Merry Christmas

1. And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. [2] This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. [3] And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. [4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, [5] To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

[6] And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. [7] And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. [8] And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. [9] And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. [10] And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

[11] For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. [12] And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: [14] Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. [15] And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us.

[16] And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. [17] And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. [18] And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. [19] But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Christmas Card Wishes

When I was a little girl back in the 1960's I can remember at Christmas time my parents would get many Christmas cards and my mom would always display them on top of the tv or a table or in the window. I would sit and look at them and admire them. The pretty scenes. The sparkles. I would take notice as to whether they stood vertical or horizontal but what I remember most is it seems like most of the cards were related somehow or someway to the true meaning of Christmas, about the birth of Jesus.


I can remember wintery scenes of the shepherds in the fields.

I can remember beautiful images of the nativity scene.

I, also loved to look at the scenes of the wise men traveling through deserts following the star.

Of course there were others. Some with bells.

and carolers

and Bibles

and many others, including you know who.

It was always so enjoyable to look at and read the cards. Sometimes I didn't even know who the people were that had sent them. I would just read the names. My parents knew who they were.


This year my plan was to hang my Christmas cards on a string across the fireplace like they used to but plans failed when I realized we this year, as in the last couple of years have received mostly photo cards. I received only a couple of regular cards and a few religious cards and one Christmas letter from someone's cat. It was very cute, so don't get me wrong I love getting the pictures of friends and family. I guess the photo cards started a little while back when people would stick pictures in the cards and then later just went to photo cards but I do think that photo cards were around before, just not as popular today.

Of course I could hang everyone's photo's up as they are so very pretty but something is missing in not having all those scenes and references to Jesus' birth. Jesus is missing. Every time I get a card or a photo card, I wonder, "where is Jesus? Where is the nativity? Where are the shepherds? Where are the wisemen?"

Yes, as you have probably figured I am a pretty old fashioned, traditional person. I like traditional families, traditional roles in families, traditions of my Catholic faith and family traditions and others. Don't get me wrong, I live in the here and now. I use technology and blog and have an IPOD and cell phone and a laptop computer but there are somethings that as Christmas moves away from it's true meaning, I miss.

The meaning of Christmas should never change. The reason we have this season is because of our wonderful Catholic faith and its liturgical calendar.

So, above are my Christmas cards to you, this year. I hope you enjoy them and that next week you have a wonderful Merry Christmas and find Jesus all around this wonderful season.

EU Wants to Ban Traditional Family from Children’s Books

EU Wants to Ban Traditional Family from Children’s Books

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Reposted from Women of Grace.  Changing our roles as men and women and husband and wife is changing the very identity we are.

Diana

What Catholics Believe about the End Times

Over and over again we have been hearing about the end of the world coming on 12/21/2012. There are some who thought it would be 12/12/2012 but nonetheless it had to do with the ancient Mayan civilization. I am not going to go into all the reason people are believing such things, but instead I will let you investigate the beliefs on your own. I did read some and all I wanted to read at Wikipedia and National Geographic. Here are the websites for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/111220-end-of-world-2012-maya-calendar-explained-ancient-science/

As you can see by reading the links that the prophecies are mostly just theory and has very close links to New Age thinking.  None of which have anything to do with the truth Jesus gave us through His Church and His Word but it sure seems like everywhere I go people are talking about it. I even heard on the news last night that those who believe in this theory are saying that there is one mountain top that might be safe and if people head there they may survive, which made no sense to me because this mountain is also part of the world but the mountain has had to be secured off to keep people from coming.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/12/12/mystical-doomsday-mountain-braces-for-mayan-apocalypse/

What frightens me is not that the world will end, is that there will be those who predicted it so much they will do something to themselves or others to try to prove themselves right or there will be those who believed it so much they will do something to themselves or others.  Sometimes our society feels as if because we have so much technology and material things and scientific knowledge that we are in a world where people aren't deceived by false prophecies and false religions and that we are so very sophisticated and civilized we don't need anyone to tell us what truth is. In reality, we are not that much different from people of past ages that believed in the deceptions and heresies of their times.

So what does the Catholic church, the place that God gave us to lead us to truth, say about the end times or the end of the world.

Last night I pulled out the Catechism of the Catholic church, (I am working through a yearly reading) and I flipped to the return of Jesus which took me several places.

Starting here we can see that no one knows the day or the hour, not even the Mayans or those studying ancient Mayan writings and there is so much more to what is going to happen in the end than just "the end."

CCC 673-677:

673      Since the Ascension Christ’s coming in glory has been imminent,566 even though “it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.”567 This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are “delayed.”568 (1040,1048)
674      The glorious Messiah’s coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by “all Israel,” for “a hardening has come upon part of Israel” in their “unbelief” toward Jesus.569 St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.”570 St. Paul echoes him: “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?”571 The “full inclusion” of the Jews in the Messiah’s salvation, in the wake of “the full number of the Gentiles,”572 will enable the People of God to achieve “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” in which “God may be all in all.”573 (840, 58)
The Church’s ultimate trial
675      Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.576 (769)
676      The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatalogical judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.578(2425)
677      The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.579 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.580 God’s triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.581 (1340, 2853)

Then I came across this:

1040    The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death.628 (637, 314)
1041    The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them “the acceptable time,... the day of salvation.”629 It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return, when he will come “to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all who have believed.”630 (1432)
VI. The Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth 2854

1042    At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed: (769,670, 310)
The Church... will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.631
1043    Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, “new heavens and a new earth.”632 It will be the definitive realization of God’s plan to bring under a single head “all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth.633 (671, 280, 518)
1044  In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men.634 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”635
1045  For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has been “in the nature of sacrament.”636 Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, “the holy city” of God, “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”637 She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community.638 The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion. (775, 1404)
1046    For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man: (349)
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God... in hope because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.... We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.639
1047    The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, “so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just,” sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.640
1048    “We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed. The form of this world, disorted by sin, is passing away, and we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, in which happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of men.”641 (673)

So, what does all this mean. Well, first of all none of us know when the end will come and first of all the world isn't going to blow up or just end or whatever.  Jesus has promised us his return, a judgement, a new heaven and earth and not only that no one knows when the end of their own world will come. Each of us has a limited time here on earth and that is how we are to live, never knowing when we will be called.

I am not a theologian, or an eschatologist of priest or any kind of interpreter of what the end times are about but according to what I have come to understand and read the end will result with these happenings:

1. Preaching of the Christian faith throughout the world.  Matthew 24:14

2. Conversion of the Jews. Romans 11:25-26

3. Return of Enoch and Elijah. Malachi 4:5-6, Ecclesiasticus 48:10, Matthew 17:11, Ecclesiasticus 44:16.

4. A Great Apostasy. 2 Thessalonians 2-3

5. Reign of the Antichrist. 1 John 2:18

6. Disturbances in nature: Matthew 24:29, Luke 21: 25-26

7. Change in appearance and form of creation. 2 Peter 3:10-13,, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Apocalypse 3:3, 16:15

8. Trumpet of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15, John 5:28     

9. The sign of the Son of  Man appearing in the heavens. Matthew 24:30

Source:   http://www.conventhill.com/endtimes/index.htm

So, considering we are in the Liturgical season of Advent, we have heard a lot recently in the scriptural readings regarding the second coming of Christ. We really need to hear what God is saying. Our priest has repeated it over and over again. "No one  knows when Christ will return or when the end is coming."
We must prepare our hearts for His return, in our own individual lives or in the worlds, right now.  

As we are lighting the second candles on our Advent wreaths, I find it interesting that the candle represents the prophets. The first candle represented the patriarchs and the third recalls John the Baptist and the final one Our Lady. But concentrating on the second one and the prophets. Let's prepare our hearts, turn away from our sins and draw closer to our Lord for that is where our truth lies.

What's in a Title

The other day my mother, who is 82, received a letter in the mail address with Ms., instead of Mrs. She is a widow but still likes being called Mrs. and from what I understand that is what she should be called because once a Mrs. always a Mrs. whether they are widowed or divorced.

I had always been taught to say Mrs. or Mr. and then the last name. As a child, I would never call an adult by their first name. If that adult woman was not married, such as maybe one of my teachers, she would be a Miss.

I, also remember my mother signing checks, papers and cards Mrs., my dad's first name and then their last name, such as Mrs. Joe Smith, never Mrs. Sue Smith.

Today, many times we hear Ms. Jones or Ms. Smith. Rarely do we hear Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith. As a matter of fact, today we also hear Miss used in addressing married women and then adding their first name, such as Miss Diana. I think that is because it might be easier to teach little children in that way rather than teach them to say Mrs. Smithenshire.  Or is it because marital status, due to the state of our times, doesn't matter much to people anymore. We have forgotten that is a covenant, a union and a sacrament.

Well, after my discussion with my mother and seeing her upset over the Ms. envelope it caused me to research how we ended up with Ms. anyhow in our culture.

Having grown up in the 60's and 70's it seemed that I remembered hearing a lot of women's rights talks and songs and in the back of my head I remembered people during that time asking to be called Ms., but why I wondered.

According to dictionary.com: Ms. is a title of respect prefixed to a woman's name or position: unlike Miss  or Mrs.,  it does not depend upon or indicate her marital status.

Okay, so I guess I can understand this idea. If you were just meeting someone and didn't know if they were married or not it could be embarrassing to make assumptions and call someone Mrs. if they were a Miss and visa versa. 

Much of today there are no titles. We have become such a casual society that many people just say someone's first name and leave it at that. If you are lucky you might catch the last name. Then you are left wondering if they are married or not.  Marital status and of course we all see the meaning of marriage is being challenged.  It is at stake today.

So, whether or not we use Ms., Mrs. or Miss could be due to etiquette, society, grammar or relationships or could there be more to it in our society today because of what is going on with the culture.

Before the 17th century, Ms. was the abbreviated form of "Mistress," which indicated that the lady was married, or in charge of a household. "Miss" and "Mrs." began to be used in the 17th century to show the difference between a married woman under her husband's headship, and an unmarried woman under her father's headship. "Mrs." was used with a lady's husband's first and last name (eg. "Mrs. John Smith") and never with her own first name (eg., never "Mrs. Julie Smith"). "Miss" was used for any woman who was not married, with "Miss" and the last name alone used for the eldest daughter in the household, and "Miss" with both the first and last name used for all other daughters in the household.
When a girl or woman was introduced, spoken of, or had her name appear in print, her title of Mrs. or Miss always accompanied her name. This was an honor. It showed belonging. No one could be in doubt of her position in a family. The use of Mrs. or Miss provided the benefits of masculine headship—no one could assume that this lady was without a man's guidance and protection in the world. She was not independent, or acting on her own. Rather, she identified herself as the daughter of her father, or the wife of her husband. If anyone wanted to contact her or address her, they had to be aware that she was a one-man woman, protected physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, by her lawful head. When she interacted with the world, she acted as a representative of her head: carrying out activities, purchases, deeds of charity, hospitality, etc., in his name. Again, it was an honor to carry a man's name, to represent him, and to live with a status symbol that connected herself to him.
It was an honor to be under authority. 

 http://janegrey.hubpages.com/hub/Mrs-Miss-or-Ms

So, what happened. How did we get Ms. back and the meaning it has today. Well, apparently in 1961 a woman named Sheila Michaels tried to use the word Ms. when she saw what she thought was a typographical error on the address label of a piece of mail sent to her roommate. She had already been looking for a title for a woman who did not 'belong' to a man." The feminist movement was strong and feminists did not want to be known as belonging to a man any longer. She was not happy with the terms Mrs. or Miss as now the feminist movement was giving those terms a bad name but most people were still using Mrs. and Miss and so her efforts went ignored. Then, around 1971, during a quiet moment on a  WBAI-radio interview with The Feminists group, Michaels suggested the use of Ms. A friend of  (who else) Gloria Stienem heard the interview and suggested it as a title for her new magazine. Ms. Magazine brought great popularity to the term and in 1972 the US Government printing office approved the term for official documents.



So, we have gone from two titles showing headship and honor to a title showing independence. This is surely because women have thrown off headship and honor. I myself in my teens and twenties did not like the idea of someone being head over me. I didn't like the idea of headship. That was a time when the feminist movement was very loud and desiring independence. Women no longer wanted to be under the head of their father or husband. I was a cradle Catholic but had not been taught scripture or the teachings of the Church in this area, so what else but go along with society. Later as grew to know the Lord and his teachings, I threw off these feminist ideas and embraced God's ways and His ways always bring peace.

So, what does scripture say to this:

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. ...the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God. -1 Cor. 11


What about the Popes:

Pope Leo XIII:  "The husband is chief of the family and the head of the wife. The woman because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, must be subject to her husband and obey him."

After WWII Pope Pius XI speaking to a group of newlywed wives stated:  Every family is a society, every well ordered society needs a head: every power of headship comes from God. And so too, the family you have founded has a head, invested with authority by God, authority over her who has been given him as a companion to constitute the nucleus of this family and over those who with the Lord's blessing will come to swell it, and make it happy, like young shoots from the bole of the olive.

The Three Marks of  Manhood: Dr. Gregory Dilsaver

So, what do these quotes have to do with Ms. Mrs. or Miss. Maybe our titles are saying something more than just whether or not we are married or know if someone is married or not. Maybe our titles tell us where we belong and who we love and that we are loved and when we say Mrs. we are saying we belong to someone. We are joined in a wonderful state of life, marriage. And when we say Miss, we are saying, I am young and unmarried but (hopefully, if we are Christian) I am waiting and serving the Lord in my family until God brings me my lifelong mate or calls me to a vocation of singleness for the Lord. Both of these titles are of great value and speak of our love for others, those who are close to us and are selfless titles.

Then I guess, if you are using the title Ms., maybe, just maybe you are saying, I am independent. I go my way and either I don't want you to know who I belong to or I don't want to accept that I belong to anyone because this is my own life and is this a title that says "me".  It is about me. It is about the name I want to make for myself in this world and "no" I am not serving.

Maybe  I am making more out of this than what it is today. We get desensitized to words and actions after seeing them and hearing them for so long but I do suggest show your husband you are his partner, his helpmate just by the title you use.

21 She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her domestics are clothed with double garments. Proverbs 31:21

Okay, so the other day my son came out of the laundry room after looking for a shirt or other article of clothing and stated, "our laundry room is like the Bermuda Triangle. Clothing goes in but it never comes out." Now considering we all have clean clothes to  wear every day and I do work at laundry every day, I do think that was a bit of an exaggeration but I found it humorous because I probably feel that way sometimes also.

My first priority in my life is my family. I am a homemaker most every day but I do also work occasionally as a fill in nurse at a doctor's office. It is supposed to be a couple of days a month job but every now and again the requests to come in and work get a little more than what I want. No more than several days a month is what my husband and I had decided on.  Home comes first.

There are only three of us but we do go through the clothing. I know larger families go through much nore but at times the laundry is just very overwhelming.  My son is a teenager now and is a little bit more careful and discerning of the clothes he wears, so I think we go through a few more clothing articles than maybe necessary but having been a teen myself once I understand and as he has gotten older and showers now daily that also ads to the laundry. My husband and I go through our fair share. So, it can pile up, even though there are times when we will wear something two days in a row because it just didn't get dirty.

There is one thing I have  learned through picking up these days at the doctor's office, is, it must be very hard for full time working women and I am blessed to be able to stay home the majority of the time and when called I have the choice to say yes or no if I want to or even can work. That gives me the opportunity to put home first. Not that working women don't put home first, because many do.

As far as the Proverbs 31 woman, I am a far cry from her. She is my ideal but many times I fall ever so short from that.  I can try and I can work toward her as a goal. 

I believe most versions of the scriptures quote Proverbs 31:21 as "clothed in scarlet," compared to the Douay Rheims which says, "clothed in double."  Either way it is read, the Proverbs 31 woman makes sure her family is clothed well. Whether it be plenty of clothing or expensive clothing. I realize that may be hard for some, especially in today's economy but even if our clothing is not expensive and we run low on some clothing, it is still my responsibility as a wife and mother to ensure my family has clean clothes. Oh, I tell my self that every day... 

because sometimes that can be a hard job to accomplish. As I am sure you are, I am busy and I have to tell you,  many times I get busy doing other things and sometimes forget about the laundry. Then I am like, "oh no, I have to get a load going."

Just get it done. Just work on it. That is what I tell myself. It doesn't have to be perfect. I am the only woman here so if things are not folded perfectly in a drawer or perfectly matched the guys don't mind. They just want their favorite shirts and jeans and socks clean and ready to wear.

And I know it could be harder. At least I have a washer and a dryer. 

Just press on, as Our Lady did.

Diane

First Comes Advent

Okay, so I had very good intentions this year. My plan was to wait until after St. Nicholas Day to put up the tree, the ornaments, the pointsettas and the like. I wanted to enjoy Advent a little. I wasn't and am still not feeling all Christmasy. I think we need a little Advent but I had requests. "When are you going to put up the Christmas decorations?" Okay, so I did. Up went the tree, the ornaments, the Santa Clauses, the pointsettas and the like. It was very pretty but it's not Christmas kept going on inside of me. I want my son to grow up knowing what Advent is and what the true meaning of Christmas is.

With all those decorations I felt so secular, caught up in the commercialism and as a Catholic revert, I felt still protestant and I didn't and don't want to be either of those. Nothing against any of my protestant friends. I just want to fully embrace the Catholic church, so I felt I didn't fulfill my intentions of celebrating Advent. I got caught up in decorating for Christmas. As a matter of fact, the day I put up the decorations was a long and exhausting day, not anything too joyful.

Our parish bulletin had an insert from our parish priest explaining Advent and what a good idea it would be to wait on those Christmas decorations. Great. Now what. My decorations are up. I knew what Advent was and was used to celebrating it right along with Christmas but I don't want to do that anymore.

Well, down they came. All except for the tree and some angels and manger scenes. I, also had put up an Advent wreath and candles, those of course stay because they are not Christmas decorations. But the rest of the decorations came down. I put them in a pile in our basement where they will come out around the third week of Advent, which is when the priest suggested the Christmas decorations come up.  I decided it wasn't too late to enjoy Advent and draw closer to our Lord during the season of preparation.

So, now my plan is to keep things simple.  Then I plan to when it is closer to Christmas bring out the remaining decorations. In the meantime I believe we will enjoy a little Advent. Some candle lighting, maybe a little bit of Jesse ornaments. I will have to be creative there. I have a teenager and I need to make the Jesse tree age appropriate but I have an idea. If it works I will share it with you.

In the meantime I found the most beautiful Advent webpage: MotherTeresa.org

http://www.motherteresa.org/11_Advent/2010Advent/index_advent2010.html

I hope you are enjoying your first week of Advent. Blessings to you.

Just a few of the decorations in our home.



Diane

Going to confession

Advent starts tomorrow. A time to consider making a confession, the sacrament of reconciliation, prior to Christmas.  Going to confession can be very scarey at times but it is truly an awesome feeling when you walk out of that confessional, load lifted off of your back, sins forgiven, walking in the light.

The Church tells us we need to go at least once a year but truly encourages us to go more often.


US Bishops Encourage Frequent Confession, Advance Cause of US Activist

BALTIMORE, NOVEMBER 15, 2012 (Zenit.org).- "The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a message on Tuesday inviting Catholics to more frequent participation in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation,"

 So, for those who haven't been to confession in a long time or for those who haven't at all, here is a video I found recently to help guide you.

Happy Thanksgiving

When I was a young teen and into my twenties I was a very rebellious person and ungrateful person. I am not sure really why or what I was rebelling against and why I couldn't be grateful.  I had a wonderful family. Parents who loved me. I just think I didn't know who I was or what I wanted in life or where I was going.

As time went on and many years at that,  I matured and  I came to find that where I was going and what I wanted needed a foundation and that foundation is Jesus Christ. Through the love of Jesus I have found and discovered there are many things to be grateful for. Many things, such as family, shelter, love, faith, Holy Mother Church, the Blessed Mother and most importantly Jesus Christ and what He has done for us and how he pours His love and grace out upon daily.

So, I just want to say to all Happy Thanksgiving and remember there is much to be thankful for but the most important is God's love for us and the way He sent His son to die upon the cross so we can spend eternity with Him.

Please remember in your Thanksgiving prayers those who are suffering and hurting and pray they find food and comfort from friends and family and mostly importantly experience the comfort from our Lord.


Diane

Marriage is a Sacrament

First I want to say that I am in no way an expert on marriage. Far from that but because I am always trying to grow my family closer to God, grow in our relationships I have recently been trying to truly understand what marriage is, according to the Catholic church and what are roles are.

Marriage is a sacrament. The definition of sacrament according to Catholic Reference: A sensible sign, instituted by Jesus Christ, by which invisible grace and inward sanctification are communicated to the soul. The essential elements of a sacrament of the New Law are institution by Christ the God-man during his visible stay on earth, and a sensibly perceptible rite that actually confers the supernatural grace it symbolizes.

What is needed to make a marriage a sacrament is also defined by the Catholic church.

Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1623 According to Latin tradition, the spouses as ministers of Christ's grace mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. In the tradition of the Eastern Churches, the priests (bishops or presbyters) are witnesses to the mutual consent given by the spouses,¹²⁴ but for the validity of the sacrament their blessing is also necessary. The thing that is needed and is essential to the marriage covenant is the freedom of both the man and woman to express their consent to the covenant. In other words, no one could be forced into a marriage and the sacrament doesn't happen when words are spoken by a priest or when the marriage is consummated but when each person says his vows and makes his commitment to the covenant. This covenant in which a man and woman establish a partnership that embraces their whole lives.

Earlier this week I listened to a talk by Steve Woods from Family Life Center. This was back during the presidency of George W. Bush, so a little ways back. At this time President Bush was trying to defend marriage between one man and one woman. Now Mr. Woods had a good point. He didn't think the president would succeed and he stated that he predicted that in the next several years or so there would be homosexual marriages.  (Well, that has happened). What struck me, though,  in his talk,  "Strengthening Your Marriage" was something else he said and it was that the problem with marriage is not so much homosexuals wanting in as it is heterosexuals wanting out. He reflected back to when Martin Luther penned, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, denying the seven sacraments. Well, he took marriage away from God and gave it to the state. Marriage was instituted by God from the beginning and how sad that we now have to stop and define what marriage is, that the world is trying to make it be what it is not and where will it end? We don't know but without it being a sacrament or under God it can't be good.

So again, according to God's Holy Word:

Matthew 19: 4  -  Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, Made them male and female? And he said:      5 For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh.
6  Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.     

"Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy.  In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats his Church, because it is his body "and we are its living parts" (Ephesians 5:25-30).

There isn't any other way to see marriage, other than a sacrament. Marriage between baptized people is a sacrament, for married love is a sign of Christ's love.

Cleaning for guests

My son is having a party tonight. Several of his friends from his drama club have come over. I am sitting here now listening to the noise of enjoyment and resting because we did a lot to get the house ready for his friends. I usually have a routine that I follow during the week for regular cleaning and after the weekend our house gets pretty messy but today we needed to do a lot of cleaning before our guests came.

I certainly wanted to involve my son in this process, well, because one it is his party and two because he needs to realize that we put our best foot forward when we have guests over. I don't want to get prideful over our home and what we have and look at us kind of thing. That is not the reason for parties. Parties are had because we want to enjoy our friends and want to have them around and enjoy them.

Not too long ago a woman told me she was going to stop cleaning her house when she had company because she did not want to seem prideful and have her guests spending more time looking at her home than enjoying each others company. I thought about that and wondered if that is actually best. When cleaning our home prior to the arrival of guests we are showing hospitality and showing love and consideration for them.

We won't always have opportunity to clean our home before guests knock on our door but if we have the opportunity I feel it does show that we care for them enough to pick things up off of the floor, to sweep, hang our clothes up and put out a few snacks.

Having a routine of cleaning our home can the need to do a rush of cleaning when guests are coming. We are then prepared and able to open our home and show love and hospitality as our Lord has requested of us.

I love to watch old shows. I love old movies and I love all the old sitcoms. I thought today I would watch a Father Knows Best. I first started watching a Christmas episode and then I decided it was too early and thought I would watch a Thanksgiving episode and then I ran across this. Many times people make fun of sitcoms such as Father Know's Best  and maybe especially because they think it is corny but much of what happened in this episode still happens today. Father said something he shouldn't have. He criticized the youngest daughter's poem and hurt the little girl terribly. He needed to apologize and she was very forgiving. Isn't that how we should be of each other in our families. Forgiving. We know we will hurt each other but we learn to be forgiving. Hurting someone as we all do at times and then needing their forgiveness makes us realize how important they are to us.
Father also realized how grateful he was to live in a country where he could pray and worship and have religious freedom and also freedom of speech. This family was very grateful for such things. Things that seem to be at stake for us right now. Things that could be lost in the near future. I hope to remember this Thanksgiving and everyday our freedoms and pray they are maintained and pray through this time of uncertainty over the universal health care and the freedom of the Catholic church that more Catholics will grow in their faith and reach out to the world.

Why modesty?

Pope Benedict XV has taught very clearly about modesty in an encyclical letter (Sacra Propediem, 1921), commemorating the 7th centenary of the founding of the Franciscan Third Order.

"One can not sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and station. Made foolish by a desire to please, they do not see to what degree the indecency of their clothing shocks every honest man and offends God. Most of them would formerly have blushed for such apparel as for a grave fault against Christian modesty. Now it does not suffice to exhibit themselves on public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of churches, to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table, where one receives the Heavenly Author of Purity."

 "women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing" 1 Timothy 2:9.


When talking about modesty, it doesn't necessarily mean dresses. If that were the case a couple of weeks ago when at my son's high school ring day, all the young girls with short skirts and super high heels would be considered modest and the young girls who were in nice slacks would be immodest.

Dresses are feminine, dresses can definitely be a sign of modesty. Nice slacks can be modest also.Tight fitting jeans, though are immodest.

We women have a very hard time with body image. Even young girls do, which is why most dress as they do. They are seeking out affirmation. Problem is, it is the wrong kind of affirmation. It is an affirmation that causes her brothers in Christ to fall into sin, to encourage other women to dress immodest and it is a sense of pride, believing that she made her self as she is and that she will always be that way. 

As a Christian woman grows in Christ she learns that her value is not in the shape of her body, her makeup or how she looks.  Her value is in the Lord. He value comes because she was created in the image of God and loved so much by Him that He sent His son to die for her. When realizing how much she is valued and loved by the Lord she will dress for Him.  Modesty is about love and honor, the love and honor we have for God and our neighbor and ourselves.

Modesty promotes marriage and encourage the marriages around us instead of contributing to tearing them down.

Modesty also promotes friendship, the friendship between women and the friendship between women and men.  Dressing immodest in front of another person's husband or son can cause the wife and mother great distress. Men, also have voiced great upset because of the immodest women and young girls that tempt them into sin.
 Let's encourage women in their honoring of the Lord by the way we dress.

Diane Ruth
 

History of making the Sign of the Cross

 I made the sign of the cross all my life, before and after prayer, when walking into the church and other times when like your scared or in a frightful situation. I never knew why, I was just taught to do that and so that was what I did.  Go to a hockey game or other sporting games and just before some of the players play you will notice someone making the sign of the cross.  Why and where did it start?

In my research I found that  the making of the sign of the cross is most prominent in the Roman Catholic church but is also practiced among the Eastern Orthodox and Episcopalians. I also was able to find that writings regarding the sign of the cross goes back as far as Tertullian, one of  the early church fathers who lived between 160 and 220 A.D. Tertullian wrote, "In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting of our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross."           

"Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor's sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the Gift; but for this rather honor thy Benefactor." -- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 - 386

In the early days of Christianity when persecution was so strong, Christians had to hide their faith. Making the sign of the cross was a way of identifying themselves. One site stated that Christians would use a stick and mark the ground with a cross as identification. Also, I heard one Christian apologetic state that as Christians were being persecuted they would make the sign of the cross to let each other know they were Christians. Considering the persecution they went through at that time knowing another believer was there with you would provide some comfort.

I had a book on Lutheran catechism and was surprised to find that  Martin Luther urged his followers to use the sign. In his Catechism of 1529 he instructed fathers to teach their households the following: "In the morning, when you rise from bed, sign yourself with the holy cross and say, 'In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.'...At night, when you go to bed, sign yourself with the holy cross and say, 'In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.'"
Some of the meanings behind the sign of the cross are first that making the sign of the cross shows a sign of our faith, that we are people of the cross, of Jesus. Second there are different meanings behind the way it is made.

Sometimes you will see a priest or bishop make the sign with one finger, that represents the oneness of God, with two fingers it represents that Jesus is fully God and fully man, three fingers means the Trinity and five fingers as we do it today is to remind us of the five wounds of Christ that were suffered for our sake.
In all the years of my growing up I did not know how this started or what the meaning was besides it was a cross and Jesus died on the cross. For a time because of my lack of knowledge I stopped making the sign of the cross. I did not know where it came from or why Catholics did it or what it meant. For me it was interesting to look this up. I love apologetics and love to read Christian history.  Today we have so many ways to find out truth. The internet has many wary things on it but if you look you can also find historical facts.  It's the writings of the ancient fathers that helped shed light on aspects of faith for me. The study of church history that includes time before the middle ages is what helped me to see what early christianity was and what to look for today.

Diane

Just a little Thanksgiving note

Just a little post with a little link about the first thanksgiving. I love this story. It is pretty interesting.

ttp://www.traditioninaction.org/History/B_005_Onate_Thanksgiving.html

New Site

Blogs like closets can tend to get cluttered, so I wanted to kind of go in a different direction and felt a need for a restart and do some cleaning.  I live in the United States and after our recent election I became very saddened by, not just the election but also the hateful remarks I have seen in our local newspaper and on popular news sites aimed at the Catholic church and our Bishops. It has caused me to realize how much the world is lost and doesn't know what a jewel the Catholic faith is.

Of course, as always, evangelization starts at home, so that is always my main focus. So many women neglect this sacred calling and walk out the doors of their homes daily and forget about their family. I feel this is so sad.  In order to pass the faith on, we must start with out families. I have a teen age son and I am so concerned about the world he is growing up in. He must be strong in the faith. I must be strong in the faith. What a heavy responsibility lies on us to pass that faith on. I hope others will join me in prayers for our families, that we can raise up a generation that will know God's will and do it. 

As we pass this faith on to our children, we and they will be salt and light to the world. People will notice.

I heard someone, who I don't remember his name,  today speaking on Catholic Answers radio say we are in a time now when we must bump up what we are doing. If we pray the rosary once a day, pray it twice. If we go mass once a week, go daily. In other words, do more. God is at work in us. He is faithful. What we give him, he will multiply.

I want to leave you with this promise from our Lord:

Philipians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus

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