Journeys of a Catholic Poster Girl

Happy All Saints’ Day, friends. Don’t you love this feast?
I do–as a kid I always thought it was weird to be juxtaposed with halloween (sacred and profane, and all that), but as I grew older and realized how important the saints are to us, and how close they are, I’ve really grown to love this feast.

Here are the three saints I’m celebrating this year:

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, as always. She was the saint I chose at my confirmation, and the more I learn about here, the more I fall in love with her. She’s the most popular saint of modern times for a reason. If you’re looking for a good book on her, I recommend this one.  And there’s the movie!

St. Francis is the saint I have been studying this year. I got the idea from “Around the Year With the Von Trapp Family” to pick a saint every first Sunday of Advent that you will study during the year. I chose St. Francis since, at that time, I was applying to Franciscan University and wanted to learn more about St. Francis and the order he founded. This book is a good introduction, and this movie (also featuring St. Clare) is fantastic. (Also, in my family, my grandfather’s name is Francis, and it is my brother’s middle name.)

And finally, St. Dominic, whom, as we know from here, I have been studying. Right now I don’t have any books or movies to recomment, except–say the rosary! This great gift was given by Mary to St. Dominic, and is such a powerful prayer.

In addition to these, there is also St. Emily and St. Michael the Archangel, who are my name saints (Michele is my mom’s name, and my middle name.)

What about you? Who are your special saints?

Talking about new religious avenues for myself over here.

I got an A on my first Biblical Studies Assignment!

That is all.

Today’s mind-blowing Biblical Studies idea: 

“Reading the Scriptures is like going to Communion.” –Dr. Miletic. 

We were talking about the Catechism and doing what we would call in the English Department a “Close reading”, where we read the text and then dig around in it for its meaning. The text at hand was paragraph 103, which says that we (The Church) venerates Scripture as it does Christ’s body. 

Dr. Miletic then asked us for the connection between the two. We hemmed and hawed. 

“What do you do when you go to communion?”
Receive Jesus–body, soul, divinity.

“Yes. And that is also what you do when you read Scripture. Reading Scripture is like going to Communion.” 

I was blown away. Really. I had never thought of this that way. “The scriptures are sacramental,” he continued. “That’s why only an ordained minister can read the Gospel.”  

Wow. The same thing happens we when we read scripture as happens when we receive Communion! And I have a Bible around all the time!

I will be reading more of my Bible, that’s for sure.

From my Sacraments professor: 

“Sometime when studying, we must fold back the wings of our intellect, and bow before the mystery.”

I love this guy.

Tonight I listened to the first sacraments lecture. IT was good–short (less than 40 minutes). We talked about signs and symbols, and Thomas Aquinas’ definition of the sacramentum naturea–that sacraments use things in the natural world–like water, oil, bread and wine. The professor is a Dominican Priest, so he offers an unique perspective on sacraments, especially ones like Holy Orders.

There are no written assignments, only a midterm and a final. There aren’t any reading assignments on the syllabus, but he does give them during the lecture. Like tonight he wanted us to read part of the CCC, about liturgy and sacraments. It was pretty edifying. 

I think this one will be pretty smooth sailing, since sacraments, especially the Eucharist, are subjects I have read a lot about (having Protestant friends who think you’re a cannibal really helps in your preparation for this kind of stuff.) Our professor described the class as “practical”, saying that the sacraments are really the bread and butter of Catholicism. I totally agree. 

So a weekend break, then on M, back to sacraments. Sacraments MWF, and Biblical Studies I on T and Th.

“God has brought you here to stretch you.” –Dr. Miletic

So today at around 5:00 I went back to school. 

A big box, delivered via UPS, was waiting for me in my apartment office. Inside was one spiral bound course text and two binders–one for Principles of Biblical Study I and one for Sacraments. I opened the box rather ceremoniously, with scissors, as opposed to my usual grab and tear open method. 

I read the course materials, the Distance Learning Guidelines and ‘how to submit assignments.” Biblical studies has no exams, just papers, which increase in the difficulty (the first was really just a worksheet!), culminating in a 10 page exegesis paper, which is basically a close reading of a Biblical text. Sacraments, on the other hand, has no papers, just a midterm and a final. I had to order the documents of Vatican II, which I should get on Saturday, so I decided to start Biblical Studies (211/511) today. 

I found a blue legal pad left over from my days at Cap, grabbed a mechanical pencil, and put the CD into my DVD player. Perched on my rocking chair I selected the first lecture. 

It was great. I felt like I was right in the classroom with them, on the first day of some balmy August. The professor, Dr. Miletic, is 1) VERY easy to understand , 2) wickedly intelligent and 3) very funny. My hand was flying over the notepad as I took notes. It was incredibly exciting, invigorating, astounding. 

He talked about the usual things–class expectations, the syllabus, the texts for the class. Then, since the class focuses on the Old Testament (OT), he talked about how it came into being–first in Hebrew, then translated into Greek by Alexander the Great around 330 AD. He discussed how the OT and the NT are intertwined, how you cannot really know one without the other. We even talked about the hypostatic union! (which is the idea that Jesus is both God and Man–he is an invisible, eternal person who also took on a finite human nature).  He was great. All the ideas flowed seamlessly into another. And then the class was over.

The assignments were: start the worksheet (asssingment 1–I actually finished it, go me!) Read 40 paragraphs of the CCC on Sacred Scripture (101-141), and then read Dr. Miletic’s handout on what we just read in the CCC (very helpful). Then, start reading Genesis. 

OK so I got through the first three things. CCC, handout, worksheet. Done. Filed the worksheet to be mailed in when it was due. 

Then I picked up my Bible. For my MA I’m using the Ignatius version since I love the RSV translation. I thought, well, I’ll just read until I get bored. Genesis is 50 chapters and I have weeks to read it. (We have a long time with Genesis. Then we’re reading like a book of the Bible every two days.) 

I picked up the pencil and notepad again and began to read. I read the whole thing, noting typology (where Jesus is prefigured in the NT), the covenant, and made a rough timeline–who was born when, who married who, when Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. Which of Jacob’s wives had which of his 13 kids. 

When I was finished I wanted to go on to Exodus–much like I wanted to go on to the next lecture. But I didn’t. I typed up my notes (might come in handy later) and checked off the assignments. 

Tomorrow I’ve got my first Sacraments lecture. There’s no actual assigned reading, so I’m not quite sure how this will work, but whatever. We’ll find out. 

On the tentative schedule I made, I will be done with both these classes in mid-September. I have six months from the date the courses are mailed to finish, so my completion date was early-to-mid November. I LOVE being ahead! Basically I set it up like so: MWF–Sacraments; T Th–Biblical Studies. Now if Sacraments ends up being longer than 50 minutes, I’ll switch, but I think this will work well. Biblical Studies has a ton of reading with it, so I’ll probably need more time to get that all done as I get to things like “Numbers/Deuteronomy in two days”.

My first two MA prereq. courses have arrived!!

So I am looking at my 6 choices for the undergrad classes I need to complete before I can start the graduate program proper. They are: 

• THE 211–Principles of Biblical Study (definitely doing this one. I only have to buy one book since I have the CCC)
• PHIL 113–Philosophy of the Human Person
• PHIL 211–Metaphysics (Lord, help…really!)
• THE 212–Principles of Biblical Study II (obviously can’t take that yet!)
• THE 214–Theology of the Church (REALLY want to take this!)
• THE 314–The Sacraments (again, REALLY want to take this!)

You get 6 months to finish each course. I’ve got THE 211 down right now, but I’m wondering if I should tack on PHIL 113, too? I mean, I did undergrad work in way less than 6 months per class. Course I was only doing that, and not working, or doing theater, etc., etc. 
Any thoughts?