A Special Trip

March 18, 2014ArtCadyLy

I heard that Kylie had painted a watercolor that was chosen to be displayed at the local library and decided that I’d make a special trip out to see it. It’s a great honor to be chosen, and I’m very proud of her.

I got a chance to drive out after work. The workers at the main desk did not know that children’s artwork was being displayed, but pointed me to one of the circulation desks in the youth section of the library. Art from the elementary and middle schools were displayed just beyond this desk.

This shot couldn’t fit all of the art. I love how colorful it is.

Here is Kylie’s watercolor:

Very beautiful. I hope her Mom or Dad frames it.

Congrats, Ky! You did a great job! I love you!

O God Beyond All Praising

March 18, 2014MusicCadyLy

I had a hymn running through my head for over 12 hours. And, sadly, it wasn’t one that I particularly enjoyed. So I texted Fr. Anonymous and asked him to recommend a better song, STAT! 🙂 This was the one that he suggested:

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

The flower of earthly splendor
in time must surely die,
its fragile bloom surrender
to you, the Lord most high;
but hidden from all nature
th’eternal seed is sown–
though small in mortal stature,
to heaven’s garden grown:
for Christ the man from heaven
from death has set us free,
and we through him are given
the final victory!

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we’II triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.

I found an acceptable rendition on YouTube, and downloaded a better version from Amazon Music.

What’s even better is that I think this hymn is one that is commonly sung at Chrism Mass! One of my favorite Masses! So, points and double-points for Fr. Anonymous, as this is perfect! 🙂

[On a side note, a co-worker IM’ed me to say that the people one the phone were driving him crazy. I replied with the YouTube link and said, “This will help.”]

Destroy All the Wicked

March 18, 2014Bible StudyCadyLy

I’m reading through the Psalms for Lent, and there are passages here that call for the utter destruction of one’s enemies. Some people have had a hard time reconciling this kind of destruction with an all-good God. Theories have been suggested that he was responding in this way due to the culture of the times.

But perhaps there’s another way to look at it…

Break the arms of the wicked and depraved; make them account for their crimes; let none of them survive. –Ps 10:15

Suppose God changes their hearts such that they aren’t wicked and depraved any longer. Wouldn’t that also be “destroying the wicked”? The “wicked and depraved” would no longer survive (although the reformed and repentant person/people would).

One, Two, Skip a Few…

March 18, 2014LentCadyLy

This seems to describe my best intentions when it comes to my spiritual life. Okay. Really, my life in general. I find it so hard to hold to something that I will do every single day. I suppose if I had a habit of checking my calendar and to-do list every night before I went to bed, I might plan my time better throughout the day. I’ll make that my Lenten Challenge of the Day.

I have my Bible on me, so yay! Jenn: 1
I was supposed to start praying the Rosary (at least a decade) yesterday, but didn’t. Jenn: -1
Lenten Boot Camp, I didn’t do the readings/tasks for 3/8, 3/10, 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3/16, 3/17. Jenn: -9 Ouch!
Updating my blog, I’m behind on 3 posts. Jenn: -3

So, by my tally (which is completely arbitrary and meaningless), I have -12 points.
At least God is merciful. And I’m trying to emulate Him. So, I’ll allow myself permission to catch up, and that will be okay. 🙂

Today’s Rosary has been prayed, for the sake of our candidates and catechumens who will be joining us at the Lord’s Banquet on Easter.

My constant Lenten sacrifice — No Starbucks — continues to go well. How is your Lent going so far?

Peaceful Sunday

March 16, 2014Critical Mass, LentCadyLy

The day started with me waking up snug and cozy in bed. I had the space heater running, so for once my bedroom was about 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. Since Sundays are feast days, I celebrated by hitting the snooze button a few times (as opposed to those other days, where I … also hit the snooze button multiple times). I had a morning shift at work today, so I got ready fairly quickly and headed out. Finally, I remembered to take my Bible (and a book I plan on finishing) with me. It’s another one of the things I’m working on for Lent — bringing a Bible with me wherever I go. An actual Bible, not the electronic version(s) that I have on my phone.

I got a quick (not-so-healthy) breakfast on the way to work. I stopped at OLGC because I had to leave a message that I would not be available to help at the 12:00 pm Mass, as I had picked up this shift after the schedule had been made. I went to go back to my car, since I was running short on time, but stopped in the hall and turned around. I went to the Eucharistic chapel behind the altar and spent a few minutes kneeling in front of the Tabernacle, praising and thanking God and asking Him for help to do His will throughout my day. I also prayed for my priests. I had such a sense of peace and joy. I didn’t want to leave. Alas. As I was nearing work, the sky had changed from a dull grey to a cloud speckled blue, with a lovely sunrise. This is the view from the parking lot of my building:

As today’s a Sunday, I don’t have any particular Lent-y thing planned, but I did snag a copy of the bulletin from church. Grab a copy here, it’s a good read. 🙂 I’ll share a bit of the articles that grabbed me:

Our lives are not subject to fate or circumstances, they’re not in the hands of sicknesses, they’re not at the beck and call of whatever forces out there continually shake and challenge us. Our lives are in God’s hands. Always. All the time. No matter what. — Fr. John Riccardo

The whole article was good, but this section is something that is great for me to be continually reminded of.

Fr. Steve talked about the benefits of having some discipline in our daily lives. He offers some tips from St. Alphonsus Liguori’s Rule:

When you first wake up, praise God and pray.
Attend daily Mass, every day if possible, but at least once a week, especially during Lent.
Visit the Blessed Sacrament, daily if possible.
Examine your conscience before bed every night.

Fr. Clement is perhaps my favorite bulletin author. (Sorry, Fr. John!) This week’s article speaks about dealing with temptations. Two things in particular spoke to me today:

Engage in battle against spiritual evils, armed with the weapons of self-restraint.

[Know] how important it is for us to know, to love, to be familiar with God’s word. God’s word will not only teach us, but will also guide and defend us against the fiery darts of the evil one.

In addition, he ended with this:

I love James! So excited for next week’s bulletin!

Finally, I was speaking with a co-worker yesterday, and he mentioned that he and his wife were looking for a school for their kids. I immediately offered, “You should enroll them in our school!” not even knowing if he was Catholic. 🙂 And today, there is an ad for our school in the bulletin! I hadn’t really noticed an ad for the school being in the bulletin before, so this must be some sort of “coincidence”. I cut the ad out of the bulletin and left it on my co-worker’s desk. 🙂 Maybe we’ll have a couple new Crusaders soon!

All-in-all, it’s been a good day so far. I look forward to Mass after work, and perhaps I’ll stick around for Evening Praise & Worship. 🙂

Have a blessed day!

Simple Saturday

March 15, 2014Critical Mass, LentCadyLy

I had a ten hour day at work, so I didn’t have any elaborate plans.

After work, because a friend of mine doesn’t have an Adoration chapel anywhere close to her, and because I have at least 5 that I can think of on the drive home, I visited Jesus and prayed Evening Prayer.

What else does a girl need? 🙂

Stay Strong and Live with Passion

March 14, 2014Critical Mass, LentCadyLy

I wish I could embed video on this blog. My Lenten challenge for today is to share an inspirational video. There was a challenge in finding a good inspirational video, but I think I have a winner:

Stay Strong & Live With Passion from Di Fruscia Photography on Vimeo.

It incorporates some of my favorite things: travel, photography/videography, and living your life with passion. I love my life. Sometimes it’s difficult, often it is messy, but I love it. And I love that I love it.

I really want to get back into taking more photos. I have been sorely remiss of late. Perhaps I will make a photo walk part of my Lenten challenge….

Today, a friend of mine gifted me with “The Joy of the Gospel” by Pope Francis! I can’t wait to read it!

And when I got home, I made some frozen fish sticks for dinner… They were DELICIOUS! Yay, Lenten Fridays!

A Few Changes…

March 13, 2014Critical Mass, LentCadyLy

I created a little booklet for myself this Lent, containing my basic plan, the Lenten boot camp outline, various readings for the boot camp, and a section where I have a journal page for each day. For the past week or so, I had a couple sheets of paper shoved into my booklet: a schedule for one of my parishes of significant dates and events during Lent, Passion Week and Easter; and an article on the single vocation. I had meant to read and comment on the article and perhaps do a blog post about it, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. And the schedule was for reference. Finally this afternoon, I decided to put them into my booklet, scrapbook style. I might as well keep everything in one place and keep it as neat as possible. 🙂 What do you think?

Sorry if today’s post in a little choppy. Of course, that’s rather how my day went, so… accurate. 🙂

We are invited today to pray the Memorare, as the Blessed Virgin is she that was foretold as the one crushing the head of the serpent.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

I was reading in John today for my Bible study, and this verse really spoke to me today. I can’t say that I had any sort of theological epiphany, but it made me feel secure, warm, and loved — and that’s a great feeling. 🙂

He loved His own in the world, and He loved them to the end. — John 13:1b

This one reminded me of someone I pray for regularly:

If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.

How hard is this? Especially when a loved one dies. We want to keep them with us, but that is really a selfish thing to want. To truly love someone means that you want what is best for them. And what could be better for a person than to be partaking of the Divine Life in Heaven?

Today must totally be about the single vocation, because God graced this blog post by Seashell Nell in my lap today. Coincidence? I think not.

Michigan “Rape Insurance” Bill Passes Into Law

March 12, 2014Critical Mass, Right to Life IssuesCadyLy

The Huffington Post published this article in December. Today, a friend posted the article, questioning why anyone would have voted for this, and stating that it would cause rape victims to have back-alley abortions or to leave babies in dumpsters.

“Rape Insurance” is just inflammatory language. Basically, it says that abortions are not a covered benefit unless the mother’s life is in danger from the pregnancy. It gives an option for people to buy an abortion rider, if they want the option of having health insurance that *does* cover abortion. This makes sense to me, since I don’t personally see abortion as morally licit. This way, I don’t have to pay into a group policy for something that is against my moral code, but the people who do want this option can pay into that pool for the added coverage. Just like paying extra money to have additional things covered for my car or house insurance.

I think the issue about what would happen to rape victims if they didn’t have abortions covered in their health insurance is a separate issue. Is it covered now? I think in a lot of cases it is not, which is why people who desire abortions, even if they have health insurance, seek them out from out-of-hospital locations like Planned Parenthood, where you pay a set fee for the procedure. So, if it is not covered now, having it not covered in the future isn’t going to change anything.

As far as back-alley abortions go, I think there needs to be more support programs out there and better awareness of the ones that *are* in place to give guidance, counseling and options to women who find themselves in crisis pregnancies. No one should feel so desperate as to seek out unqualified individuals to perform any kind of medical/surgical procedure on them. Think about it this way, if you *really need* to have a suspicious mole biopsied and you don’t have insurance, there’s other ways of getting this paid for besides going to someone in a “back-alley” to get it done. You can cause great physical harm to yourself by not having proper medical care and/or proper follow-up.

In regards to the “leaving babies in dumpsters” issue, there’s a policy in place that anyone can anonymously leave babies at any police station, firehouse, or hospital. No reason to be inhumane. Again, perhaps greater awareness of this policy is necessary.

With everything regarding these “touchy” subjects, I think great compassion is in order. On both sides of the issue, we should seek out understanding and solutions. There’s too much blame and hatred in the world already. People who disagree with me are not “evil”; I am not “evil”.

That is all. For now. 🙂

—–

Okay. One more thing. If you are talking about rape… I get that making people pay more money for coverage for certain categories can be a slippery slope. For example, as my friend kindly pointed out to me, a cancer rider or a diabetes rider. This would mean that I, as a diabetic, would have to pay more for my health care because I had this condition, and that this would be unfair, and that having insurance in any case means that to an extent you are paying into a pool and are paying for treatments and medicine and care for people for conditions that you personally may not have. So the best thing is to just pay it, because you *might* need cancer coverage or diabetes coverage or what not, and plus, it’s the humane thing to do — to not put an extra burden on people arbitrarily because they have a particular disease or other. And I totally agree with that.

If abortion didn’t involve killing an innocent life (the baby), I would absolutely be for letting abortion coverage be a part of our healthcare insurance policies. However, there is currently not a way to make a woman “un-pregnant” without killing the baby, and morally, you can’t justify that death, even in the case of rape.

Batter My Heart

March 11, 2014Critical Mass, Lent, Neat Things I Didn't AuthorCadyLy

This was the assigned reading for Sunday for my Lenten boot camp. One week in and I’m already falling behind. *sigh* But the point is continual progress. I’m going to fall a lot more, but if I can pick myself up and keep going, then I’m going to count it as a win. 🙂

Batter my heart, three person’d God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee,’and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to’another due, 5
Labour to’admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely’I love you,’and would be loved faine,
But am betroth’d unto your enemie: 10
Divorce mee,’untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you’enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee. — John Donne

I’m not the greatest at poetry. I can read it and find a meaning for myself, but I’m never quite sure if that’s the meaning that the author intended or not. What I take from this is that the narrator (and, by analogy, us) is caught in a passionate, interior struggle between his own corrupt desires, and his desire to enter into the Divine Life. He is begging God to do violence to his deformed heart, to wrest him away from the Evil One.

I love the intensity, the emotion, and the passion of this piece. And I resemble him who “proves weake or untrue” all too often.

Dear Lord, please batter my heart with Your love for me and abduct me away from the one who has me in chains. Break me down and overcome me with the persistence of the ocean waves, until I — your creature who is dust — submits and is formed into your image as the sand submits to the violence of the sea and the ugly disruption of the day’s is washed away, leaving a pristine beach at dawn.