Moping on Candlemas and Struggling to be a Light Bearer

Today is the Feast of Candlemas, which marks 40 days since Christmas. If you have not taken down your Christmas tree, as my family has not, today is really the last possible day you can claim it is still the Christmas season.

Starting tomorrow, you can just say you are well prepared for December 25 of this year.

On the Feast of the Holy Family: Reality Check

This is the Feast of the Holy Family, a celebration I never liked growing up because I felt the annual homily by the pastor at my hometown parish idealized Jesus and his parents and left me feeling my profoundly imperfect family could never measure up.

Now that I am quite a bit older and a bit wiser, I understand that families come in every shape and size. All of them are imperfect, and all of them can be the place where, for the rest of our lives, we learn to grow in mercy, compassion and patience. Today, an almost-forgotten voice from my childhood that helped me understand that.

On Human Freedom: Our Son the Lector

Tonight at the 5 p.m. Mass, our high school freshman was trained by an older woman to become a lector. He sat beside her, a few pews in front of us, and listened as she whispered directions and instructions. In a few weeks, he will share the lectoring responsibilities with her and then, if all goes as hoped, he's at the ambo on his own. It was moving to witness her sit beside him during Mass, passing on the faith.

This lectoring was my idea. It's important to me and my husband that our sons serve the Church and the larger community. But Lucas, who is the family's lone extrovert and a gifted public speaker, is happy to do it. Tonight, however, was a chance for me to mull what it means to be a free person and to follow our own paths to our destinies.

Litany of Humility: A Prayer for a Beloved Sinner

Today's 11 a.m. Mass celebrant at our parish, Father Peter Cebulka, C.O., recommended we look up the Litany of Humility. Father Peter, who is chaplain of the Catholic Center at Rutgers, said he recommended the prayer to a student recently. Later, the young man texted him:  The student texted him: Litany of Humility. I love it. I hate it. 

Boy oh boy do I need this prayer. As Father Peter told us, we need to remember that we are beloved sinners. That is our identity. If we think too much about how we are beloved by God, we might fall into pride. If we focus too much on our sinful nature, we might never feel we can connect with the One who called us into being. 

Father James Martin, S.J.:George Carlin With a Roman Collar and No Potty Mouth

I've "known" Father James Martin S.J. for years. My friend Webster Bull was deeply influenced by his book "My Life with the Saints" and so I read it too.  The book, which explained to me for the first time and in a very accessible way,  who and what saints are, is  a huge part of my continuing conversion. I follow Father Jim on twitter, I am a "friend" of his on Facebook and I read his articles as Editor at Large of  America magazine when they pop up on my facebook newsfeed. And I have seen his frequent appearances as the unofficial "chaplain" of the Colbert Report.

So in my 21st century way, I felt like I "knew" him. Of course, I didn't. I had no idea how laugh-out-loud funny the man is until I went to a talk he gave tonight on the Rutgers campus. My girlfriend Melissa, who went with me, compared him to George Carlin. Yes, a G-rated George Carlin with a Roman collar and without profanity.

A Life Lived Small and With Immeasurable Beauty

When I checked my email this morning before work and opened the attachment from a colleague, I burst into tears. My colleague Mary, with whom I co-teach a Natural Science class, had put as the subject to the email "Aunt Eileen."

"Aunt Eileen" was Eileen Jaqui Kuhn, 88, of Metuchen, who died on Holy Thursday at home with her family by her side. My husband and I have lived in this corner of New Jersey since 1995 and our lives have intersected with the Kuhn family's ever since. Tonight, Easter Monday, my husband and I attended Mrs. Kuhn's wake, which gave me a glimpse into the beauty of a life spent from start to finish within a three-mile pocket of friends, family, work and parish.

Christ Is Risen! How Our Family of Four Celebrates

 www.theclayrosarygirl.blogspot.com

On our way out of Mass this morning, I wished the elderly usher a Merry Christmas. We both had a laugh about that. Silly middle-aged me. The beautiful Mass reminded me of Christmas Mass somehow - the new faces, the standing-room-only crowd, the lovely, noisy toddlers dressed up in their finest. So many faces filled with hope.

Like Christmas, Easter attracts people who don't normally spend time at church. I am happy when I see these new faces because it reminds me that no matter how far each of us wanders, home always waits to welcome us. Easter is, as our pastor put it today, a still-unwritten story; the rest of the story is how we as individuals encounter Christ and how we choose to live out our days.

After Mass,  I was heartened when I checked facebook and saw the status update of a teenager of my acquaintance, a boy who I have heard on multiple occasions mock the Christian faith.

Confession Is Scary: NOT!

I wish friends who are not Catholic or friends and family who left the Church years ago could have been with me tonight at my parish. I wish I could have taken photographs of what I saw, but because it was evening, my cell phone camera would not cooperate. Instead, my words will have to suffice.

My parish hosted a Lenten Penance Service, on this the Tuesday of Holy Week. Five priests, all affiliated with the parish, attended, along with maybe 200 or 300  people of every possible walk of life. The vast majority of folks were under 30, with middle aged people and elderly folks sprinkled in. Our sons were the only teenagers I saw there. We all sang, we listened to the Gospel reading about the Prodigal Son, we listened to an Examination of Conscience, and then all said the Act of Contrition together. Then, one by one, we each went to Confession. The whole process took my family more than two hours and I have never felt so uplifted by this sacrament, nor so well-prepared for Easter.

Please Pray for a Young Man's Continued Recovery

A few days ago, I asked you to pray for a young man, Peter, a 14-year-old family friend who is a classmate of our younger son, as well as a fellow Confirmandi. Last Friday, Peter had a seven-hour operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, the nation's oldest orthopedic hospital, to correct acute scoliosis. Peter now is home recuperating.

I ask you continue to pray for him, as well as for his loving parents, who are caring for him. My girlfriend Judy stayed by his side his entire hospital stay.

My father, long retired, was a surgeon and I often heard from patients how grateful they were to his care. Now I really understand. As a reminder that surgeons can, with the grace of God, work miracles, here are Peter's before and after photos.

Before....

After....

 

Blessed Savior, I thank you that this operation is safely past, and now this young man rests in your abiding presence, relaxing every tension, releasing every care and anxiety, receiving more and more of your healing life  into every part of his being. In moments of pain may he turn to you for strength, in times of loneliness may he feel your loving nearness. Grant that your life and love and joy may flow through him for the healing of others in your name. Amen.

Lent in Catholicland: A Peek at My Day

To mix things up a bit, I took my younger son to a Mass at a parish a few miles away instead of our usual parish home. After Mass, we drove over to our parish for our monthly Family Catechesis.

This three-hour odyssey showed me how rich and varied our faith is, even here in suburbia. I wish those who don't know or who misunderstand the Catholic faith - who think we are a bunch of reactionary weirdos -  could encounter some of the joy and goodness my son and I did today. Here is a glimpse.

Another Reason to Love Our Parish

'Nuff said.

Priests Who Listen: Why My Parish Is Wonderful

I grew up in the Catholic Church and I never really left. But I know far, far more people who are former Catholics than who are practicing Catholics, people who have left the Church in disgust, disappointment and disenchantment for a wide range of reasons.

Our pastor, Fr. Tom Odorizzo, C.O, who leads a group of Oratorian priests,  is offering an opportunity to anyone who wants to talk with him about their problems and struggles with the Catholic Church. He is calling it an "Open Invitation to Dialogue." How great is this?

Today's Two-Fer: Baptism of the Lord and a Confirmation Commitment

"The Lord was baptized, not to be cleansed himself but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of baptism. Whoever comes, therefore, to the washing of Christ lays aside his sins" St. Ambrose of Milan

This morning we all went to the 9 a.m. Mass, an early one for us. Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the day in which the Church commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Today was also the day where several eighth graders in our parish, including our son, participated in a Confirmation Commitment ceremony during Mass. Since Confirmation seals the sacrament of Baptism, the timing could not have been better.

While our son's Confirmation sponsor, my older brother, was unable to attend the ceremony, we were delighted that his Godfather, a busy father of four who lives an hour away, attended Mass with us.

The Case of the Dueling Bloggers

In response to my blog post about my beautiful church, my mentor/blogger "friend" Webster Bull has thrown down the gauntlet (or to mix metaphors, lost a few marbles) by claiming that his church is not only more beautiful than mine, but "the most beautiful church in the world."

People, clearly he is wrong wrong wrong. For proof, he puts up a photo of the interior of his church, and compares it to the exterior of mine.

Hrumph.
Here is the inside of my church, Webster.

Church Is Not A Building, And Yet...

Do you this know childhood hand game? "Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people!"

When I was a child the game was a reminder that church is not a building; church is the people inside it. And as I grew older, I came to realize that church is each and every one of us, whether we find ourselves inside a church or, for whatever reason, have walked away. 

Christmas Eve Traditions: Covered in Prosecco, I Wish You a Merry Messy Christmas

6:30 p.m. These four chunky salmon fillets, which my husband and I bought this morning at a bustling HMart, are in the oven, covered in maple/soy sauce; Greg is in the kitchen, commenting on how good my salmon smells and making his trademark linguine with broccoli and sun-dried tomato recipe. The boys are upstairs, relaxing after the 5 p.m. Christmas Mass. I am listening to the Roches on Pandora Radio. Cari Donaldson is hosting a linkup about Christmas Eve, so here is mine.  (We always have seafood on Christmas Eve and we always attend either the 5 p.m. or Midnight Mass.)

How Are You Preparing For Advent?

Advent is its own season; a time to prepare for Christmas day. This year, I realized I need to prepare for the preparation; otherwise it is far too easy to let the season pass in a blur of Christmas shopping and Christmas baking and Christmas decorating. I want to give this season four weeks all its own for our family and for our home. What about you? What plans do you have to mark this holy season of waiting?

Feast of All Saints: Cold and Dark, Emerging in Christ's Light

I left my iPad and cell phone in our SUV today before walking into the 12:15 p.m All Saints' Day Mass at our New Jersey parish. In some ways, I wish I hadn't. I wish I could share with you some photographs of the 157-year-old church, plunged in the darkness and cold in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, lit only by the baptismal candle, two candles in the front of the church and six candles on the altar. Instead, I will have to describe to you in words the beauty of those moments and how the Mass, in which we commemorate the named and unnamed saints of our church, left me with the sense of light and warmth of Christ and those who have gone before us and now see God face to face.

The Inevitability of Struggle and the Omnipresence of Grace

A week after my whole little family visited a parish and heard a Saturday afternoon homily so horrendous that it prompted a weekend of soul-searching conversations about why we stay Catholic, we all were blessed with homilies that confirmed our struggles and our journeys. I know the Church is not yet another consumer good, but this old Catholic has grown weary of homilists who try to harangue, discourage, threaten and scare their listeners. I know living one's faith isn't easy, isn't supposed to be easy, but I sometimes miss words from the ambo that can give me food for my journey.

Update: The Homily I Wish We'd Heard This Sunday: How to Be Prophetic

From a CL fellow traveler, Deacon Scott Dodge, a father of five, a convert from Mormonism who serves the Cathedral of the Madeleine (pictured above) in Salt Lake City. We never have met in real life, and we are hoping to meet with him when we visit Utah and Wyoming next summer.

"We are prophetic when we live by the words we read from the Letter of James a few Sundays ago: Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works" (James 2:18).


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