We interrupt this program….
Until my computer decides to cooperate on a regular basis, I’ll be taking a (hopefully brief) hiatus…
Snow
Christmas at the Apartment
For my Christmas decorations and a shot of my (somewhat irreverent 
) Nativity scene, go here.
Prayers please…
Pour moi.
I’m here in the Resort (for more go to The Bucket) and I am generally frustrated at Certain People who go into “Emily is just crazy mode” when I’m in here and tell me that I Need to calm down and channel my inner Zen. Channeling one’s inner Zen doesn’t really help when red-hot pokers are all over your lungs. But I digress.
I am reading my Mother Angelica book and am trying to remember what she says about suffering, about this is Jesus bringing you to close to Him that He can kiss you. Not that I don’t want Kisses from Jesus…oh well. OK, going to think happy, positive thoughts. How suffering is good. IT brings you closer to Jesus. Souls in purgatory and all that. If this sounds a bit blase, I’m not trying to be. I’m typing through nausea (this is intended to distract me and think on “higher things”), so hopefully it’s working…
Also prayers that my work load just doesn’t explode upon my return would be nice. I can’t do anything about it here, obviously, but I can not totally freak out about it.
Prayer update, though–my little Buddy Ian, who had a heart transplant, went home this morning to his parents and his two big sisters. His mom is due to give birth to his sister, Sophia, in November. Yay! So I am glad he is going home to them. Also, my friend Kennedy is down on C5, after stepping down from the CICU after her (second!) heart transplant. She is one heck of a kid. :)
What we need
Isn’t it amazing, how God always knows what we need to hear, and when we need to hear it?
My contentedness with a single state goes back and forth, like tides. Some days I am quite happy to be alone in my apartment, running my life to my satisfaction (well, so I think :)), deciding what I will and will not do, what social engagements I will take, and the like. I am free to do what I please without asking another person (for the most part). But there are also moments, which have surfaced this week, where I have acutely wanted another person here, to share my thoughts, my life, my activities.
Today my devotional reading was from 2 Timothy, verse 16: “At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!” The overall passage was sort of esoteric, so I was interested to see what take the meditation would follow. This is what I got:
We must not conclude that the spiritual life rescues single persons from the pain of loneliness. It does not. any times I’ve been acutely aware of my singleness and really felt lonely: preparing a meal for one, asking for a single table in a restaurant, feeling out of it in the midst of a laughing crowd. Sometimes I wake up at night and wonder what will happen to me when I grow old and sick and no spouse or children, no fellow community members are there to take care of me.
This awareness of my aloneness could cause me to become anxious and depressed. I try to remember the positive, spiritual meaning and the psychological contentment that comes with being single: blessing my quiet apartment at the end of a busy day, staying in or going out as a I please, calling a friend or silencing the ring on my phone so I can spend the evening reading and praying. Loneliness slowly changes into solitude also when I recommit myself to the Lord and enjoy his companionship.
In solitude I bring my whole being–physical, emotional, spiritual–before God and ask him for the grace I need to live my single calling joyfully. I do not want to fall into sef-pity or madly seek some meaningful encounter. God knows I need his help to live a harmonious inner and outer life, avoiding the either/or extremes that often tempt singoles: either too much withdrawal or too much involvement.
Personally, as a Christian, I try to center my singleness in the heart of Jesus, the Single Word spoken by the Father. In the Word made Flesh, I am at home with my single calling and united spiritually with all other people, contemplatively present to his will and actively serving the members of his kingdom.
Food for thought…
From The Anchoress…great quotes!
http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/07/01/andbloom-where-you- are-planted/
He is Risen! He is risen indeed!
A Happy Easter to everyone!
Upon returning from the blogging hiatus, here’s the rest of my Triddum report:
–Good Friday: I got there early, around 1:20, and I thought I would be early. But the church was pretty full, I would say almost halfway, with people doing the Stations, praying their rosaries, etc. That was great to see. I said my rosary, and then settled in with the rest of the choir for the service (Good Friday is not a Mass, since there are no hosts consecreated. It is also called the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified, since we use hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday. But, technically, no Masses are celebrated on Good Friday.) The Mass was really full, not entirely full but a good-sized crowd for a Good Friday (our Mass is at 2:00 so people usually have to work).
The service itself went well; from a choral standpoint this is our ‘easiest’ one because there’s very little singing. It seemed shorter than usual, somehow, but that could’ve been just me.
–Holy Saturday–The Vigil: I love the Vigil, and last night was no exception. Nice sized crowd (it’s never totally full, probably because of 1) the time and 2) the length!), and I was there really early. I was there before the priest! So I had plenty of time to sit in church, say my rosary and check out all the Easter lilies and tulips that decorated the sanctuary. Kudos to the Church Decorating Committee! Fr. Dan and John (our Choir director) were getting things ready–I thought it was very amusing to see the water for the baptisms being poured into the lovely crystal bowl from a rubbermaid bucket but that’s just me. It was blessed later so I guess it was OK. But it still made me laugh.
The rest of the choir and the K of C guys (who usher and distribute the candles for this Mass–they do the same thing for Midnight Mass at Christmas) started arriving around 7:10, and the RCIA folks started arriving then, too, as well as the people for Mass. So it was starting to get busy. And I am never still before a big performance; I have to pace, or move, or something. I was probably driving everyone crazy. If I had my way I would’ve been stalking the vestibule like a lion at the zoo. But nooo. And it was cold out so I couldn’t even go outside and pace. Oh well.
The Mass began at 8:30 with the Service of Light, which was optional this year for the choir since it was cold. Usually we go out with the RCIA kids and any congregational members who want to, and we process in. Not this year. I stayed inside, but I was amazed at how many people braved snow and wind. Thankfully Fr. Dan really moved that part so the poor people wouldn’t freeze.
Once everyone was back in, the candles were lit and the Easter Proclamation chanted by one of our deacons. We only do three readings (plus the Epistle) at my church (1, 3, and 5), so that helps. We had about 30 people in the RCIA class and a lot of baptisms, which is always nice to see. Some of the little girls had amazing dresses. I mean, really amazing. Lace and frills and one even had a bustle!
Singing the Gloria again was also great; we use the Celtic Mass (which I love) for Christmas and Easter. Lights, incense, good music–it was great. This Mass has lots of singing, so we were busy, getting our pieces ready and making sure we were on top. Whew.
The highlights, for me, was the Easter Communion (always great), and our singing of “Worthy is the Lamb” from the Messiah. Even though we do the “Hallelujah!” chorus every year, “Worthy” is a lot harder and, therefore, more satisfying when done right. And we did an awesome job, thank you. But it was exhausting…and we were all very warm when it was over. If you don’t think singing is an activity that requires energy, you are so wrong. The concentration, the timing, the sheer attention you have to pay is exhausting. But we were very happy with it. And, of course, the “Hallelujah” went off splendidly, even if people were leaving and taking pictures and doing all sorts of things while we were singing. GRRRR. It’s a four minute piece, people. You can wait until we’re done. Not that hard. I’m sorry, but I just think that’s rude.
Overall, it was probably the best Vigil I’ve attended. Very reverent atmosphere and everyone involved did their parts beautifully. We also had a very responsive congregation, which is always nice.
Today we don’t have to sing (yay!), so I m going to Easter dinner with my family. I hope you all have a great Easter!
“Hot and hotter”
From Amy:
The rumors are heating up that the famed and legendary Motu Proprio on the “freeing” of the 1962 Missal is on its way this week or Holy Thursday at the latest.
This is such a crucial moment, I think, for Benedict. Some folks scoff at my interest in the writings and words of Pope Benedict, but I do come by it honestly, I think. I was fairly unacquainted with him before his election, was brought up short, in a good way, by the homily he gave at his installation Mass, in which he went through the symbols with which he was being vested (the pallium, etc) and explained each one in this amazingly clear, pastoral and rich way. “There’s a teacher,” I thought.
Read the whole thing here.
Oh, so that’s what happened!
You regular readers of this page know that I am seriously pro-life. I am a “take-no-prisoners” fully pro-life pro-lifer (if that makes any sense). Usually I find nothing about the topic funny.
However, as Mother Angelica says, “we have to laugh,” and the boys at Number 1 Happy St. had this on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade :
Today, dozens of rallies have been taking place all across the country to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. If you’ve been under a rock, that’s the supreme court decision in which a woman (Roe) wanted to terminate her pregnancy. Her unborn baby (Wade) disagreed with that course of action but was ultimately overruled by the high court. And so with that decision, the ‘right to choose’ was finally a reality.
Unless you are a state. In which case, you no longer had the right to choose. The federal government will be doing all the choosing from now on.
And unless you are the father of the unborn baby. In which case, your choice was already used up when you decided to go with the condoms with the plain black and white wrapper because the other ones were too expensive.
And unless you are the unborn baby. In which case, you don’t get to choose because mommy knows what’s best for you. I mean she’s already proven that she can make good decisions which is how she ended up in the back seat of that Prius anyway. It’s not every day you have the opportunity to get nailed by someone who loves the movie Mona Lisa Smile as much as you do!
It’s not ha-ha funny. It’s sad funny. Because there are a lot of things in there that ring true.
