Contrariwise

I know that “I just need to get these out of my Downloads folder” is a lame excuse to post, but it’s all I have. Like most college students, I am a facebook aficionado. Back in December, an application called My Christmas Tree got ridiculously popular. I caved, adding a cute tree to my profile with “Christmas Eve Sarajevo,” by Trans Siberian Orchestra, as my song.

My Christmas Tree became Festive Events, and then Gifts Gallery, since you can send a gift for numerous holidays or wannabe holidays, or for no reason. (Also for free, unlike the original facebook gifts.) I hid the application after Epiphany, but I also took screenshots of the gifts I received. (Last names are blurred to protect privacy.)

I also snapped the gifts I sent.

To be honest, I sent Kaitlyn two, because I forgot to add a message with the hula beanie bear. It was an unorthodox gift exchange, but quite nice for those of us on tight budgets.

I remember when reading the Catholic Carnival was the height of my week. Now I’m excited to finally be able to read one again! Last week’s was up at Aussie Coffee Shop.

Ian of Musings from a Catholic Bookstore comments on a Time article about the rising trend of large families among the affluent. I’m not seeing anyone right now, and discerning my vocation is a whole trial I’m not going to get into, but if I marry, I hope to have as large a family as God wants. Ian makes some good points about the reality of large families, even among the middle class. I can’t quite wrap my head around it, since I’m still a poor college student and my parents are still willing to help me out, but I know from FAFSA experience that when the government tries to make estimates about real people and money, they are often wrong.

Sean at A Catholic Canadian muses on whether online communities can–or should–replace real-life camaraderie. t’s important to think of technology-based communication as a scaffold to relationships, not a substitute. For example, Jim and I have a great friendship. I’ve even asked him to recommend me for grad school. We met on a CSC retreat, and then had Bible study together, but since we don’t see each other in person all the time, our friendship is supported by AIM. Without it, our friendship wouldn’t be as strong. Likewise, I’ve connected with some old friends using facebook. I make it a point to see people in person, though. It’s trickier when you don’t have much money, but sometimes quality time is worth it. Sean also mentions his interest in building community through the Knights of Columbus, which I, CDA Regent, think is a lovely idea.

At Bearing Blog (which is a neat title), Erin offers an analysis of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent document on the need for evangelization. The whole Church could use some good, strong pointers on how to evangelize effectively. As Maura puts it, we need better marketing. I’ll have to keep her pointers in mind, and read the whole document myself one of these days.

I hadn’t gotten any ZENIT news in my Google Reader for the past several days. At first, I thought I might have accidentally skipped a hiatus announcement, but then I realized it must be my feed. I was using a hijacked method of sorts to get the feed, since ZENIT didn’t offer one directly. Ironically, that made me miss the new site design, which not only changed it on its face, but also revealed much better organization, a search engine, and an official RSS feed. Now I can keep up with Catholic news and be totally legit about it.

Yesterday evening, I went to Jess N., Mary, Lacy, and Cathy’s house for dinner with all of them, Mikey Mac, and Alex. (Sierra lives there, too, but I don’t know her very well, and she wasn’t there yesterday.) Jess had invited me after Mass to celebrate Corpus Christi. I was unsure about going at first. Then I decided that I’d rather not be at home and lonely.

I think I became an extrovert when I wasn’t looking. I took Bloginality’s super-short Myers-Briggs Type Indicator…oh, a good couple of years ago, and tested ISFJ. I took the same test a few months ago for HONR 100, and tested ESFJ. I and E and introvert and extrovert, respectively. Reflecting on it, I can understand that. I used to be much quieter than I am now. I would never have thought I’d be a retreat leader, or be able to debate against Roe v. Wade, or any number of things I’ve done. I still get nervous a lot, but I guess I’m not so quiet.

Last night was a case in point. Introverted Lindsay would probably have gone for the quiet evening at home. I’d only been to the girls’ house once before, and that was for Pat’s birthday in August. A small dinner would have meant talking more intimately with people I don’t know all that well. However, New Extroverted Lindsay realized that she really didn’t want to be alone, and that she can’t get to know people better without spending time with them one-on-one (or seven-all-together, as the case may be.)

I’m so glad I went. I pulled up right after Alex at about 6:45pm, but I turned my car around before I parked, so he wound up answering the door for me. Jess was in the kitchen frosting a cake. I thought it was a fish, but it was actually a monstrance. I couldn’t see the decorative handle/stand part. Cathy showed off her new books (I remember when I had time to read…), and then we all gathered around the table to eat. Jess’s chicken, bruschetta, and salad were delicious. The table was a bit too small for seven of us, but we managed just fine. And the monstrance cake was yummy, too. Cathy ate the Eucharist slice. It wasn’t quite the sort of Eucharistic adoration the Holy Father encouraged in his Corpus Christi Angelus address, but we like to make our faith personal.

Between dinner and dessert, Mike, Alex, and Jess started talking about philosophy. Jess quickly moved on to yelling about philosophy. I tried to follow along and not get caught in Mike and Jess’s crossfire. Alex turned it into a more literary discussion (I met him in ENGL 301 my sophomore year), and we somehow wound up discussing the difference between nerds, geeks, and dorks.

As it got later, Mike wanted to go watch the NBA finals on his big-screen TV at the guys’ house a mile away, so we just moved the party over there. It’s a really cute house. I love the pink bathroom in a house of six guys. We talked for a while more, and I sent myself home just after 10, giving Cathy and Alex a ride back to the girls’ house on the way.

I can’t quite articulate how I felt about this alternate Sunday night dinner, without my usual crowd. It was…different. Good different. I love both groups of friends, but there is a distinct difference between them, besides the Catholic/non-Catholic part. It’s something to think about.

God works in ways that we can only hope to understand.

Last summer, I prayed my first ever 54-day rosary novena. I reached a new stage in my vocational discernment, though not the one I expected. Lacy resigned as CDA Regent to spend more time with the MOEs, which I never thought would be the help they needed. My third intention, which I’d rather not divulge, worked out fine.

Friday night, I prayed to St. Joseph for the (re-)conversion of a particular friend whose Catholicism is faltering. Today, I ran into another friend coming out of Mass. He’d previously declared himself a “three Mass a year Catholic,” going only on Christmas, Easter, and Ash Wednesday. Not only had he been at another Sunday Mass, but he was waiting for Msgr. Malloy. The monsignor had announced his availability for confessions after Mass to fulfill the Easter duty. I got a conversion, but not one I’d even really considered. I got that prayer from a TAN booklet I picked up at the MOE’s discussion last week.

I’ll just keep sending my prayers up to the Lord and His Blessed Mother. They’ll direct them where they need to go.

Friend,

You mentioned about a week ago that you were considering leaving the Church. Of course, my Catholic sensor went haywire. ;) I really do believe that you have to choose faith for yourself. You have to make it your own, not just the pretty building your mom drags you to every Sunday. Nevertheless, I believe that truth is objective, and that the Catholic Church has the truth. I don’t know if you’re still searching, but if you are, you should at least know what you’re thinking about leaving.

I don’t think I’ve ever explicitly said it before, but you can ask me anything. I love talking about the Church. Jesus is pretty awesome. :) I can point you to a lot of other information as well, if you’re interested. I think of it as personal research.

Liz put it best one week at FOCUS Bible study. She said, “If I woke up one day and found out that the truth was somewhere other than the Catholic Church, I would want to take all of you there with me.” I’ve found the truth in Catholicism, and I want you to have it, too.

Pax Christi (peace of Christ),
Lindsay