Contrariwise

I’m intrigued by CatholicsComeHome.org. It’s beautifully designed, and it has a lot of information. They even recommend the RSV, which gets a big thumbs-up from me.

I visited the “I’m Catholic” section, but I also watched the “Epic” video. It, too, is high-quality and compelling. I’m just wary of advertisements for the Catholic Church. The Light Is On for You is a great program, but promoting an underused sacrament is different than selling the whole Church. Who doesn’t scoff at LDS ads? I don’t want my church to solicit that kind of response, even though I believe in evangelization and apologetics.

This reminds me of my Morning Prayer intercessions, in which I pray for people who’ve fallen away from the Church. What am I doing to help them come back, besides praying? Not a whole lot. Jesus doesn’t want excuses; he wants to save us.

I’m going to say that I didn’t score 100% because I’m not perfect. Oh, well. Lent is a-coming.

Eucharistic theology created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Catholic You are a Catholic. You believe that the bread and wine are transformed by the priest and become the Body and Blood of Christ. Though the accidents, or appearance, of bread and wine remain, the substance has been changed. The Eucharist remains the Body and Blood of Christ after the celebration, and is reserved in the Tabernacle; Eucharistic devotions are proper. As the whole Christ is present under either species, you partake fully of the Eucharist even if you receive only one. Catholic 94% Orthodox 69% Luther 56% Calvin 25% Zwingli 6% Unitarian 0%

Via dreamlit @ LJ

I was delighted today to read a BustedHalo article about opening the canonization cause for “spiritual seeker” Fr. Isaac Hecker. Spiritual seeking has recently become very popular. As the “spiritual, but not religious” camp started to grow, more people sought the truth. Sometimes, they even find it.

As humans, we have a necessary and inherent desire for the truth. I have come to believe that the Roman Catholic Church has the truth. I wouldn’t call my lapse a time of spiritual seeking, but for many people, the road to God is long and winding. Perhaps my friend Br. Peter Martyr, O.P., (formerly Patrick Y.) explained it best in Bible study my sophomore year. God’s plan is the straight path to heaven. We might wander off, double back, or almost miss it completely, but as long as we make it to the end, we’ll be saved.

Fr. Hecker had a long journey to Catholicism and founding the Paulists. He was raised a devout Methodist, but even after falling away as a teenager, he continued to experience the presence of God. He spent his life trying to reconcile that call with the realities of the everyday while pursuing intense study and contemplation. (Sounds like many of the saints.) Eventually, he found his mission in becoming a priest and championing an American Catholic identity. The Church in America could use some work. I’m trying to help. Perhaps the intercession of Fr. Hecker will bring the advent of a world where the New Evangelization is no longer necessary. The American Catholic Church will hold on despite the trials, seeking refuge in her faithful followers.

This one’s hosted at the Catholic Carnival’s home, Living Catholicism.

Denise of Catholic Matriarch in My Domestic Church issues a catechetical challenge based on comments from Amy Welborn. She rightly argues that good catechesis needs support in the home. I can vouch for that. When my mom doesn’t go to Mass, my siblings won’t go. When I came home from First Timer’s Retreat with the CSC glowing and full of the Holy Spirit, Maura was more encouraged to stop by. Adults need religious education, too, especially the current generation with young children. They’re the ones who were the worst catechized of them all.

Fr. V. of Adam’s Ale (yes, friends, priests are allowed to drink) laments the awkward practice of eulogies at funeral Masses. I’ve only been to one Catholic funeral, for my great-grandmother. I was slowly making my way back to the Church at the time, so I had no idea eulogies aren’t allowed. My grandmother wrote a poetic letter, which I was conscripted to read. I knew it was awkward to be calling Grandma Bernice an “angel,” but I didn’t know the theological implications of it at the time. I do remember that the priest gave a proper homily, though, and that I was called forward at the very end, read my paper, and sat back down. It was the least abusive sort of liturgical abuse, I suppose. Reading Fr. V’s post makes me want to set down instructions for my own death, as morbid as it is. I just don’t want my parents and friends fighting. My friends know I love Latin; my mom would probably be lost, as much as I love her.

SWP of CatholicLand! reflects on the Holy Name of Jesus, which we venerate this month (and always!) I used to be guilty of breaking the Second Commandment all the time, but I’ve gotten better. Once I said, “Oh, my,” to avoid it, and my mom called me an old lady. I took up the emphasis on the name of Jesus in the Hail Mary, which he mentions, some time ago. Jesus wasn’t originally mentioned by name there. It was an important enough point to be added in, so we might as well emphasize it and add to the Christocentric qualities to boot.

Ian of Musings from a Catholic Bookstore provides us with criteria for good, orthodox Catholic books and publishers. (The full list can be found at Aquinas and More, his bookstore.) I appreciate his including imprints that have some questionable material but are otherwise great. It’s important to not throw out the baby with the bathwater. I feel the same way about Protestant translations of some of my favorite Bible verses: those Bibles are missing books, but the USCCB won’t even allow some of its own NAB translations in the Lectionary.

Tausign of Perfect Joy writes about his impressions of St. Blog’s as a new member. His most important point (besides the ubiquity of Catholic mom bloggers!) is that God should be the foundation of our lives. God doesn’t get piled onto the plate; he is the plate. Mine has an Augustinian glaze, so I guess that means it’s a little chipped and decorated all over with Scripture.

I just realized I missed Carnival 153. Oops. I do like keeping up with the Carnival, though. It’s a great way to see what other people are thinking and writing about in St. Blog’s.

My Catholic past is rather checkered. I was baptized Catholic as a baby in the church where my parents were married. My dad’s family is not Christian; my mom’s has been Catholic for generations. I went to a (non-Catholic) Bible preschool, then on to public elementary school. I attended Sunday School until my mom got tired of dragging me out of bed to catch the bus every week. I went to all the CCD classes I needed before my First Communion without ever setting foot in the church until First Penance and the rehearsal.

When we moved to Germany and it was time for my sister’s First Communion, my mom discovered that I had to attend 7th grade CCD before I could join the 8th grade Confirmation class. Luckily, I was in the 7th grade at the time. We started to attend Mass again (always the Saturday Vigil, because we’ve never been morning people). On my Confirmation retreat, I went to confession for the second time–ever–and fell in love with God again.

When we moved back to the U.S., we stopped attending Mass. I missed going to church, but not enough to do much about it. In the year before Ryan’s First Communion, I started college. I did a lot of stupid things during that time, including wholly unworthily receiving the Eucharist at the Mass where Ryan (whose name means “little king”) played a king during the Gospel pageant. That same year, my dad joined RCIA.

Being in church again reminded me of the peace I’d felt there before. Jesus started calling me out of my relationship with my boyfriend and back to him. It took months, but on Ash Wednesday during my freshman year of college, I recommitted myself to chastity, received an absolution that was four years overdue, and returned to Holy Mother Church.

When I hear about people who’ve been to Mass every Sunday of their lives except the one where they had chicken pox, dads who left seminary to marry moms, and families who celebrate name days with special dinners, my heart aches. I wish so much that I could have had that kind of spiritual upbringing. I don’t blame my parents, per se. It really was an ordeal to wake me up on Sunday mornings before I started sacrificing that for the Lord. So now, I have to make up for lost time. I have to learn prayers for the first time that my peers have known since grade school. I have to wonder whether my family even bothers going to church when I’m not home to make them feel obligated (which, of course, they are).

There are signs, though, that my catch-up efforts aren’t in vain. I don’t know much about the saints at all, for example. I love St. Cecilia, my Confirmation saint and the first whose story I really got to know. St. Frances of Rome, my first annual patron saint, is buried in the Church of St. Cecilia in Rome. My middle name is Nicole; I used to live in Germany, where St. Nicholas is widely venerated. My birthday is August 30, the old-calendar feast day of St. Rose of Lima, my second annual patron saint. And finally, next year’s annual patron, St. Wolfgang, is another beloved German saint who was a noted teacher. Even after all this time, God’s sense of humor still amazes me.