was an amazing mother. She didn’t have a
choice. But all us married women out there, we do. We have husbands and
partners and fathers to our children. So why don’t we let them feed that need
in their brain to provide?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1nFuvEfIBcGY6UWYzNdWNlVjY6apI1vaKgD5bJQZzk5KOR6C-Sp5UMt1PjxYE6yh4CpFgDK33DlD27OEd8KagLsDhZ8Vcx0PL-ee8-TL-8RuxcOnXL-X_N6bcEPeQx7iEeQUJuORXYo/s1600/hes-a-frat-guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1nFuvEfIBcGY6UWYzNdWNlVjY6apI1vaKgD5bJQZzk5KOR6C-Sp5UMt1PjxYE6yh4CpFgDK33DlD27OEd8KagLsDhZ8Vcx0PL-ee8-TL-8RuxcOnXL-X_N6bcEPeQx7iEeQUJuORXYo/s320/hes-a-frat-guy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guys. If you're not swooning, you're paying too much attention</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is reflected in popular culture these days, too. I was
thinking about this after the re-release of Titanic, and then it was compounded
for me while listening to a podcast of Catholic Answers Live. Nowadays, the men
in movies tend to take the “feminine” role in the relationship, whereas the
women tend to take the “masculine.” The women are the pursuers, the ones who
feel trapped, the ones who make all the decisions. The men are typically oafs
or completely passive or both. Everything from sitcoms to Huggies
commercials show you how incompetent they are at practically everything. All
they do is sit around and drink beer and make a mess of things and they can’t
even change a diaper for goodness sake! And there is something to be said about the
fact that we never call men “men.” We call them “boys” and then “guys.” And it
never progresses from that. Men are perpetually teenagers and this is because
in a post-sexual revolution world, we don’t ask them to be any more. Gone are
the days when a man who had just graduated from high school had essentially 3
options: go to college, get a job and get married or get a job and get married
or join the armed services and get married. They were expected, at 18, to
figure out how they were going to provide for a family and they were pretty
much out on their own at that point. Girls would stay with their parents until
they were married. When I was looking at the 1940 census, I found my
great-great grandparents. They had one daughter, aged 28, still living with
them. She was a school-teacher, and I presume, unmarried and therefore still
under her parents’ jurisdiction. Nowadays, the feminists have decided that men
are incompetent and treat them as such. So guess what men do? They act
incompetent. They have decided that they use women for pleasure and so men do.
They have told men they are replaceable, or just not that important, and so
they aren’t. This attitude is prevalent in our mothers’ generation, so their
sons were raised this way along with their daughters. No wonder the modern
family is declining at a rapid rate and resembles something my great-great
grandparents would not even recognize. This infects everything in the world today. Birth control which was hailed by the 1960's women's "liberation" movement basically gave men a free pass to use a woman and take no responsibility for what happened. Many abortions happen after a woman is pressured by her boyfriend because we've conditioned men that we can be used for pleasure with no consequences. No one asks men to step up, and so they just...don't. If women claim that chivalry is dead,
it’s because the sexual revolution held a gun to it’s temple and executed it in
cold blood. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So men, I, as a woman (and hopefully speaking for my sisters
in Christ) am asking, nay DEMANDING that you step up. Women still want a man
who is manly. This doesn’t mean that you work on cars or watch sports all day.
No, we want a man who supports us as a woman, in whatever path we choose as
your partner, from stay at home mom to career mother. We want you to put your
family first and to provide for them, not just monetarily but by being an equal
partner with your wife and providing that solid foundation on which to build
the family unit. We want you to lead, because there are some times that we don’t
want to have to make all the decisions around here. It has been my experience
that when you hold people to a higher standard, they tend to rise to the
occasion. So, I am holding men-- young men in particular-- to a higher standard. We were made
for more, men and women, and now it’s time for the men to stop being guys and
start being men. <o:p></o:p></div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-10353403347707538262012-04-17T21:40:00.000-06:002012-04-17T21:40:18.497-06:00My Favorite of the Seven Deadly Sins<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am basically, like, the worst Catholic ever. I know, I
know, this coming on a day when someone tweeted that I was not only faithful
but also orthodox. Which I of course had to clarify that they were talking
about me. But really, I am really bad at this Catholic stuff. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I learned a hard lesson the Saturday before Easter. I was in
Confession (I know, I waited till the last minute, but I had tried to go to
other parishes (because I am scared of confessing to my own priests) and the
lines were so long they started to turn people away), and I learned the truth
behind “never go to a Polish priest for confession.” (Do people say that? I
think someone told me that.) This is because they are blunt. Really blunt.
Like, so blunt that, even though you are telling them your sins <i>which you already know are sins</i>, they
manage to make you feel like you sinned somehow worse than you did. But I
should take my own advice and remember that sin is sin. And also, it’s kind of
like when you have really bad acne and you put super harsh chemicals on it and
it burns like hell. You know the acne is going away even though you feel like
your skin is going to burn off. So, basically confession to a Polish priest =
straight vodka on acne. I highly recommend both, for the record. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyDiuARaiOQZrVksD930-21AONLjZlBc48wWYU2NYnYtJ8UCMexiQE2CHb1VE25yzok82_3W9xpI87weej2ndc7UfcACHPBNJK2o5yiMTLlXBPQ0upILrBsI71Ts5kHR2-CiQg6wj3sA/s1600/sorry-judging-friends-apology-ecard-someecards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyDiuARaiOQZrVksD930-21AONLjZlBc48wWYU2NYnYtJ8UCMexiQE2CHb1VE25yzok82_3W9xpI87weej2ndc7UfcACHPBNJK2o5yiMTLlXBPQ0upILrBsI71Ts5kHR2-CiQg6wj3sA/s400/sorry-judging-friends-apology-ecard-someecards.jpg" width="400" /></a>So, what is it that I am so bad at, you may ask?
Forgiveness. Basically the most fundamental and base thing Jesus asks us as
Christians. I used to think that being able to hold a grudge was some sort of
badge of honor. Some kind of time-honored tradition that came with my Southern
roots (I still hate carpet baggers, by the way. And I’m not entirely sure what
a carpet-bagger is.) Then I thought maybe it was just a personality flaw, but a
minor bad habit like interrupting people. It was annoying and maybe not very
nice in high society, but no need to really get worried about it, right? But
the closer I got to my faith, the more I started to realize that this sin was a
nice little ball of lots of other sins, many of which were part of the 7 deadly
ones. The problem was, with my unforgiveness, I felt justified. I could be mad
at my father for walking out when I was 2 and never calling again, except
randomly texting me to tell me that he loved me. That was allowed and no one
could tell me that I should forgive him. What did they know anyway? And I could
definitely not forgive the person who acted as my father for being mad about
something that he never told me about and then leaving the country and not
telling me about that either. Because, really, that is permissible. And I could
be mad at my former best friend for hurting me deeply over 10 years ago and
never apologizing. I could hold a grudge against my mother-in-law for saying
something really hurtful and inappropriate the week before my wedding. Every
hurt I ever had was easily justified in my head and the more I justified it to
myself the more I nursed it. And besides, none of these people had <i>asked</i> me to forgive them. Heck, half of
them had no idea that they had even hurt me. And I certainly wasn’t going to
bring it up because why rock the boat. It’s probably all in my head and I am
aware that I ruminate, so why bother talking it out? And it spiraled from
there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What this all comes down to is pride. I am prideful when I
hold a grudge because I think it’s all about me. I am presumptuous that I know
others’ intentions. I allow myself to believe that they are trying to hurt me
because I am prideful that people should, essentially, want to hurt me. I have
to be aware that all of us sin, every single one of us, including (and probably
especially) me. I have to practice the virtue of humility, one of the virtues
that are so, so hard for me. Because for so much of my life, humility just wasn’t
required. By not acknowledging that God has a plan for me, I fail to see these
people who hurt me as a way to be better. As a way to practice my humility, to
better myself, to ask myself “what is God trying to teach me here.” Jesus tells
us to ask the Father “forgive us our trespasses, <i>as we forgive those who trespass against us.</i>” So that’s that. If I
can’t forgive people who have hurt me, how can I expect God to forgive me? I
need to remember that as a Catholic, I can follow all the rules, but if I am
not an example of God’s love, no one will want to follow those rules anyway.
And if I can’t help lead people to God, what is the point?<o:p></o:p></div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-18362300605297561052012-04-04T21:19:00.000-06:002012-04-04T21:19:15.242-06:00Only the Lonely<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HidmB05jA60PPEgQhtlqgkJ0w2dhoHYU_diwL7iC5SfZGpzj9kErrHeBFtKupUsH0JqAK-MU_mr47WS0G4ljrbCAsMyDerbW268xqg-_Vmg5h5Rm0aead6OecqECJZdSoeKyDTtbR7U/s1600/jesus_was_a_hippie_sticker-p217043988306808637q0ou_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HidmB05jA60PPEgQhtlqgkJ0w2dhoHYU_diwL7iC5SfZGpzj9kErrHeBFtKupUsH0JqAK-MU_mr47WS0G4ljrbCAsMyDerbW268xqg-_Vmg5h5Rm0aead6OecqECJZdSoeKyDTtbR7U/s200/jesus_was_a_hippie_sticker-p217043988306808637q0ou_400.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was away from the Church and not practicing any kind
of religion, one of the things that I loved to pontificate on was the fact that
so many Christians were holding themselves to the standard set by Jesus. I
scoffed that it was impossible, and that Christians should focus on the
actuality that Jesus was human and not just God. While I recognized that it was
an ideal to strive for, I saw it as just an ideal. As I have come back to the
Church, it’s still something that I struggle with in a way. In fact, Jesus is
something I struggle with. Okay, I know that sounds weird, and it could be that
I have a weird association with Him. I think of Him in a few ways: the goofy
high-school counselor who just wants to hug it out; the hippy-dippy goody
two-shoes always telling us to love one another; the source of all those
obnoxious televangelists who apparently is waiting for me somewhere in the
ether, promising me health and happiness and anything my heart desires as long
as I donate now. I never had these problems with God, and certainly not with
Mary or any single Saint (well, St. Therese a little bit.) Don’t get me wrong,
I never questioned the reality of Jesus or what He did, but more the <i>idea</i> of him. I think it’s Jesus’ dual
nature that gives me the hang-up. Sure, it’s easy to be a nice person and turn
the other cheek when you’re also God and perfected in nature. As mush as I didn’t
like people focusing on just His divine nature, I had the hardest time thinking
of Him as being human in any way. And so, I just sort of distanced myself from
thinking about Him at all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lately, though, I have found myself really focusing on a
couple of things about Jesus. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always find myself feeling really bad for Jesus during the
Agony of the Garden. It’s so sad to think that He asked His friends to stay
awake with Him and they couldn’t even do it. Granted, they probably had no idea
what was about to happen, but He did. He needed support and not one person
could give that to Him. How many times have you spent a sleepless night,
worrying about something you knew was going to happen? And that something is
never, ever a brutal death by execution. I think the thing that gets me here is
that Jesus shows Himself as a flawed human, even if just for a moment. He actually
asks God the Father to take the fate away from Him, if it’s possible. Jesus
knew that He was the Son of God. He knew that He was not going to die, and that
many of the people who doubted Him would believe. But He was still scared. It
seems to me that at that moment, Jesus had a hard time trusting that His Father
would provide, would protect. This seems more poignant at Lent, knowing that
Jesus was about to go out and die for me, someone who wanted to ignore him. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNZMK8jcgeU5-87yLlSVYgpfPEXIRD_cD8LM6B7YfoY7sXC752dwS36TbJCe1DnaVIhjmQpFwv9Gy30n2bQT47Tm0fw7f_IvlJflSwOxj_EainZeWt_Y85wyIfDo4cv66aZm4EwrZ82o/s1600/internet-memes-no-one-likes-it-when-those-religious-nuts-come-knocking1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNZMK8jcgeU5-87yLlSVYgpfPEXIRD_cD8LM6B7YfoY7sXC752dwS36TbJCe1DnaVIhjmQpFwv9Gy30n2bQT47Tm0fw7f_IvlJflSwOxj_EainZeWt_Y85wyIfDo4cv66aZm4EwrZ82o/s320/internet-memes-no-one-likes-it-when-those-religious-nuts-come-knocking1.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">totally inappropriate- yet somehow fitting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This passage is where the Catholic notion of a holy hour
comes from. We are asked to spend at least an hour with the Blessed Sacrament—Jesus.
I heard something on the radio not too long ago from Fr. Antoine Thomas who
teaches children to go to adoration. He told a little girl who was about to
make her first Communion that she should spend time in adoration. He said that
she should ask her parents to take her because Jesus was lonely. Again, a human
emotion for someone who I previously wanted to think of as human, but just couldn’t.
It hit me all of a sudden though, when I heard it. I thought about the state of
the Faith across the country. I thought about how our Cathedral in <st1:city><st1:place>Denver</st1:place></st1:city>
was three quarters empty on a Sunday and I later found out there were only 600
registered families. It struck me that Jesus really <i>is </i>lonely. He knew what He did, we know what He did and yet, so
many of us can’t be bothered to stay with him for an hour once a week. I became
so grateful at that moment for the gift of faith that I have been given, even
if I fight it sometimes and can’t always wrap my mind around it. <o:p></o:p></div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-22451679221447104392012-03-28T18:56:00.000-06:002012-03-28T18:56:38.111-06:00Serenity Prayer for the New EvangelizationI sincerely hope that the Good Lord accepts my Facebook debating as Authentic Christian Witness. Sometimes, I just can't help myself, and I believe this to be one of my greatest weaknesses.<br />
I find myself at least once a day wishing I had some kind of <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/" target="_blank">BadCatholic</a> come-back generator (or just Marc Barnes whispering in my ear Cyrano-style) when I (inevitably) end up in these stupid social media throwdowns. Is this what BXIV meant when he called us to use the internet as our platform for spreading the gospel? When all manners are out the window (by the other party) and the gloves come off, I find it hard to keep my cool. In fact, this morning when I was called a religious extremist for the second time in 12 hours (before 9 am, mind you), I had to honestly stop myself from putting an end to the debate with this nugget: "well, I may be a religious extremist, but you're a putz. *drops mic*." But, somehow cooler heads prevailed, and I managed to just not retort.<br />
<br />
So... I went ahead and wrote myself a little serenity prayer for this exact situation. Use as needed and call the BVM in the morning.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, grant me the tenacity to defend the things I know</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The wisdom to know the things I defend</div>
And the patience to not call others names when I get branded
a “religious extremist.”Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-34119684739969953202012-03-21T21:11:00.000-06:002012-03-21T21:11:55.276-06:00Sex, Style and SubstanceI just finished reading <u>Sex, Style and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter</u> edited by Hallie Lord (aka Betty Beguiles). And man, was it great! It was sold out everywhere, but it was still available as a Nook Book so I loaded up my little Nook (thank you gift card I got for Christmas) and went at it. It features chapters written by 10 different women on all aspects of Catholic life: from modesty and style to marriage to the single life to the media we consume. I tried to read only one chapter a day/night and really try to do the reflection questions at the end, so I could get something out of it. I found it really inspirational to read insights from all these wonderful Catholic women (many of whom have blogs that I enjoy), especially now when I feel like the Catholic Woman is under attack. I particularly enjoyed the chapter God and Godiva by Karen Edmisten. Here is an excerpt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyL7yD5bksFN6gIr7k81cJrERriUA5wmGkbwyszuWYCiMh__AAReqBBjiaUNWks7VgPV8bWR4u6pYX5Bp3hc71UmnwUunyf576JV0SOK62fV3MoeGNt-n0wQ7RTyIM8g3WH_kzYeeb_9g/s1600/style-sex-substance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyL7yD5bksFN6gIr7k81cJrERriUA5wmGkbwyszuWYCiMh__AAReqBBjiaUNWks7VgPV8bWR4u6pYX5Bp3hc71UmnwUunyf576JV0SOK62fV3MoeGNt-n0wQ7RTyIM8g3WH_kzYeeb_9g/s320/style-sex-substance.jpg" width="210" /></a>"Who is this contemporary Catholic woman of whom we speak? Let's take a quick inventory, shall we? </blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We work in the home and in the public square. We go to Mass every single Sunday (sometimes more), eat bread that we call God and sip wine we call Blood. We care about what that anciently-robed guy in Rome says, and we spill our sins to another human being. We mate for life. We shun artificial birth control. Let's face it-- we're, umm, <i>different.</i> We're proudly pope-loving, sterilization-eschewing, Eucharist-adoring, confession-going, twenty-first-century Catholic specimens of femininity who buck societal norms and balk at contemporary expectations. Yeah, we're the face of the new rebellion.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Scary, aren't we?"</blockquote>
I definitely couldn't have said it better myself.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-88980548674623367972012-03-20T18:10:00.000-06:002012-03-20T18:23:41.341-06:00The Sound of SilenceSorry for the "dead air" lately. I have been wanting to post something positive and uplifting and I am finding that hard to do when I seem to get myself worked up almost daily on something I see or hear on the news. I want to add my voice to these things, but I am tired of fighting in some ways. So I am considering this stuff my penance for Lent and I am hoping that I am passing on the Truth to my Adult Confirmation class so that we can have more Church Militant to fight the good fight.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I just don't want to be that person who wages Facebook flame wars with the Liberal Ladies Who Lunch. Correction: I WANT to be that person, but I don't have the heart at the moment.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWZOE-bDvEo4ojr2weB9tFZGSIql4w09V6z2zt0VUE3hLH0sfAEKEG7Qm4Seqq_D-VAYHXy5pKfxrE-ijxqD-G8spsH4_VYuWDx6xMhZBiN6pITVvMO9v4gTaDWphi8tyejP0AOlBRBQ/s1600/determine-lent-ecard-someecards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWZOE-bDvEo4ojr2weB9tFZGSIql4w09V6z2zt0VUE3hLH0sfAEKEG7Qm4Seqq_D-VAYHXy5pKfxrE-ijxqD-G8spsH4_VYuWDx6xMhZBiN6pITVvMO9v4gTaDWphi8tyejP0AOlBRBQ/s320/determine-lent-ecard-someecards.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-54099825498492797542012-02-15T22:43:00.003-07:002012-02-15T22:44:15.411-07:00On Sin, Statistics and Catholicism<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay you guys, if I hear one more time that 98% of all women
who identify themselves as Catholic (except when some of those women were <i>baptized </i>Catholic and are now actually
Unitarian) use contraceptives, I think I am going to scream. Not kidding. I
think I am going to go all ballistic and start pulling out my hair. And I rather like my hair so this is something I would like to avoid.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me just send a little message in all love and Christian
charity: Sin is Sin. The consequence of sin is separation from God. Separation
from God, if not corrected and continued willfully is a mortal sin. Mortal sins, if not corrected, will lead to Hell. Sorry for
that, but that is the Truth. It doesn’t matter whether you particularly like a
certain sin or whether you even agree that sin really exists. The truth is the
truth whether you agree with it or not. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being Catholic starts with baptism. But it doesn’t end with
it. It is a journey and a constant battle, every single day. Believe me, there
were times when I knew it would be easier to not be Catholic. I had that very
thought the other day at the grocery store as I was passing the table of Girl
Scouts selling their delicious wares (that fund Planned Parenthood). So it’s
not a walk in the park and a yummy <st1:place>Samoa</st1:place>. But to me, it’s
worth it in order to live my life aligned with the Truth. And I have been
happier every day for it, even when I thought I was miserable in the moment
(like when I had to wake up at <st1:time hour="4" minute="0">4am</st1:time> on
my Hawaiian vacation to take my temperature). And <i>being</i> Catholic is something active. It involves things, very basic
things, like going to Mass, availing yourself of the sacraments, and living the
life that the Church in Her 2000 years of wisdom proscribes for us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So here’s my main argument about that 98% statistic. If you
don’t attend Mass and you don’t accept the rules that are being given to us
(especially when not accepting them puts you in a state of mortal sin), then
you are.not.Catholic. Even if some years back, your mother and
father brought you into the Church in a beautiful little white dress and promised
to raise you in the faith. Even if you attended Catholic school
all your life until college and then had an “epiphany” that a “bunch of old
guys in <st1:city><st1:place>Rome</st1:place></st1:city> have no idea what real
life is like.” Even if you want to take birth control. The
Church is not a democracy and your opinion doesn’t really count. You either are
Catholic by actively being a Catholic or you’re not. This 98% squarely
puts themselves in the “not Catholic” camp. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am so tired of being someone living the Catholic life to
the best of my ability, and being the one ignored. Why are they measuring us by
those who aren’t of us? I know this is media spin, and I know we have made
strides, but really? There are plenty mass-going, NFP using self-identified
Catholics and we never even pop up on the radar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do we do? How do we make ourselves heard? What do we
have to do to in order to prove that those of us who are actually Catholics
truly live our faith and that it’s not really open to discussion? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If they can say “don’t like abortion, don’t have one,” can
we all just say “don’t like Catholicism, don’t call yourself one”?</div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-60702391798745751322012-02-14T20:17:00.000-07:002012-02-14T20:17:44.141-07:00Now What Indeed.There are <i>so </i>many things I could blog about. I could blog about HHS (ugh, don't even want to get started). I could blog about Nicki Minaj (why bother? She's like a somehow less talented Lady Gaga and she's dug her own gave.) I could blog about St. Valentine (because martyrdom= way cooler than pink paper hearts.)<br />
<br />
But instead, I want to blog about a billboard I saw on my way to work today. It features a girl looking at a guy and smiling with the words "I've fallen for him. Now what?" and the address <a href="http://beforeplay.org/">beforeplay.org</a>. I was intrigued, so I went to the site. It's run by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Initiative to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy. And it's allllll about your choices in birth control! Yay!!! Finally, something that will tell me about birth control! Lord knows there is just not enough information out there.<br />
<br />
One of the things that irritated me the most was this about us:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="background-color: #f8f3ed; color: #6b5744; font-family: HelveticaNeueLight, HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;">Beforeplay.org is the hub for a Colorado statewide effort to reduce unintended pregnancy and help “normalize” conversation around sexual health and well being. About 40% of Colorado pregnancies are unintended, and the rate is even higher among young adults in their twenties. Poor knowledge about effective contraception or how to use it, jobs without health insurance, and ambivalence toward starting a family—</span><em style="background-color: #f8f3ed; color: #6b5744; font-family: HelveticaNeueLight, HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;">If it happens, it happens</em><span style="background-color: #f8f3ed; color: #6b5744; font-family: HelveticaNeueLight, HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;">—all contribute to this situation."</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #6b5744; font-family: HelveticaNeueLight, HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span><br />
Um. What? I don't really think that "if it happens, it happens" is ambivalence. I mean, in my daily life, I call that "being open to life." But maybe I need to go to confession, I don't know. And I also don't think that a pregnancy that occurs when you have that attitude would really be "unintended" now would it? But then maybe I just have poor knowledge about contraception. <span style="background-color: #f8f3ed; color: #6b5744; font-family: HelveticaNeueLight, HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><br />
I feel unsettled by this and I think the Holy Spirit is prompting it. I mean, come on, they list FAM as "less effective" right up there with the <i>withdrawl method</i>. Really? Should they even <i>list</i> that as a method?? Because that's less of a method than a superstition. I did write them an email, but maybe we can "spam" them.<br />
<br />
Small miracle there's not a bunch of information about how awesome abortions are.<br />
<br />
<br />Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-16426727541117281802012-01-28T17:51:00.000-07:002012-01-28T17:51:21.648-07:00Whose Idea Was This, Anyway?Apparently, I am teaching an adult confirmation class.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I got an email from the Adult Education Coordinator at my parish, asking me if I wanted to, and of course I said yes! So now instead of just being a discussion leader and team teacher for the RCIA class my husband is in, I'm actually teaching my very own class! There are supposedly 12 people signed up, but on Monday night there were 7 people there and 3 of them are actually supposed to be in RCIA. So, who knows?</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn59R_rNUwNfZMbTPvXSfCUpBCzSrfcTfl7dKi460B6afoDVdMVpfhv1rtXHaO1IEVxbA5cX3qAzlcqmmb6D23zc-Fl4a_4Ahtb8lvcbmVQ_a9eTHjniwPMdvga4QCDNVaJZK_hkObs9E/s1600/Catholic_Catechist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn59R_rNUwNfZMbTPvXSfCUpBCzSrfcTfl7dKi460B6afoDVdMVpfhv1rtXHaO1IEVxbA5cX3qAzlcqmmb6D23zc-Fl4a_4Ahtb8lvcbmVQ_a9eTHjniwPMdvga4QCDNVaJZK_hkObs9E/s1600/Catholic_Catechist.jpg" /></a></div>
<div>
It's sort of ironic that, after spending all 4 years of my bachelor's program insisting that I did NOT want to teach (I double majored in history and religious studies), all I really want to to do is teach about the faith.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Did any of you go through this process yourselves? I'm looking for a way to really teach the faith without being overbearing or preachy, but I also want to be honest and authentic without being touchy-feely. I went through it last year and the woman who taught it is so great, but I want it to be "me." Any tips would be so, so, appreciated. And prayers of course.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Monday's lesson is "how to participate in the Mass." </div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-19163270609813083312012-01-21T19:50:00.000-07:002012-01-21T19:50:00.176-07:00He Put A New Song In My MouthThis was the second week of having to sing "Here I Am, Lord" at Mass. This wouldn't trouble me so much aside from the fact that last week, for some reason totally unbeknownst to me, we got a new Holy, Holy, Holy, a new Lamb of God and a new Great Amen. All with a <strike>tune that sounds like something from a Disney movie</strike> new arrangement.<br />
<br />
I highly, HIGHLY dislike these new arrangements. We also got the new Gloria. No, not that new Gloria, a NEW new Gloria, with a new arrangement as well. I like the Gloria Simplex because it fits the new translation of the Mass. It sounds sort of like a chant and the simplicity of it works better than the cramming of the new words into the tune we were singing to before, so you can focus on what you're saying and not the odd phrasing with the arrangement. (Aside: When I was a kid, even at The Other Catholic Church in town, the Holy, Holy, Holy and Lamb of God were sort of chanted and I find myself longing for these older arrangements. My big beef with the Holy Holy Holy that we were doing before the new translation and are now doing again is phrasing. What is the need to repeat the "your glory" and "who comes"? Why can't we just put it into a normal phrasing? If you are repeating things in order to make them fit the melody, methinks you ought to re-write your melody, especially if your lyrics are coming from Scripture.) These new arrangements of these very important liturgical songs do NOT fit the elevated status of the new mass. They sort of jar me out of where I am. When the pianist started playing the tune for the Lamb of God, I actually got confused. I actually thought to myself "why are they playing a song, we're not supposed to be playing a song here," and, based on how long it took people to catch on, I wasn't the only one. Here's my question: what's wrong with the Agnus Dei? I'm not saying that to be flippant, I am totally serious. Why can't we just sing the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei? Why all this kumbaya hand holdy stuff now, NOW that we have finally gotten rid of the kumbaya hand holdy translation?!<br />
<br />
In any event, when I looked at these songs in our hymnal, I realized that they were all arranged by the same composer. I will not name him, mainly because the thread on his music on the Catholic Answers Forums was closed because people were being uncharitable. Now, I won't say anything about him personally (because I didn't even Wikipedia him to find out anything about him personally), I just don't like his "hymns." One because they are trite and contrived lyrically, two because they all sound <strike>like something from a Disney movie</strike> the same. But the last two weeks, with the exception of the Gloria Simplex and our recessional hymn this week ("How Can I Keep From Singing" which is a Protestant hymn, by the way), ALL of the songs we sang in mass were written by this good gentleman. It was like a This Dude love fest and not a Catholic mass at all. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7AFL5Wrklg6FoxowylmI5MRuWLWxaU-UxF2-T4JQktGMjb2k4Nk64JFFjZK_WBpZU5Z5oOdc79y2WVFlVVNMH8Wjwb9jg2XYyEoZWyHtA4mQRl9KSbNt7RE3pJHR_tmyeu9WK9IiwYI/s1600/OurFather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7AFL5Wrklg6FoxowylmI5MRuWLWxaU-UxF2-T4JQktGMjb2k4Nk64JFFjZK_WBpZU5Z5oOdc79y2WVFlVVNMH8Wjwb9jg2XYyEoZWyHtA4mQRl9KSbNt7RE3pJHR_tmyeu9WK9IiwYI/s320/OurFather.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catholicism. You're Doing it Wrong. </td></tr>
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What does one do about something like this? I finally left The Other Catholic Church after putting my foot down over a horrendous rendition of Alleluia in which we <i>clapped. </i>Yes, you read that right. I am not a RadTrad, I'm really only a regular trad and this stuff really, really, REALLY bothers me. Can I ask my Pastor to put a moratorium on all the David Haas, Marty Haugen, Dan Schutte stuff? Can I respectfully request that we have a Catholic mass for the reals, or have the pew-sitting Catholics gotten so into their "let's sing the Our Father, use the orans posture, and clap through the Alleluia" mentality that people would actually be upset at the Catholicization of the mass? I know my personal preference should not dictate things and I know there are people out there who are very emotionally attached to these songs, but some of us are emotionally attached to the MASS as it should be and would like to at LEAST hear the liturgical prayers sung respectfully. I would trade one awful hymn a week for two good ones. Heck, at this point, I would trade two David Haas debacles for one Panis Angelicus. With so many beautiful, relevant, traditional Catholic hymns, do we really need to subject parishioners to this stuff?<br />
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Ugh, and now I have "Here I Am, Lord" in my head.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-68058065363537372602012-01-09T22:25:00.001-07:002012-01-10T17:08:33.142-07:00Teb-Over It: Why I Dislike Tim Tebow<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here in <st1:state><st1:place>Colorado</st1:place></st1:state>, we are known for several things:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Mountains<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Hippies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Snow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Skiing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Having a large
KKK community in the 1920's</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. Rabid Bronco
fans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Okay, so some of
these things we might not be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>known</i> for,
but they are all true nonetheless.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, there's this
guy, this football player and maybe you've heard of him. He does this
particular thing whenever he scores. It's commonly called<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Tebowing.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>We Catholics call it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>praying</i> and we typically
don't do it in front of thousands of people in person and God knows how many on
TV. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quintessential Colorado. Only this guy is not a hippy. <i>That I know of</i>. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Evangelical
world just loooooves him. I can't tell you how many people on my Facebook just
get all choked up at the thought of this man "witnessing his love for
Jesus.” Nevermind that, at his vocation, he has been medicore at best (save a
few “miraculous” come backs). They say completely inane and obnoxious things
about how he passed a total of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>316
yards </b>in his miraculous comeback last
night<b>.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>316, you
guys! Like John 3:16! Like "God so loved the world..."! God is on our
side.<i> <b>God wants us to win football games. </b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The secular world
tends to dislike Tebow. I attribute this precisely to the
praying-in-the-endzone thing, the constant talk about being blessed and
Christianity in general, and I'm sure the pro-life ad featuring him and his
mother didn't really help his cause. The average everyday Joe just wants to sit
back, relax, have a beer, watch the game and not have to think about Church and
those pesky God and Jesus fellows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But a lot of
Catholics really, really like Tebow. A quick search on the <a href="http://www.catholic.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Answers Forums</a> brings up posts about how he is living his faith, and helping to
evangelize. He could be bringing people to God, we want to live next door to
him and he “seems like a really humble and great guy.” (I don’t like giving him
so much attention as a Catholic considering that he was raised Baptist, his
father is a pastor and both of his parents are missionaries. He was born in the
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Philippines</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Now, why would a Baptist missionary
family be in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>Philippines</st1:place></st1:country-region>, when 90% of the population is Christian?
Maybe because <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines#Religion" target="_blank">80% of them are Catholic</a>.) There’s also a double-standard that is
exercised with Tebow. Catholics paising him on the forums for being a good
Christian example are the same ones in other threads who attack the Duggars for
having a TV show because it’s “materialistic.” I guess being a football star
really does have its perks. No one seems to be talking about how awesome Philip
Rivers is, though, and he’s a Catholic football star who is a chastity speaker.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have no doubt
that God loves Tim Tebow. I have no doubt that God loves anyone. I just have
beef with something that looks to me like showboating. We are supposed to be a
good example to others in the life that we live. We are <i>not</i> supposed to fall on our knees in prayer in front of millions of
people (Matthew 6:5). I honestly believe that Tebow is coming from a sincere
place and that he really wants to glorify God in his way and bring attention to
Him. But I feel like people are starting to glorify Tebow instead. I feel like
attention is being paid to the fact that Tebow is a Christian without much
conversation going on about Christ. I cringe every single Sunday morning when I
see the families go up to receive Communion in their Tebow jerseys. They have
made Church just a stop before watching Tebow run the ball. Idol worship is
idol worship, even if that idol is Christian. This brings to mind what happened
last spring with Father John Corapi. So many people really looked to him and
followed him and when he fell, people were upset and their faith was shaken.
They had put their faith in the man and not what he was preaching. Tebow is
young, he is in the national spotlight, he is making a lot of money. He is also
human. He will likely fall and then the media wolves will be all over it.
People who were once inspired by him may be disappointed and turn away. Even if
he doesn’t fall, what happens when the Broncos don’t go to the Super Bowl? Or if
they do and they don’t win? If God’s favor is evidenced by the wins, is it lost
when His team loses? I know God sees and is involved in everything, but being
involved in who wins which football championship reduces Him to a level that
almost makes my stomach turn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I want the world
to stop talking about Tim Tebow. When we do talk about him, I want it to be
about football. If he plays well, then he plays well. If he doesn’t, then I
want them to say so. I don’t want to hear any more talk about anything other
than his playing skills. If he’s a nice kid, great. I’m glad. I’m just as tired
hearing about sports stars shooting or stabbing people, robbing people or
raping people. But let’s focus on his actions in football, and hope his life off the field is a good witness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Besides, I have a
pretty good feeling that God is a Saints fan, anyway. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhLwQ9a-fLPAa3fHi6izhrftSH4I7wLC5fWh4Z-xSRfdYB0uXTUWFg__1tnK2BdUYSTd7V-9Grwt22faSM-DDo7yMBxtyuwCPronlSml2aVix9qN3C_uij9XI8xXp_9uGiViWFMlkMLw/s1600/joanie+on+the+pony+saints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhLwQ9a-fLPAa3fHi6izhrftSH4I7wLC5fWh4Z-xSRfdYB0uXTUWFg__1tnK2BdUYSTd7V-9Grwt22faSM-DDo7yMBxtyuwCPronlSml2aVix9qN3C_uij9XI8xXp_9uGiViWFMlkMLw/s400/joanie+on+the+pony+saints.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">St. Jeanne d'Arc in New Orleans, hoisting a Saints banner</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-75367535734788142122012-01-07T16:22:00.003-07:002012-01-07T16:23:56.296-07:00Keep It Classy, ColoradoJust another example of why I believe abortion is a SYMPTOM and not the disease in this society. What gets me is that the girl's mother is upset about it too. Why did she allow the picture to be taken in the first place?<br />
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<a href="http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/colorado-student-banned-yearbook-over-racy-photo-201606793--abc-news.html" target="_blank">Colorado Student Banned From Yearbook</a>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-23806333305536680312012-01-05T21:59:00.000-07:002012-01-05T22:16:36.493-07:00Holy Day of... Eh.Happy Epiphany Eve everyone!! As you all know, tomorrow is a Holy Day of Obligation, so make sure you all check on Mass times at your local....wait. What? You mean they moved the feast of the Epiphany to a Sunday?<br />
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The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the day that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem and adored the baby Jesus and brought him presents and I think Mary had a little drummer boy show up and I'm pretty sure that it was the reason that men never, ever ask for directions...any more. It's one of oldest Feasts in Christianity- the prefigurement of all Christians on bended knee for our savior. </div>
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With that said, I don't really understand why the Catholic Church in America has demoted this to a Sunday feast. I'm kind of a nerd in the sense that I really enjoy Holy Days of Obligation. I get so excited at the thought of taking time out of my normal life and going to Mass in the middle of the week. It's one of those things that make us Catholic, one of those things that no one else does. I read this book recently (and I apologize because I can't honestly remember who it was by or what it was called) about Vatican II and why it had such a big impact and why that impact isn't the things that everyone talks about-- the RadTrads talking about the change from Latin, for example-- but smaller things that slowly eroded our identity and lead to the really, really bad catechesis of the Baby Boomer generation which lead to the even WORSE (if it's possible) catechesis of our generation until we woke up and re-catechized ourselves. One of the things he talked about was this very thing. We all know we should go to Mass on Sundays, that's a given. And we all know we should go on Christmas and Easter, but it's those in-between feasts that should be shaping our lives. The ebb and flow of the liturgical calendar and the reflection outside of the race of this life. We've effectively been held less accountable for our own spiritual lives. The author of this book argued that we should all go back to the Friday meat abstinence (as the Bishops of the UK did recently) because it was something that all Catholics did, something that set us apart from all the other Christians out there. </div>
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In today's world, when there is so much animosity toward Catholics and so many Christians aren't really all that much different than your average Secular Sally, (*coughunitarianscough*), it would be nice, just once to see the Church stand up for Catholic <i>identity</i>. To remind us that we are in the world, but not of the world. We need things like keeping up our Christmas decorations for the entire Christmas season and then going to Mass on the Epiphany (which is January 6, not "a Sunday between January 2 and January 8"). We need our Theophany water and chalk and whatever other trappings we can get. We need our St. Blaise days and May Crownings and Good Friday Fish Fries. We need to be reminded that that our Church isn't replaceable by going to whichever First United Congregation is closest to us, because the service times fit with soccer practice and the female pastor wears birkenstocks and a Hawaiian shirt and that's <i>neat. </i>Above all, we need to be reminded that we are <i>Catholic</i> and not only is it worth fighting for, it's worth living for, too. </div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-2344840032119359532012-01-02T20:16:00.002-07:002012-01-03T12:51:28.983-07:00Ack! My Brain!Last night, the Hubbs was watching Star Wars on a national cable television channel that is aimed at men, and literally EVERY single commercial break had a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuviclb3AY0" target="_blank">commercial for Trojan "Bare Skin"</a>* condoms in it. It features a "beautiful" (read: sexy-librarian-type) "scientist" who works in a lab and couples who look like they are literally being magnetized together. Because this condom is to "bring you closer than ever before." Um... what? Even the Hubbs, who started muting the commercials after seeing it about 4 times, commented about how ironic it was that a condom, a device that by its very nature is meant to put a barrier between people, is being marketed to bring couples together.<br />
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I understand that not everyone is Catholic. There was a time that I wouldn't have considered myself Catholic. But I have said over and over that my reversion has made me see things from such a different perspective that it's actually difficult to understand the secular world any more. The Catholic Church's teaching on sexuality and human dignity is so profoundly beautiful that it actually makes me sad when I think that Protestant denominations who call themselves pro-life don't espouse about half of it. It makes me sad that so many people in the secular world- those going green, going organic, being crunchy- are still so tied up with their pills and IUD's and dubiously marketed prophylactics. Sometimes I feel like I've found the world's best product at a better price and everyone else is insisting on using something that just... doesn't work. </div>
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In these Trojan commercials, where is the talk about how using a condom outside of a monogamous committed relationship *may* cause one or more parts of the couple to feel used, objectified or generally icky about things? Where is the warning that continued use of condoms may result in lower fidelity? Where is the caution that those who are being so "responsibly" intimate, may, in the end be irresponsibly treated by someone who claimed to love them?</div>
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Our product may not be as popular, it may not be as widely used. But. We win. </div>
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<a href="http://defend-us-in-battle.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-new-outlook.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DefendUsInBattle+%28Defend+Us+In+Battle%29" target="_blank">Defend Us In Battle</a></div>
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John 1:23</div>
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">Please note that I do NOT condone the use or sale of this product. Ad is posted only for clarification purposes. </span></div>
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<br /></div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-80174326587990628202011-12-30T14:46:00.001-07:002011-12-30T14:46:47.769-07:00How Things ChangeAt around this time last year, I was jealous of a co-worker of mine who travelled all the time and had a lot of fun with her husband. They decided after they got married that they would never have kids, even though both of them really love kids. I remember being really envious of them, as I had just started my convalidation process and was really struggling with the no birth-control thing (you know, that little piece of infallible dogma). I was covetous (yes, I have used the thesaurus today) because I felt like they were so <i>free-- </i>they didn't have a Church telling them what they had to do and how they had to do it and when they could do it and how they had to feel about it when they finally did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vaf7ESO4v94/Tv4wkSk7I-I/AAAAAAAAAFg/2q48nOA50tE/s1600/mantilla+friend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vaf7ESO4v94/Tv4wkSk7I-I/AAAAAAAAAFg/2q48nOA50tE/s400/mantilla+friend.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "mantilla friend" from our local newspaper on a story they ran for the <br />New Translation. www.coloradoan.com</td></tr>
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Today, I find myself being more covetous of people in my parish with the big families. The ones with all the kids. Like the family who recently baptized their newest addition, who, from what I can tell is the 6th or 7th (they're not always at Church at the same time, so I can't really tell), who gave their newborn the deliciously Catholic name Augustine James. Or the woman who I call my "mantilla friend" (because she is the only other woman at my parish who wears one regularly), who has 4 sons and from what I can tell, the oldest is definitely going to be a priest. I can tell by the way he's very solemn and serious at Mass and clutches his rosary, though he's probably only 6 at the oldest.<br />
I don't know if this is my biological clock ticking, or my desires becoming more and more ordered. I hope it's a little of both.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897069348303379663.post-2362481077423190612011-12-25T19:36:00.000-07:002011-12-25T20:29:18.375-07:00Venite Adoremus DominusOn Friday night we were over at T and J's house for the annual cookie party, and T's mom said "Mary wrapped the first Christmas present!" And for a moment, I thought she meant Mary herself physically wrapped the first Christmas present in her womb, but realized that she meant in the swaddling clothes. It made me start thinking about Mary and Christmas and Merry Christmas and all that jazz.<br />
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There's something to be said about Mary wrapping Jesus up in those swaddling clothes, the incarnate God bound; humble, unable to speak, reduced to the state of a newborn child, dependent on His earthly parents for everything, just as we all are. Is it a metaphor for how we are to depend on God? For how humble and silent and trusting we should be? Let us all be like Mary, whether falling to our knees in adoration, or simply allowing ourselves to be "thrones" for our Lord. Let us remember those who are helpless, innocent, dependent, needy. Let us always remember that Christ came in to this world a fragile human being, which is all that we are, and gave us salvation. He made us, and then He made us better.<br />
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<br /></div>Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958084273028753944noreply@blogger.com0