In a surprise move, the Catholic Church’s Cabal of Choosing has chosen British character actor Jonathan Pryce as the new Pope. Pryce chose the papal name “Francis,” as a tribute to his two entertainment-business idols: Francis the talking mule from the popular movie series, and obscure twentieth-century saloon singer Francis Albert Sinatra. Continue reading
Catholics
8 posts
Proving that nuns are the best thing about the Catholic religion, a group of nuns recently kicked-off a nine-state bus tour to highlight the disastrous consequences of the Paul Ryan budget plan on the low and middle classes. Continue reading
The Catholic League, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization (according to their website – I haven’t seen a study on this), is a group that “…defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.” Okay. That’s nice. It’s awfully brave of you to stand up for the largest religious group in the United States. It’s inspiring me to form a group to stand up for the rights of meth manufacturers and users in California’s central valley. Continue reading
The Crasstalk political team has been going back and forth about the latest health care controversy: requiring Catholic hospitals, schools and charities to provide their employees with insurance that covers contraception, abortion-inducing medication (like the morning after pill), and sterilization. This expressly goes against the beliefs of the Catholic Church. As much as I believe that these medications and services are necessary, I’m with the Catholic Church on this one.
A key tenet in the Catholic Church is that you treat the person regardless of their faith or beliefs. In other words, one is not required to be a practicing Catholic or to believe in any Catholic teachings to receive assistance from a Catholic charity, care at a Catholic hospital or education at a Catholic school. Continue reading
The oldest Roman Catholic newspaper in the United States has retracted an opinion column suggesting the devil may be responsible for gay attraction.
The column, which appeared Friday in the Archdiocese of Boston’s official newspaper, The Pilot, was titled “Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction.” It was written by Daniel Avila, an associate director for policy and research for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In the column, Avila says “the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil.” Continue reading
Sorry Philippines! You’re gonna be on your own ’cause your only companion in this loveless marriage is just not going to stay together for the children. Yep, that’s right, Malta is going to pull a bitch move and get her own free-wheeling divorzju lifestyle complete with her own martini, long cigarette and lounge coat.
This is in honor of my Mom, who passed away this year. I will always, always remember Lent.
My mother, Mildred, was a master at rooting out and punishing misdeeds. She was legendary among her children. She died when I was 38 and even at that age, I would not have considered talking back to my mother. I was terrified of her. But I also thank her because I know I will be able to scare the dickens out of my children. I look at my children and think, “Don’t cross me because I was trained by a master. If you get into trouble, I will punish you in a horrifying way.”
Lent was rough at our house every year. My mom was a hardcore Catholic and she took the Pope’s directives seriously. We didn’t have meat on Wednesdays or Fridays (ugh, so many fish sticks) and we had to fast between meals on those days. We went to all the required holy days during the Lenten season (there are a lot) and we had to give up something good for lent like chocolate, comic books or happiness. On Good Friday, the television and radio were off. We were supposed to reflect on the cross and we spent most of the day at church. Gah, I spent so much time at church when I was a teenager. This was probably a good call on my mom’s part but it seemed like an endless cycle of boredom to me. I can tell you that about 95% of the time, I was not thinking about whatever the priest was talking about.
One of her all time greatest punishments was what I liked to call “The Fish Stick Season of My Dismay.” One Lenten season, she decided to take it to the next level for me. I don’t know what specific thing I did to set her off. I hated everyone and everything when I was 13, so spending time with me was as pleasant as ripping off toenails. I assume my general attitude was Mom’s primary issue with me. Her remedy? Church – everyday, for the entire duration of lent. That’s six weeks of daily church attendance. I attended 42 individual masses that lent, each of which lasted at least 45 minutes which means I spent a bare minimum of 1,890 minutes in church that Lenten season and believe you me I remember every second of it.
I had 1,890 minutes to think about how much I resented my mother and how I would tell her – in detail – about how unbelievably unfair and stupid she was for inflicting this punishment on me. Not that I told her any such thing, I was way too afraid of her. I had 1,890 minutes to check out the rest of the daily mass attendees. There were a couple of unbelievably old people, a few mourners, and someone training to be a nun. Occasionally someone who looked really, really guilty floated in but not often enough. I was the only constant representative in my family. I also had time to read the missal from cover to cover and ruin any surprises in the upcoming mass for myself.
What did I learn? I learned that you can ask the Virgin Mary for favors. Some Catholics say special prayers to the Virgin Mary on Tuesdays, called novenas and they believe she will intercede for them. I read a little booklet about them. One woman wrote in to say that her son had married a divorced woman and she prayed that the Virgin Mary would convince her son to divorce this shameless hussy. And he did! Doesn’t that make him divorced now too?
I learned that 45 minutes can seem like an unbelievably long amount of time. I learned that once my mom decides on a course of action, there is no talking her out of it. I was seeing my sentence out, like it or not. I learned that if I ever had children that my greatest weapon would be my ability to create a punishment so annoying that my children would in fear of my ability to inspire my creativity.
Novena image Wikipedia.
As a good Catholic girl, this is the time of year I think about how I can be a better person. I think New Year’s resolutions are foolish, but for some reason I have no problem with Lenten resolutions. I was pondering why there was such a difference between the two periods of personal improvement and reflection for me.
I am religious, but I’m more of a cafeteria Catholic. I find the Sacrament of Reconciliation rather silly as I don’t think I need an intermediary between God and me to obtain his forgiveness. Don’t get me started on the Church’s views on gays. Despite my picking and choosing of the tenets of my religion, Lent resonates for me.
Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. I am going to go to church and have the sign of the cross put on my forehead with ashes from the burnt palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. The history of the ashes goes back to a time when during the Lenten season only the faithful were allowed into church. Those who committed serious sins would be forced to wear a hairshirt for forty days. That hairshirt was blessed with palm ashes. I imagine that the wearing of a hairshirt was not unlike wearing a scarlet letter. It marked you as a grave sinner. Today, it reflects the fact that we all sin but are seeking redemption.
The act of giving something up for Lent is well known. Catholics are asked to give up something; be it an appetite, a distraction or something we love, not to just suffer, but to create a “vacuum” of sorts. It is hoped that this vacuum is filled by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps that is why I like it so much. Notice that it isn’t necessarily about improving oneself, it is more about creating a “space” in your everyday life for God to enter. Additionally, we are only asked to do this for 40 days, not permanently. After that period of time it is hoped that you would permanently create this space for God even as you go back to enjoying what you sacrificed for Lent.
What many are not aware of is that the Catholic church does not merely want us to give up during Lent. The Church wants us also to “give out” and “give in” . By ‘giving out’ one can express their love of God and Man by making your talents and treasures available. Acts of kindness, volunteerism, donations of goods and services to those in need are very much a part of the Lenten tradition. Some Catholics focus on this aspect of Lent more than the giving up part. In fact at the conclusion of each Mass the priest asks the congregation to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” We are supposed to take what we learn each week in Mass and apply it to the outside world. I love that fact — that the Church really isn’t about Mass. It really is about applying Mass to your real life. Way too many Catholics forget that. Priests included.
The ‘giving in’ part is especially interesting to me as it is quite Zen. In this age of self-fulfillment we are called to go the opposite way. In order to find your life, your way or your path, you must lose it. You must let go of it. We are supposed to give our life and our trust to God. I also look at it this way: when you cling too heavily to your wants, desires or results, that you often miss an more interesting or fulfilling path that was thrown in your way. This giving in part really feeds into the reasons why we give up during Lent.
I’ve tried to give up many things during Lent over the years. Some worked out fine and others not so much. Giving up wine/booze has never worked well in the past as it makes me a rather irritable person. I find I’m much better at doing something than giving up something in order to create that vacuum or space for God to enter. I do this with acts of volunteering that put me in direct contact with those in need.
This year, in addition to volunteering, I am adding daily exercise to the list. Not to get my fat arse moving, that is an added benefit; but to clear my head of all the cobwebs and crap that interfere with me creating space or that vacuum for God to enter.
I know there are a few Catholics/Christians out there. Are any of you giving up something for Lent?
