Contrariwise

I’m playing catch-up again, as usual. Carnival 173, hosted by the fabulous Sarah R., is also helping me stay busy while I wait for my laundry to finish, but no time spent reading is time ill spent.

Heidi offers us “In the Company of God…and Mary…and Mom,” the replay of her defensive conversation with her mother about Catholic versus non-Catholic Christianity. Thankfully, I’ve never had that conversation with my mom, but I can sense that it’s coming. My whole family has been Catholic since my dad converted three years ago, the same year my brother received First Communion and I came back to the Church. I’m still the most involved. ACE is my first big step into the land of pervasive everyday Catholicism, though. It’s helping my parents realize that my reversion isn’t just a fad. I don’t want to make them feel bad, and I don’t think I’m better than everyone–there are plenty of faithful non-Catholic Christians out there who make me look like a Satanist! I just know that God has challenged me to really live up to his call, so I’m doing it.

Matt’s story of a rather noisy period of adoration at Absolutely No Spin makes me appreciate silence. Before Sunday Mass and during the Communion hymn, I always have some trouble focusing, but God helps me find the quiet space in my heart that I need to communicate with him. I relate most closely to Matt’s humble frustration when I go to Mass with my family. I pray for a few minutes in thanksgiving after Mass. They don’t. Sometimes I find them standing in the aisle, waiting for me to finish, which makes me feel rushed. I don’t fault them; I only started making thanksgiving relatively recently. I just wish things could be different between us.

Denise, the Catholic Matriarch, comments on holy matrimony versus civil marriage. Now that California is messing around with the definition of marriage again, some Catholic theological scholars are proposing that the Church should stop enacting civil marriages at the same time it does sacramental ones. The state (of California, at least) and the Church consider marriage to be two very different things. In a fascinating turn, Denise notes that in states that affirm marriage as the union of one man and one woman, sex is seen as both unitive and procreative, as in the Church. Without the intrinsic procreative dimension, marriage can be defined far more loosely.

Alessandro of Miserere writes about “The Right (and Duty) to Kneel.” I agree that the Eucharist doesn’t receive the reverence and love owed by the faithful. I disagree that kneeling is the only way to show this. I think communion/altar rails are great, and though I’ve never been to a Tridentine Mass, I’d like to attend one someday. I’m somewhat biased, since kneeling and genuflecting are so difficult for me with my weak knee, but I think a deep bow can be just as satisfactory. It works even better for me, on some level, because I don’t bow to anyone or anything else, and I’m not grimacing in pain while being united with the Real Presence. I’d rather push for greater reception of the Eucharist on the tongue than for reception while kneeling. After the train wreck that is the “Spirit of Vatican II,” we might be best taking things very, very slowly.

Finally, Alessandro also collates opinions on “good enough” marriages. As I wrote about yesterday, the new feminism has a new view on marriage and children. There’s some wisdom in marrying Mr. Good Enough as opposed to waiting too long for Mr. Perfect. Another FOCUS Conference talk I listened to, Libby McCartney’s “Can a Catholic Woman Have It All?” suggested similar ideas. Women can certainly have marriage, a family, and a career, but not necessarily all at the same time. Sometimes God asks us to have faith that the ones he sends us as the best, whether we recognize that or not.

Catholic Carnival 165 is has been up at A Catholic Canadian. Sean, the “Duct Tape Guy,” has outfitted the Carnival as both a blog post and a podcast this week. I’ve never been a huge fan of podcasts. I can only listen to Sunday Sunday Sunday because it averages about eight minutes. Podcasts are meant for people with iPods, so since I’ve never had an iPod, I think I prefer to stick with the Carnival blog post.

Kate Wicker posts about breastfeeding in public. This has been an issue for a long time, but I especially enjoyed her discussion. I’ve come around about a lot of Catholic-related issues over time, but I have to admit that breastfeeding still makes me uncomfortable. I could never quite figure out why, though. At our last Bible study before Spring Break, Lynelle’s maid of honor, Martha, visited with her six-day-old daughter, Gianna. She had covered baby Gianna before I arrived in the lobby, so I couldn’t tell what she was doing at first. Once I realized she was nursing, I started to feel uncomfortable. I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with a woman *while* she was nursing her baby, let alone one about faith and the Bible.

Kate was inspired by a Christopher West article in which he muses on why people from first-world countries are so appalled by public breastfeeding. His conclusion is that our culture is so “pornified” that we can’t see breasts as non-sexual anymore. We feel uncomfortable because we’re used to breasts signaling pornography. Either we think seeing that should be private (which is a lie), or we just dislike pornography (which we should). But even the Bible uses images of motherhood that include nursing (Luke 11:27). We’re so conditioned. Motherhood is beautiful. Breastfeeding has always been part of that. If we really want to support women and their natural ability to bear and raise children, we have to support breastfeeding. I need to work on that.

Teresa gives her Two Cents on taking her young son to the Great Easter Vigil. I went to the Vigil at the CSC. It was a blast; I’m going to miss that place terribly. I had invited a (non-Catholic) friend to join me this year, warning him that it would be a very long Mass, but he didn’t come. I commend Teresa for the effort it took to keep her son interested. I’m also ashamed that regular parishioners couldn’t even wait one additional minute for the priest to recess after Mass. We are Christians. Easter is kind of a big deal. If you’re not willing to put in some extra time, perhaps you should consider attending a different Mass…or ask God to change your heart.

Ebeth at A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars remarks that it’s vitally important for Catholic parents to study the Faith. It’s good for them, but it’s essential in bearing good witness to children and being able to answer their questions. Her point about the easy accessibility of Church teaching is important. When I wanted to read Spe Salvi for the MOE dinner, all I had to do was Google for a few minutes to find a handy English PDF. I can only imagine having to wait to buy a book—or even to get a translation!

Esther at A Catholic Mom in Hawaii (there are so many Catholic mom blogs!) gives a good overview of sacramentals for use in the home. The only one I can’t go for is the scapular. I’m allergic to wool; I scratch until my skin is bright red. I could wear a scapular medal, but I’ve got five holy medals already. Piety can only go so far.

Finally, I have managed to get to Carnival 164–on publication day. Okay, so I knew it came out today because I got a direct email thanking me for participating, but small victories are victories nonetheless. The posts that stood out in this Holy Week Carnival are about sin and our relationships with God.

I always enjoy Soccer Mom Christine’s posts. This time, she writes about her first confession in a while. Christine’s description of her confession is spot-on. From her lovely pre- and post-confession prayers to keeping her daughters occupied, she had all her bases covered. If she can make it to confession, anyone can.

I have an odd relationship with confession. I make it a point to never go more than six weeks between confessions, aiming for once a month. I’ve never had a regular confessor, but I have an inkling that doing so would help me grow spiritually. Despite all my issues, however, I am contrite, I seek out the sacrament, and I am that much better at cooperating with God’s grace.

Cathy at From the Field of Blue Children comments there on issues I’d examined before–some right here in my own blog, but with new perspectives. She reminds me why community exists. We need the voices of others to keep us alert. Concerning the Spitzer prostitution scandal, she and her commenters point out that the media is rightly recognizing the impact of Spitzer’s crime on society. It’s a sin. Sin is not private, no matter how many doors you close. Concerning the “new sin list,” she hones in on Bishop Girotti’s explanation of this principle. Sin affects us all.

As for Jen’s post at Daughter of the King, I have to echo what I’ve seen others say: I will never look at the Creation of Adam the same way again.

I have much to keep in mind for my next confession.

I’m playing catch-up, as usual. I can’t quite hit all the installments I missed, but something is better than nothing.

In Carnival 163, Jen at Daughter of the King shares her experience praying with youth. I can relate. God gave me the same sort of revelation, that praying *for* the people that annoy you is more fruitful for you *and* them than asking God to change them. So when I hear a baby making noises during Mass, see a girl wearing too little clothing, or get blindsided by blaring profanity from a driver’s loud music, I offer them up to God in prayer. Red Neck Woman posted about this in Carnival 156, relating the practice to St. Catherine of Siena. There’s nothing quite like picking up the habits of a saint.

In the same carnival, Kate Wicker offers “Perfect, Schmerfect.” I, your obsessive-compulsively inclined blogger, relate completely. I won’t deny that having my closet organized by color brings me silent joy, but I also readily admit that there’s nothing like confession to make you fully aware of just how broken you are.

Kate Wicker hosted the Catholic Carnival this week. She has a great “Feast Before the Fast” theme, since Ash Wednesday is next week. I’m not quite ready. We just finished celebrating Christmas!

I submitted a post to the Carnival again, the one about FOCUS Conference, which I also sent to our five FOCUS missionaries. Imagine my embarrassment when, of all days, WP started malfunctioning on Tuesday. I got everything fixed by the end of the day, but I’m still not quite what went wrong. Something about the redirect from my hostess wasn’t working properly, but it’s all good now.

Jen at Daughter of the King ponders her spiritual game plan for this Lent. Last Lent went very well for me. I gave up secular tv and watched a lot of EWTN instead. I resumed praying the rosary every day; I tend to fall in and out of the habit.

My crowning achievement seems strange at first: For Lent, I resolved to take never pass up vegetables. I did this not because, as Fr. Frank lamented, I see Lent as a diet plan. I did it because I realized that food was one area of my life that I hadn’t yet given over to God. I needed to grow up, be healthier, and stop being so picky. Those first few salads and broccoli florets were tough, but I’m so much better for it. I was humiliated to admit my childishness and do something I absolutely did not want to do. Now, not only do I eat vegetables, I also like red and green apples, and I’m working on oranges. Soon I’ll eat the whole pyramid!

I haven’t definitely decided what to do for this Lent. Unfortunately, I am running out of time.

Finally, Heidi at Silent Canticle gives us her thoughts about writing for free. I don’t blog for the glory of God any more than I do everything for God. Blogging for God sounds like it could go the way of Christ the Lord. I’ve never written anything for pay, though, and I copyedit for free (except at CASL, where I was paid hourly regardless of how much work I did). I blog as an extension of the personal journals I’ve kept since middle school. She makes a good point about using the talents God has given us, though. The few posts I’ve had that seem to have really reached people make the whole process worth it.