Wai Too Catholic

Bible Study, Lent

1.  Today at Mass, as usual, during the consecration of the gifts, I was watching them.  (As if I’m going to *see* them change into the Body and Blood — I know, I’m silly, but I still think it’s fascinating.)  As I’m watching, I was thinking back to (here’s where I’m not sure exactly where I read it) when they say that if you look at the face of God directly, you will die, and how everyone was afraid of that.

Why were they afraid?  And why would God have them die?

My unofficial hypothesis that I thought of:
a.  ‘Seeing the face of God’ may = ‘knowing God’ — as in truly knowing, not knowing about.
b.  ‘Dying’ = ‘going home to God’
Thus,
c.  If you ‘see God,’ all of Him, and truly know Him, then what attachment would you have to this world?

None.

So, then, it makes sense that you might detach from everything here, and just go right home to Him in heaven.  Isn’t that the point of everything?  To go home?  Then, ‘dying’ after ‘seeing the face of God’ isn’t some bad thing, but actually something that we might want, or should want.

Just in case anyone wanted to know what I think about during Mass….  🙂

2.  This one got me odd looks from my coworker.  I just came into the church last year, baptized and everything, and have really fallen in love.  So, at work, they are coming to think that I am some type of freakish uber-Catholic.  And I’m okay with that.  I don’t mind being full of zeal for the right things.  Even if they think that I’m odd.  I do tend to get carried away with things — I know this.

So, what got me the odd looks was my next Big Idea.  (Everybody say, “Uh, oh.  What now?)  I have this clothesline in my backyard that my dad built a while back.  Well, one of the poles fell down and it’s been years since it was actually used as a clothesline.  So the only thing remaining in my backyard is a …  you got it … large wooden cross.

What are you going to do, Jenn?  Again at Mass, earlier in the week, I got this idea:  I am going to ‘dress’ my cross for Lent.  I am going to go to the fabric store and get a length of purple fabric and drape it like the crucifix is draped in the chapel.

So, am I completely nuts, or is this a good idea?

PAs Crack Me Up

Humor of the Day

Disembodied voice:  “Jennnnnn….  What up?”

Jenn to Bill:  “Learning about Luke today.”

Bill:  “Earning your loot today?”

Jenn:  “Ha!  I earn my loot every day!  No, ‘learning about Luke today’.  The Gospel of Luke.  About the kingdom and how to pray.”

Bill:  “Hail Mary!”

Cara:  “Amen!”

Prayer Request/In Memoriam

Prayer/Prayer Requests

Today, on the way in to work, one of my coworkers was noting a particularly icy patch.  She said that at least 8 people were off in the ditch.  One guy was out of his car, trying to push himself out.  As she watched, someone slid off the road and ran directly into the man.  She tried to stop to help him, but her car was starting to slide.  She did note that 3 other cars were able to stop to offer assistance.  Please pray for this man.  And for all the travelers out there in this weather. 

Update:  There is a news article about the weather which mentions this accident.

This story is particularly striking for me.  Soon after I left enlisted service to go to U of M, I got a call over spring break from one of my best friends.  She was stationed on the Ike, an aircraft carrier.  Also on the carrier was a mutual friend of ours, René, with whom we went to Nuke school with in Florida.  René had just returned from a 6 month deployment and was on his way to the airport to fly back to Texas to spend his leave visiting with his family.  He usually asks [my friend who called] for a ride, but on this day, he caught a ride with someone else.  On the way, they got a flat tire and pulled off into the breakdown lane.  René, being the sweet person he is, went around back to change the tire.  I think it was raining, although now, I am not certain if that is a correct memory.  A girl ran off the road and hit René, pinning him between the two cars bumpers.  He was taken to the hospital, where they had to amputate both of his legs.  He died of shock that evening.

I pray that you are home with God.  We love you, Néné.

How to Tell When You Go to Mass Too Frequently…

Humor of the Day

1.  When you start choosing sticky notes at work based on liturgical color.

2.  When you start singing hymns at the office — most especially when you start singing parts of Mass around the office.

3.  When you start feeling more comfortable when things are in triplicate.

Note:  These may not be indicative of Mass frequency for those who work in, say, a parish or Archdiocetical office.

Middle Name Meme via Kasia

Meme

I’ve been tagged by Kasia for the Middle Name Meme.
First the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don’t have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother’s maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged.)

A – Amused.  I am highly amused by most things.  Believe me, things are very funny inside my head.  I have a very delicate sense of humor that can be set off at the slightest little thing.

N – Naughty.  Okay, probably shouldn’t be admitting to that on a Catholic blog, but hey, it’s there.  I have a big, wide streak of punk in me.  I am mischievous and spunky and tend to get into trouble.  I guess that’s what happens when you have been raised by adolescent men.

N – Natatorial.  I love swimming.  Put me in the water and watch me never come out.  I’ve fallen asleep in the pool.  I like to swim out as far as possible in the ocean, until I am completely exhausted, then turn around and try to make it back.  Pretty S-M-R-T, eh?  🙂  And, you haven’t swum in the ocean until you are over your head.  This is how I get tan in the summer, because I certainly would not be able to stay in one place long enough to lay out and tan.  Perhaps this is why I joined the Navy.  🙂

E – Exuberant.  At times, I can get so excited to overflowing that I am like a runaway reaction.  I just keep building and building until I am completely out-of-control in my silliness.  I tend to need other people to grab me and sit on me to temper me.  Little things tend to turn into big productions — no, really, they do!  🙂

I tag:  Donny (who can leave his answer in the comment box), Karen (who can do the same), Lindsay (ditto), and Stacy (see previous).

Something to Ponder

Neat Things I Didn't Author

From Christopher West’s book, “Theology of the Body Explained”:

In our day and age, the desire for youthfulness and beauty has spawned its own religion.  This false “cult of the body” is saturated with a million and one “sacraments” that promise the “grace” of remaining forever young and attractive.  Thousands of beauty aids promise skin without spot or wrinkle or “any such thing.”  Thousands of creams, soaps, scrubs, and medications pledge to free us from our blemishes.  Thousands of other products — from power shakes to thigh-busters — guarantee to reshape our metabolisms and our figures in order to restore our shapeliness and youthful vigor.  Untwist this distorted cult of bodily youth and beauty, and what do we have?  Our desire for holiness; our desire for sanctification, for purity and innocence; our desire for heaven, where we will share in the radiant beauty and eternal youth of Christ’s Bride.

Questions of the Day

Question of the Day

1.  Since it took me 4 hours to get home from work yesterday due to the weather, I completely missed the Parish Mission.  There was to be a soup dinner (outside of my penance anyway, that I was not planning on going to) and distribution of the ashes prior to the mission.  My friend and I texted about the whole late/traffic situation, and she was worried that I was missing getting ashes (she didn’t know that I had gotten them at morning Mass at OLGC).  So, she offered, “I’ll share my ashes with you!”

a.  How would that be logistically possible?

b.  Is that legit?

2.  Raging neophyte debate here:  when you are fasting, instructions from the Archdiocese’s website say, “The law of fasting allows one full meal per day, with two lighter meals. The quantity of food taken at the two lighter meals should not exceed the quantity taken at the full meal. The drinking of ordinary liquids does not break the fast.”  The question is, I was under the impression that you were only supposed to have the one meal, and that the two smaller meals (collations) were only to be consumed if [medically] necessary — for example if you were ill, elderly or diabetic.  So, which interpretation is correct?

Ash Wednesday

Lent, Uncategorized

Here are a couple of pictures from the first day of Jenn’s cooking experiment, otherwise known as her Lenten penance.

First, there was the trip to Crate and Barrel on Sunday to buy some more dishes, so that people would have a place to put their food — usually a useful thing:

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Then, I had to get the food. So, after work tonight I was on my way to the Parish Mission. However, since the weather was not great, it took me about 4 hours to get from my desk at work to the exit ramp in Troy. So, I completely missed the Parish Mission, and headed directly to the store for groceries.  Here is my loot that I grabbed from Kroger:

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And, finally, here is the end product:

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I thought it was pretty good. Even though I modified the recipe and didn’t have a proper veggie steamer — but, we made due with a pot of boiling water and a plastic colander. It turns out that doing things this way will take longer, since there is no cover to keep the steam in. Karen came over, but had to leave before dinner. I gave her a portion to take home with her and asked her to share what she thought. Hahaha! My first “test” with the “food critics!”