Prayer Intentions

I thought it would be nice and helpful to me to add a list of prayer intentions on the side. Names are by 1 initial to safeguard privacy. If anyone needs to add a prayer request, just let me know.

Catholics Come Home

A new initiative is underway to call lapsed Catholics home and new souls to the Church.

Catholics Come Home


Here is one of their commercials:

Epic 120

A Modern Holocaust

The other day I came across a program on television on people who wanted a baby so badly they went so far as to cut open pregnant women and steal their unborn children or at least try to. We've all heard about such cases. They are pretty terrible and terrifying. During the course of the show that focused on a few specific cases, some doctors and therapists and other experts were interviewed regarding the nature of these cases and the people who committed such horrible crimes. I was struck with how every "expert" referred to the unborn stolen children as Fetuses.

Yes, Fetus is the technical word for an unborn offspring of viviparous mammals, including humans. And, yes, the term is often used out of respect for the pro-choice community who, heaven forbid, should actually acknowledge they are killing a human baby. It is pure hypocrisy to refer to unborn babies as fetuses and not refer to adults as homo sapiens and children as offspring. Why not refer to adults as homo sapiens or children as offspring? Simply, it isn't necessary for their purposes. The seemingly universal use of the word Fetus is simply the pro-abortion community's influence at dehumanizing an unborn child.

What is the difference between calling an unborn child a fetus and a tattooing a number on a Jew? There isn't one. Both are trying to force a complete lack of recognition of the individual as a human being. It is nothing new that Abortion is America's greatest Holocaust but anyone who recognizes the inherent evil in abortion should refuse to use the word Fetus considering the reason for its use today.

What Gives?

On Monday it was over 70 degrees outside.

Now it is snowing.

Too wierd.

Unfortunately my weight ticker will not be moving this week. It's a shame. I was doing really well too. Last week, however, I began to really struggle with weight loss, became very tired even to the point of wanting a nap even before Cecilia's naptime, and began to get daily headaches in the afternoon and evenings. I had an idea what the culprit might be.

I was right.

The doctor confirmed this morning my thyroid levels were off. After all, the last time it was checked I was 8 months pregnant. I start the new dosage tomorrow and hopefully I will be feeling better and losing more weight by next week.

In some sense it can be nice when the thyroid does this and I can at least throw up my hands and protest it is not my fault. At the same time it really sucks when you are working hard to diet and your pesky thyroid gets in the way.

We got up this morning to this...






And Cecilia wanted to play outside. :::Sigh::: She thought the ice looked like fun. Our deck looks pretty much the same.

How to kick a habit...

I have bitten my nails for over 20 years. In fact I have bitten them for as long as I can remember. And I don't mean I bit them to trim them. It was worse than that. Talk about a habit.

I have not bitten my nails in almost 3 months. I think I can safely say, I have finally kicked the habit. My primary motivation for wanting to stop was that I didn't want either of my daughters to copy me. The funny thing is, I've been motivated before but never succeeded. Not for very long anyway.

The secret?

Have a 2 year old and an infant to keep you busy from waking to collapsing. LOL. Worked for me.

Reading

You may have noticed I added a column on the left of books I have read this year. I thought it might be interesting to see how many and what books I read this year.

I do have two books I am working on now and hope to finish by the end of Lent. I won't add them until I finish them but they are the Letters of Jane Austen and the huge biography of John Paul II.

Two Years in Pictures

Cecilia at 2 weeks

Cecilia at 3 Months

Cecilia at 6 Months

Cecilia at 1 Year

Cecilia at 18 Months

Cecilia at 2 Years

I think He's Happy

Last night Duke and UNC played each other being the #2 and #3 teams.

This morning James said he was going to head downstairs and see if Duke won.

This greeted us...




LOL. I think Grandpa was satisfied with the scores.

GO DUKE!!!

Book meme

I saw this on Melanie's Blog and thought it might be fun...

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

I can't think of one I'd consider myself irrational about. I mean books like The DaVinci Code might have good reviews but I have rational reasons for cringing from it. I read The Jane Austen Book Club even though I cringed from it for fear of what it would try to do to Austen and her books. I was right and didn't like it. I don't think I irrationally cringe from any book - there is always a rational reason.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice), Melanie Hamilton (Gone with the Wind) and Beth March (Little Women). I don't think any other three women could improve me so well even in one afternoon tea.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realize it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

This is tough. I am not easily bored by any book even if parts of it bore me. I've heard The Old Man and the Sea is boring and the Grapes of Wrath are boring and The Once and Future King is boring but I haven't read any of them so they might not be to me. If I could pick any book I'd say the Dictionary. But I don't know which novel.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

Hmm. I'm pretty honest about what I've read or haven't read. I guess Stephen King's Needful Things. I did buy the book and read a little but was so disgusted by the hate back and forth between the Baptists and Catholics I didn't read any more, threw it out, and forever declared my disgust for the book though I do enjoy the film.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realize when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t?

Not that I know of, no.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalize the VIP)

It depends on the VIP. I mean, if he/she was a politician, I'd go for Democracy in America by Tocqueville. If the VIP is a religious leader, I'd opt for the Bible. I think it depends on why the VIP is a VIP and how I could best serve him/her in that regard.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

I guess I'd say French just so I could read all the french authors in their original text. Second choices would be Hebrew and Greek.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

I'd be a stinker and say Where Is Spot? since I read that every other day anyway and could easily breeze through it once a year and then read something new. But, if I wasn't a stinker I'd say Pride and Prejudice, ever my favorite.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

I first learned of Evelyn Waugh on Melanie's site and now plan to read Brideshead Revisited eventually.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

"Floor to ceiling bookshelves are stuffed with everything I've ever wanted to read. Lots of leather bindings, sure. Plenty of first editions, why not? Every book in a series has matching covers. But the most important thing is all those hard to find volumes. A complete Unabridged Oxford English Dictionary is a must. Lots of current atlases and reference books. Books for people of all ages from the smallest babies to the oldest grandmothers. Lots of picture books with the most beautiful artwork. And plenty of copies of the most favorite picture books because you know how babies and toddlers chew through the favorites. All the lovely art books with full color plates I've drooled over and not been able to afford. Books in their original languages as well as the best translations. I could go on all day; but I think you get the drift. There would never be an end to stocking such a library because there will never be an end to the publishing of good books. So that fairy is going to be working hard for the rest of my life and my children's and grand children's lives too while we're at it."
I'm completely with Melanie's answer here on this one. oh I'd love that library and I don't think DH, my dad, my children or I would ever leave it.

Unappealing Appealing

In our diocese, the Archdiocese of Washington, the Bishop's Appeal is done after Christmas but before Lent. Since Lent begins early this year, that means that we have gone straight from Christmas into the Bishop's Appeal. I dread this every year and every year I find it more repulsive. At least when telemarketers call me I can simply say no and ask to be removed from their calling list. But the Bishop thinks it necessary to mail us a petition for money, call us for money, and saturate our Masses for four weeks with pleas for money. It is overkill. The Bishop may very well be asking for money for some very worthwhile things, but asking 6 times across a month's span is ridiculous. Unfortunately, that is not where it ends. In addition to this harassment is the sin of placing himself in God's place.

During the Mass, the priest becomes, quite literally, "another Christ," and he does so in such a special way. The most obvious, of course, is as Christ the Priest at the consecration. But he is also Christ the King in presiding over the celebration of the Mass - he is leading and responsible for the Mass. He is also Christ the Prophet when he reads the Gospel and preaches to the people during his homily. You cannot divide Christ and omit any of these roles - each is essential. And yet every year we lose homilies to pleas for money, and money, and more money. Today we had to listen to an audio recording of the Bishop's plea for money. (At my previous church we even had to watch a video plea by the Bishop.) And then afterwards our pastor takes time to tell everyone how to fill out the card - as if people didn't know to write their address on the address line. Instead of being given insight and encouragement from Christ in a homily, I was plagued for more money. I believe it is simply a sin to deny Christ HIS time to speak through his priest to his people (to what extent the priest lets him is his affair, but my point remains). People go to Mass to praise, serve, adore, learn about and love God. To inject 15 minutes of pleas for money and deny Christ HIS time with his people - often people who really need that time - is just shameful.

Now, I will confess an extra irritation of mine. James and I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old and we were attending the 9am mass with the children's liturgy. Do I need to draw a picture of how many little children were at this mass. And yet, we did not finish with the appeal information and form-filling-out until 40 minutes into mass. We left right after Communion (we rarely do it but both Cecilia and Felicity were on the brink of hysterical crying) and still did not get to the car until 1 hour and 5 minutes after Mass began. It was extra difficult for us (and I expect many other parents) to enjoy Mass when it was prolonged so and I admit myself especially ungrateful for the Bishop making Mass so difficult simply to ask for money yet again.

I saw this on Melanie's Blog and thought it looked like fun...


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE ? Yes. My middle name Rose was after a family friend. I don't think at the time Katherine was after anyone in particular.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I don't remember. I don't think I have in January yet but I know I did in December.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, when I do it well.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes. Cecilia is 11 days away from being 2 years old and Felicity is 2 months old tomorrow.

6. WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If not I'm in trouble.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? No. Not fond of it.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No. I'd love to skydive if I knew I would be okay, but no interest in bungee jumping.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Nut Cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Depends

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sometimes

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their disposition.

15. RED OR PINK? Red. Don't like pink except on little ones.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? My weight

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? James when he is at work. I haven't seen Msgr. Conley in 5 years so it would be nice to see him again.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black skirt - no pants. Black penny loafers.

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Two Chewy Werther's Originals last night.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? "Preparations for Battle" by James Horner from the movie Glory

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Pine trees, cooking tomato sauce, cold crisp air like yesterday, a newborn's skin, vanilla, baking chocolate chip cookies, Cinnamon, Smoked BBQ

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? The Pediatrician's secretary setting up Felicity's 4 month appt.

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Basketball, Football and Baseball

25. HAIR COLOR? brown and gray

26. EYE COLOR? blue

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no

28. FAVORITE FOOD? Italian or TexMex

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? 3:10 to Yuma, the remake. Great acting. Terrible ending.

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Lavender

32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter Winter Winter. I hate when it is hot.

33. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate Soufflé

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Slowly reading Home Comforts, will finish St. Francis de Sales' Thy Will Be Done today. Going to start Harris' Red Dragon tonight.

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A Golden Retriever just like my sweetie Biscuit.

38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Fire crackling, thunderstorms, Mom when Cecilia says it (she usually still calls me Daddy), Wind blowing through the trees, An orchestra in an old church, my daughter's laugh, a cat's purr

39. BEATLES OR ROLLING STONES? I guess Beatles, but I only like about 3 of their songs. Doesn't say much for the Stones, huh?

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Athens, Greece

41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I'm good at organization and can be obsessive about it.

42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? southern New York

The Magnificence of Marriage

I have often heard of the priesthood and religious vocations spoken of by priests and religious with great praise and recommendation. And I don't blame them. These vocations are amazing and honorable and beautiful and to be celebrated. Our Pastor did not preach on the priesthood or religious vocations on Sunday but it is fair since he ignored families on Holy Family Sunday as well, though that doesn't make it right. Unfortunately, in my experience, marriage is often left trailing behind, only preached with regard to what the married should be doing and rarely acclaimed for its beauty and honor and magnificence. James and I were saying that we think the last good homily we heard on marriage was at our wedding (much thanks Father Caulfield!) Why? Well, certainly it is easier for priests to preach praise for their own vocation as they live it and not marriage. But I think the fact that marriage is more common and there has been a lack of acceptance of religious and priestly vocations is a bigger culprit. So I wanted to say some things about the vocation of marriage.

I am a wife. I chose to live the rest of my life with one man. I chose to love him for the rest of our lives. I chose to honor him, help him, care for him as no one else does or can. In other words, I chose to lay down my life for him so that I became an Us.

I am a mother. Because my husband and I freely choose to lay down our lives for each other, God blesses our love with the blessing of children. God exaults us to share in a power only He has - the power to create a human being. A person. A person who did not exist before (except in God's own mind) and will exist for eternity is created by the three of us. And even after death in the halls of Heaven, we will always be that person's mother and father. Through the creation of this tiny person, we become a family and our family represents the Trinitarian God and His Church to the world.

I am another Christ. I must be another Christ to my husband, to my children, and to the community I live in. I must exemplify His virtue, His purity, His wisdom and His Charity. I must provide a perfect mirror image of what God's love is, especially to my children who look to me to meet every one of their needs as well as wants.

I am the Church. I must mirror my Husband and support him and encourage others to do so. I must nurture my children through proper instruction, reception of the Sacraments, and education. I must make sure all my children are properly prepared to receive the sacraments and grow to love the Church as their own.

I am a Homemaker. I must provide a clean, well-kept, and cosy home for my family to live, work, pray and play. I dust, vacuum, polish, wipe, scrub, mop, sweep, plant, organize and wash. I launder, washing bedding, clothes, towels, and other odds and ends. I must cook (I'm still working on learning that one as well as I would like) providing healthy, hearty and nourishing meals so my family will be healthy and strong but also enjoy eating and being home.

I am a teacher. I must teach my children how to walk, how to talk, how to have good hygiene and take care of themselves. I will be homeschooling teaching them math, literature, history, art, and many other subjects. I must teach them proper manners and how to behave appropriately at the table, at home and outside the home. And most importantly I must teach them theology that they understand their faith as well as live it.

I am a Guardian. I am responsible for the salvation of not only my soul, but the soul of my husband and the souls of my children. I must do everything I can to preserve their innocence, purity and virtue and foster these constantly.

I am called to do all this and do it joyfully! It is quite a bit of responsibility and certainly no easier than any other vocation. I don't get any days off or any vacation time - my husband and children need me live my vocation faithfully all day every day. Wives and Mothers, and those who will become them, need just as much support and encouragement as those who will become priests or religious and perhaps more so if marriage is seen as the more common and easier vocation. Maybe, just maybe, if priests dedicated more time to preaching the perfection that marriage and family can be and encouraging and supporting their parishioners in this endeavor, they would hardly need to preach for religious or priestly vocations because there would be a plethora of them from solid, faithful families.

Marriage has its own unique beauty and magnificence that is all to often ignored or hidden beneath laziness or self-centeredness. Am I a perfect wife, mother, Christ, Church, homemaker, teacher and guardian of souls? HA! Far from it. But God is most merciful and in just striving to be those things as perfectly as I can it is easy to see that majesty shining.

The Silence of the Lambs

I remember when I was 12 asking to see the film. My Poppop and dad kept raising the age at which I would be permitted to see it until it got up into the lower 40s. I "triumphed" and saw it when I was 12. It is a good film. But I never read the book until this past week or so. As good as a movie the film is, the book is even better and for two primary reasons. First, in the book, Jack Crawford has a lot more to him and his relationship with Clarice is much more significant. He becomes very much a dear friend as well as a father figure to her. This of course adds depth and emotion to the story not present in the film.

The second reason I find even more interesting. In the book, Buffalo Bill would let his victims go in his darkened basement and, using his night vision goggles, literally hunt them. It is reiterated repeatedly in the book that Dr. Lector seeks only to amuse himself. Once he ceases to be amused, he either switches off or becomes violent. Clarice Starling seeks out plight and hunts those who cause it. All three of the characters are hunting or seeking something. Bill's hunt ends in his death. Lector's search ends in exile as a fugitive. Starling's is the only one that ends in the silence of the screaming lambs. Only Starling's search ends in the blessed silence and peace. Bill's hunt is over. Lector's search will continue but only as others search for him. Starling's will be the hardest to maintain because she will have to earn it over and over again, as Lector observes, because there will always be plight. Yet her search will always have the greatest reward.

This theme and subtle point made me wonder if the author was just a teeny bit asking the reader, "What is it you seek and what will your end be?"

Three Years Ago...

It is funny to think that 3 years ago today I was excited, tense, anxious, nervous and all smiles in seeing friends and family and taking care of last minute preparations for our wedding day. It seems so long ago. Tomorrow, at approx. 1:30pm EST we will have been married 3 years. James and I actually became friends 11 years ago this past week. While I was lamenting having my wisdom teeth removed, college applications and a minor fender bender.

I never would have imagined that in three years we have had two beautiful daughters.

Cecilia is a very active and intelligent 23 month old. She laughs, runs and plays with delight. She is learning words all the time and has begun potty training. She absolutely loves to be read to and loves her fruit and veggies. She will pass up cookies for an apple. She likes to sing and loves her baby sister and likes giving her kisses (I think Felicity gets more than we do). She is a beautiful and happy little girl.

Felicity is only 6 weeks old but already impresses us with her improvements in head control and hearty nursing and long hours sleeping. She smiles and rarely cries. She likes to nap in her swing and loves being held. She, unlike her sister, likes to be swaddled and likes looking at the world around her. She is laid back and generally calm but is eager to be more mobile.

Two people. Two girls. Two human beings that did not exist 3 years ago are alive and well today already making the world a better place. Two children make us smile and laugh and light up our lives as no one ever has. Imagine if they weren't here. I can't. They make life so much more complete and full in a way that no exploded diaper or toppled plate or temper tantrum can undo. Two little blessings we could not imagine our lives without. God has been very good.

Holy Family Homily

I didn't get a homily on the Holy Family or even family yesterday so I was grateful to find Fr. Martin Fox's online. I had to share:



SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2007

What does your Holy Family look like? (Sunday homily)
This time of year, we all see the Hallmark-Card images
of family that are hard—
no, make that impossible!—to live up to.

So it was with my family, growing up;
probably yours, too, I imagine.
One of the best things I ever did
was to accept the reality of my family’s brokenness,
instead of the ideal that never was.

Speaking of “best things,”
my father says one of the best things he did,
as a husband, was to take mom out for a date
every Saturday night.

This goes with something Pope John Paul the first said:
“Parents begin to educate their children
by their love for each other.”
This is one reason why,
when married people come to confession,
I sometimes give this penance:
“Do something romantic for your spouse.”

But what the pope said calls to mind
something truly amazing:
God, in becoming a true human being,
an infant at Mary’s breast, growing up in a home,
learned about love from Mary and Joseph!

This is the mystery of the Incarnation:
God becoming like us in all things but sin.
He whom all heaven could not contain,
into Mary’s womb came to dwell.
The all-powerful Creator became a defenseless child!
The Ancient of Days learned about human life and love
from watching Joseph and Mary.

And you worry about what you teach your children!

On this Feast of the Holy Family,
let’s acknowledge some things:
Sometimes, in church, we talk so much about married life,
we neglect those who are single,
or those whose marriages ended in deep pain.

We often don’t know what to say.
Well, we could start with, “I’m not going to judge you;
and I do want to welcome you!”

Some people don’t “fit the mold”;
some can’t marry as God and nature define marriage.
It’s not our place to redefine marriage;
but it is certainly our place—indeed,
it’s absolutely our obligation before God—
to embrace everyone without mockery,
without ugliness, as Christ in our midst!

We hold up the Holy Family as an ideal;
but Christ knows well how “dysfunctional”
our families can be.
That’s why he came to be part of our human family!

You and I know about messages in society
and the media that threaten family life.

Let me say this:
Father Tom and Father Ang and I, and this parish—
we want to help!
Please tell us what we can do to help more!

You and I are also painfully aware of family troubles
we don’t like to talk about:
Alcoholism or other addictions;
anger, emotional abuse or physical violence;
depression or other emotional problems.

Yes, Christ took a beating on the Cross;
but he never inflicted such abuse on anyone—
and neither should we!

To make matters worse, some of these issues
aren’t dealt with openly,
but instead become shameful secrets,
wounds that never heal.


Don’t we call this the season of Light?
Christ offers his Light to heal these wounds.
Will we let him?

Christ, who came to carry the Cross
of all our human sinfulness,
will give you courage and walk beside each of us
on our own Way of the Cross. Will we let him?

Our second reading talks about the role
each of us has in our families.

Christ is the child among us—should he witness
parents berating and demeaning each other?

Christ the teenager: we have no idea what music he liked.
But do you think he would have tolerated music
that demeans women and exults violence?

Christ was a worker;
but he did not make work an excuse to neglect his family.

Christ the man saw women as Images of God,
not as servants, or imaginary partners on the Internet.

Christ was strong enough to bite his tongue;
he didn’t need fists or words to prove himself.

Men, are you and I “man enough”
to follow the leadership of Jesus Christ?

And Christ the healer never shamed anyone he met;
not the prostitute, not the tax-collector,
not the leper or the alien.

And he will never shame nor despise any of us
for our sins, our wounds, our secrets…
whatever they may be.

Yes, our families are far from the ideal.
But they, too, can be “holy families.”
Not because they look like a Christmas card,
but because we let Christ bring courage,
and healing, and hope:

Not to the families of our dreams,
but to the real family life we actually have.

Baby-Sitting Disservice at Mass

Our parish offers a baby-sitting service during mass on Sunday. It has been advertised in the bulletin and encouraged by our pastor. Now, this is not the children's liturgy where children sit with their parents through most of mass and leave only for the readings and homily. For the baby-sitting service, parents drop their children off at a separate room under the rectory, go to mass, and pick up their children after mass.

Now, I'm not condemning parents who use this service - after all, our pastor has been encouraging parents to use it, so they may not have a second thought about it.

However, James and I have a grave objection to the so-called "service." Since the parents go to mass, it is safe to assume, if not all, at least the vast majority of these children are baptized. And at their baptism their parents promised to raise their children in the Roman Catholic faith and doing this means attending mass. The only exemptions I know of from going to mass are for health reasons or if one is truly incapable of getting to one. There is no exemption for age. Even if they are too young to understand the mass, that does not mean they do not benefit from attending mass, hearing the hymns, seeing others pray, or receiving grace from simply being in the presence of Christ. This "service" is not only a disservice to the children but is in fact the breaking of the promise their parents made at their baptism!

As for why a priest would encourage this disservice and breaking of a promise made to God, my only hope is that he does not realize what he himself is doing.

Atheistic Hypocracy

The website of the Connecticut Valley Atheists reads:

"The mission of Connecticut Valley Atheists is to promote to the public a positive perception of Atheists and Atheism. CVA intends to accomplish this through community activities, charitable works, and sponsorship of educational events which demonstrate that Atheism is an ethical and meaningful way of life. We intend to seek out and encourage like-minded people to join us and contribute to our efforts."

Yet they have erected a sign under the pretense of celebrating the winter solstice with a picture of the World Trade Center Towers and the words "IMAGINE NO RELIGION." I say, "under the pretense" because since when did celebrating the winter solstice necessitate the absence of religion? It doesn't. And when was the sign erected? On December 1st - the day before the First Sunday of Advent. And this is supposed to promote a "positive perception of Atheists and Atheism"??? Spare me. If someone wants to be an atheist, I recognize their free will to do so but don't put up public displays against religion for the Advent and Christmas seasons and claim you just want to encourage a positive perception of yourselves because such an excuse makes no sense.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936588/posts

Favorite Passages from Spe Salvi

4.When the Letter to the Hebrews says that Christians here on earth do not have a permanent homeland, but seek one which lies in the future (cf. Heb 11:13-16; Phil 3:20), this does not mean for one moment that they live only for the future: present society is recognized by Christians as an exile; they belong to a new society which is the goal of their common pilgrimage and which is anticipated in the course of that pilgrimage.

23.There is no doubt, therefore, that a “Kingdom of God” accomplished without God—a kingdom therefore of man alone—inevitably ends up as the “perverse end” of all things...

28.Our relationship with God is established through communion with Jesus—we cannot achieve it alone or from our own resources alone. The relationship with Jesus, however, is a relationship with the one who gave himself as a ransom for all (cf. 1 Tim 2:6). Being in communion with Jesus Christ draws us into his “being for all”; it makes it our own way of being. He commits us to live for others, but only through communion with him does it become possible truly to be there for others, for the whole.

32.When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me[25]. When I have been plunged into complete solitude ...; if I pray I am never totally alone.

33.Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched. ... To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well.

34. For prayer to develop this power of purification, it must on the one hand be something very personal, an encounter between my intimate self and God, the living God. On the other hand it must be constantly guided and enlightened by the great prayers of the Church and of the saints, by liturgical prayer, in which the Lord teaches us again and again how to pray properly. ... We become capable of the great hope, and thus we become ministers of hope for others. Hope in a Christian sense is always hope for others as well. It is an active hope, in which we struggle to prevent things moving towards the “perverse end”. It is an active hope also in the sense that we keep the world open to God. Only in this way does it continue to be a truly human hope.

35.Only the great certitude of hope that my own life and history in general, despite all failures, are held firm by the indestructible power of Love, and that this gives them their meaning and importance, only this kind of hope can then give the courage to act and to persevere. Certainly we cannot “build” the Kingdom of God by our own efforts—what we build will always be the kingdom of man with all the limitations proper to our human nature. The Kingdom of God is a gift, and precisely because of this, it is great and beautiful, and constitutes the response to our hope.

37.It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.

39.Let us say it once again: the capacity to suffer for the sake of the truth is the measure of humanity. Yet this capacity to suffer depends on the type and extent of the hope that we bear within us and build upon.

42.A world which has to create its own justice is a world without hope.No one and nothing can answer for centuries of suffering.

43.God now reveals his true face in the figure of the sufferer who shares man's God-forsaken condition by taking it upon himself. This innocent sufferer has attained the certitude of hope: there is a God, and God can create justice in a way that we cannot conceive, yet we can begin to grasp it through faith. Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh[33]. There is justice[34]. There is an “undoing” of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright. ... The purely individual need for a fulfilment that is denied to us in this life, for an everlasting love that we await, is certainly an important motive for believing that man was made for eternity; but only in connection with the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word does the necessity for Christ's return and for new life become fully convincing.

44. The image of the Last Judgement is not primarily an image of terror, but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope. ... God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our hope. And in his justice there is also grace. This we know by turning our gaze to the crucified and risen Christ. Both these things—justice and grace—must be seen in their correct inner relationship. Grace does not cancel out justice. It does not make wrong into right. It is not a sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done on earth ends up being of equal value.

47.The judgement of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice—the crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together—judgement and grace—that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1).

49.The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way.

God Knew What He Was Doing

I frequent a few message boards including Catholics ones and ones for moms who were/are pregnant and with small children. One of the hotter topics on the latter pertains to optional medical intervention to bring about labor and delivery before it would otherwise naturally come about. This would include unnecessary c-sections, breaking the bag of waters and using drugs such as pitocin,cervidil, etc.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I understand there are certainly times when a c-section is necessary or drugs are needed to speed along labor and delivery like when an unborn baby's heartrate drops and does not rebound or when mom's blood pressure goes through the roof. Obviously those are things that should not happen simply to give birth.

But I have been in awe of the number of women choosing to have their labor induced or have a c-section simply because they want their baby born on a specific day or because they are tired of the inconvenience of being pregnant. Certainly pregnancy is not all ease and comfort and that last month is generally far from it. But it seems like nowadays there is no sense of the natural order of things. Pregnancy is not a disease. Labor and childbirth are natural processes. "Full-term" is anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks. Some women are scared into induction by medical professionals though ultrasounds. They will be told at 36 weeks that their baby is measuring 7 1/2 pounds and if they go full term they will have huge babies and no one tells them that those late ultrasounds can be off by 1-2 pounds! I've even heard doctors pushing inductions because "no one wants to be in the hospital on (such-and-such) holiday" which really translates into "I don't want to have to deliver you on a holiday."

And of course most of these women do not realize that, like almost all medical interventions, there are risks involved - determined or undetermined - they opt for risks that they might not have even had to worry about.

Where has our respect for nature gone? You'd think with all the talk about being green and driving hybrids and eating organic and saving the planet, people would be MORE aware of nature and the natural order and yet it seems to be the opposite. God knew what he was doing and the baby won't stay in forever. Moms and dads and God chose when the baby got in there. God and the baby should choose when he/she comes out.