Talking about new religious avenues for myself over here.

Today is the annniversary of the first apparition. 

If you’re new to Fatima, go here. 

If you’ve got young children (or want a good movie about it), this is what you want. (Note: The vision of Hell might scare very young kids.)

And, of course, there is the Warner Brothers (WARNER BROTHERS!) classic film, “Our Lady of Fatima”, which my family loves. (If you can believe it—this link takes you to the 1952 New York Times Review. The New York Times!) 

Our Lady of Fatima was a source of a lot of devotion in my family. Jacinta, the youngest visionary, is my sister’s patron saint; for my first communion I received a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, surrounded by Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta. Fatima is also probably the only place my dad would actually get a passport to visit. 

And don’t forget–John Paul the Great credits Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life after the 1982 assassination attempt. 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

(did you know the Fourth Sunday of Easter was called Good Shepherd Sunday? I didn’t.)

This Sunday I attended Mass at my mom’s home parish, Church of the Nativity,in Baldwin, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh).  Besides being the church where all my mom’s sisters were married, it’s also where I was baptized on May 9, 1982 (Mother’s Day that year). 

I hadn’t been to the church in awhile, and there were lots of changes, both cosmetically (new carpet, new pews) and liturgically–the tabernacle has been moved front and center, behind the altar, and the servers ring bells at the moment of consecration (loved that!). If, as Fr. Z tells us, we must “say the black and do the red”, then Nativity is well on its way. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Latin Mass there someday. There’s a group that says Rosary before every Mass, and they have a Divine Mercy icon to the right of the altar. 

The priest was a visiting priest–the Diocese of Pittsburgh does “priest swaps”, where local pastors switch churches for a weekend. I think it’s a good idea. This one was from St. Germain, which has merged with Nativity’s school to form St. Katherine Drexel Catholic School. All my mom’s siblings went to Nativity, and my grandfather taught music lessons there, so it’s sad to see the school merged with another. But the parish is 100 years old, so it’s a sign of the times (sadly). 

The priest told us about Good Shepherd Sunday, and connected the Gospel (from John 10) to the raising of Lazarus from the dead in Chapter 11–followers of Jesus are like the sheep who know their shepherd’s voice. Jesus only had to say to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out!” and he did. We don’t need to hear a lot of words if we are in touch with Jesus’s voice. The priest then went on to discuss how shepherds and sheep-herding really worked (i.e., how the sheep had names the shepherds would call, how they would be rounded up into their pen, etc) and connected that with how Jesus cares for us. 

How much attention do we give our shepherd? We know that our shepherd laid down his life for us–his sheep. Real sheep don’t know that–they can’t intellectually figure that out. But we can.

The Pope and Nancy Pelosi (h/t–dad)

Pope tells Pelosi: Catholics cannot back abortion

From First Things: (my emphases in bold)

When Not Aborting Is Immoral

Posted by Keith Pavlischek on September 19, 2008, 4:34 PM

From over on starboard side, Nicholas Provenzo of the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism is “troubled” by the implications of Gov. Sarah Palin’s “decision to knowingly give birth to a child disabled with Down syndrome.” He thinks “it is crucial to reaffirm the morality of aborting a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome (or by extension, any unborn fetus)—a freedom that anti-abortion advocates seek to deny.” Here’s his line of thinking:  

A parent has a moral obligation to provide for his or her children until these children are equipped to provide for themselves. Because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision, unless a parent enjoys the wealth to provide for the lifetime of assistance that their child will require, they are essentially stranding the cost of their child’s life upon others.

 (me: So, I guess I shouldn’t be here, right, because, you know, some CF people are only “marginally productive.” Who in the world has the right to say what is and what is not productive? How can we be so callous as to reduce human life to production, to economic terms!?)

 

Meanwhile, on the port side, Paul Ehrlich, author of “The Population Bomb,” treats us to this little thought:

I believe it is immoral and should be illegal for people to have very large numbers of children because they are then co-opting for themselves and their children resources that should be spread elsewhere in the world. You only get a chance to get your fair share. 

To the follow-up question, “How many is ‘very large’”? Ehrlich responds:

The issue is: What is the political position to take? In a country like the United States, we should stop at two. But if you had an ideal situation, you might have a lot of people who have no children at all, and some people who have as many as three or four because they happen to be particularly good parents, and are going to raise their children very well. 

Me: OK, so let’s make this a bit less hypothetical. 

“Let’s stop at two”–that means neither of my parents, both the third child in their families, wouldn’t have been born. 

On my mom’s side, more specifically, that means that my Uncle Tim and my Aunts Sue, Patty, Mary, and Amy would not have been born. Hence I would not have my fantastic aunts and uncles, I would not have my godfather, and I would not have my godson. My grandparents, instead of having 25 grandchildren to love, would have four–Julie, Jeff, Diane and Megan–and four great-grandchildren. 

If, by some miracle, my parents did squeak by, then my little sister would not have been born. Sorry, Mel. Neither would the siblings of many of my friends, especially in the families where the first two children are twins.  

What kind of absolute nonsense is this!? People can have as many kids as they want without subjecting the number to some government entity. Yes, you should be able to take care of the kids you bring into the world. I am not advocating that we all go out and produce like rabbits, here. But NO ONE can tell me or anyone else how many kids to have!

Side note: The social entitlements that the Left so enjoys are funded mainly by–guess what–tax receipts. If you have a growing aging population and a shrinking young population, then you do not have the resources to provide for these massive entitlements, like Social Security and Medicare. Look to Europe–as the birth rate declines, so does their inability to support their massive welfare states. 

The Bible says that Children are a blessing from the Lord–they are a reward! We are to “be fruitful and multiply.” The scathing comments about people with big families, people who trust in God’s providence, and who procreate, are just sickening. 

If I was married I would want at least three kids, and maybe four! I love my big family. I love my siblings. Big families are good training grounds for life. 

This sort of thinking is dangerous and needs to be stopped, pronto. Sure the environment and all that is important, but human beings are more so. 

Something like this.

The beginning:

There is a translation point regarding the optional rite of washing feet (the “Mandatum” or “Command” – whence the word Maundy) on Holy Thursday.

In many places women are invited to have their feet washed.

This is against the Church’s laws which are based on divine revelation Scripture (cf. Matthew 20:28).

Now, this is Fr. Z, so of course he’s got the goods on it. Do read it.
Like the title suggests, this is something I never really thought about. Heck, my mom even had her feet washed one year. But is it indeed a licit practice?

(One of the reasons I probably didn’t think about it was 1) I’ve never been asked, and 2) we’re too busy in choir singing the feet washing song. )

Something to ponder as we get into Holy Week…

I’ve said a few times on here that Catholicism can be hard. It’s sheer definitiveness can make it that way. But then again, the Cross wasn’t easy, either.

In my life there have a been a few big issues that contrasted what I want with what God wants. The first was birth control.

I want kids–those of you that read regularly know that is NO shock. But with CF, and now transplant, getting pregnant is one of those super-touchy-feely things. You can’t just “get” pregnant. You have to plan it like you’re planning the Omaha Beach invasion. Nurses ask me, pretty matter of course, whether or not I use birth control. It’s sort of a moot point ,regardless, since I don’t have a boyfriend now, but when I was engaged this was a doozy.

Obviously I was not going to use birth control. Fiance OK with this–for awhile. Then we began to fight about it. He didn’t want me to die for a baby. I said I didn’t want to be engaging in sinful behavior. I asked multiple priests whether or not a woman in my condition could use birth control. They said yes. I read the Catechism. It wasn’t quite so malleable (it’s late, but I’ll have the cite later for y’all). And I was torn.

I remember a discussion I had with my best friend about this. I said it really came down to how much I trusted God, didn’t it? Because God doesn’t give us more than I can handle (I did, and still do, believe this). She agreed that it was important to do what God wanted (for the record, she’s Lutheran, so this wasn’t like a fellow Catholic was shooting me the party line.). I prayed. I really agonized over this. And, in the end, it was one of the points that caused our relationship to end.

This has always been a problem with whomever I’ve dated. I don’t normally date casually–life’s too short, you know? So I figure I better stay on God’s good side. But this was an agonizing decision. I didn’t want to give up love. But I didn’t want to go against my faith, which has been my only constant.

The second issue is end of life stuff. Before my transplant, I wrote dozens of letters to people, and planned my funeral. Even if I did get the call, there was no guarantee of surviving major surgery. So I wrote it all down. I chose the “Suffering Servant” passage from Isaiah, the gospel where Jesus raised Lazarus. I chose hymns. And I told my parents that, if I was unable to make decisions for myself, I asked them to do what the Church required. Of course, the excellent Children’s Chaplain (the irreplaceable Fr. Mark) would be able to help them, since he was ministering there at the time. What the Church said, we would do.

Thinking about your own death when you’re 22 is not fun, let me tell you. But I’m glad I did it. It helped me solidify what is really important. Believe me, when I say that Catholicism can be hard, that Christianity can be hard, I know. I’ve struggled with the doctrine too. And for me, I’ve found that submitting to it is the way I find peace.

Everyone has crises of faith, doubts about their lives, their vocations, what God wants from them.

Yesterday was one of those days for me. I had gone to my faith sharing group and we had discussed things like submitting to the will of God, rejoicing in His plan for us, etc. And I kept thinking, “Well what if you desire something–something good, and holy–and you STILL don’t get it? What are you supposed to do then?”

I’ve wanted to be a wife and mother as long as I can remember. I think one of my professors in college had a heart attack when I told her that that’s what I wanted and I wouldn’t be going to law/grad school. It’s what most of the women in my life have done–my aunts, my friends’ mothers, etc. I want that kind of life.

But I also want to be a sister. I feel the calling, the attractiveness of that life. And of course the retreat next month will help me discern more clearly what I feel about this.

But what if I don’t get either? What if the convent doesn’t want me (or doesn’t think I fit) and I never get married? Why do I have these desires in me if they can’t be fulfilled?
So I was a little distraught about all this.

Today, I saw at least three different roses on three different occasions. Yup, I guess God is listening to me–a little.

For the first time in many moons (like, since high school!) I am able to make the St. Lucia buns for St. Lucia (or St. Lucy’s) feast day tomorrow. Yay!

If you have never had these, they are wonderfully sweet and delicious. It’s nice to have a treat on the shortest day of the year (well, at least traditionally. I’m not sure if it actually is the shortest day, scientifically).

My recipe below… (Read on …)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper, even though I am a rather amateur wrapper.

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake.

3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Epiphany. When the Christmas season is “over”.

5. Do you like eggnog? Um….haven’t had enough to make a call.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The Care Bear kitchen set. I was about five and I opened all my gifts, and no kitchen set. We have photos of me looking very bereft. But then,lo and behold, Santa had left in in the basement! Tricky old guy. And we still have parts of it, so it was a very durable gift indeed.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes. They’re “S’mores” figurines–as in, the baby Jesus is a marshmallow in a graham cracker manager with a chocolate blanket. It’s super cute, but probably not the most reverent.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mom.

9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I always receive good stuff.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? REAL CHRISTMAS CARDS, i.e., snail mail. And they go to just about everyone I know.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas (both cartoon and live action) and A Christmas Story.

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? August.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peppermint bark and Mom’s Christmas breakfast–sausage and cinnamon rolls. Mmmmmm.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Color!

16. Favorite Christmas song: “O Holy Night”, “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We stay at home for Christmas day proper now; when I was little we used to have CHristmas at home early (it was AWESOME) then spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Pittsburgh with relatives. Fantastic. Now Mom’s family all comes down here the 27th and we take over a hotel.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer. Dasher, Dancer, PRancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzer, Rudolph.

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People who try to eliminate Christmas carols, creches, etc. from every single place on Earth other than a Church. LET’S GET REAL!