Next Year in Jerusalem

I hope you are having a blessed Triduum, my 3.14 readers.  It's hard to be exiled from your liturgy at such a liturgical time and I miss the celebrations terribly, despite the difficulties last year in bringing two young children to long church services. I find myself longing for something tangible in the era of virtual everything. 

The Dominican friars gave a great guide to the Triduum at home, but it was a little too... "advanced" for my domestic church.  You can see it here.  I want more suggestions like this from our parish and bishop.  How can we transform our homes into churches when we cannot gather for Mass?

The Captain suggested that we do a "seder" on Thursday night, and it was a beautiful experience of how to have a ritual, embodied prayer in the midst of our exile from our normal ritual, embodied prayer.  Especially moving was the last line: "Next year in Jerusalem!"  In my exile from the Eucharist, that is my prayer.

How Far Is Too Far?

How far is too far? -- Not how close is too close.  I ran across an Ethika Politika piece the other day that piqued my interest because the writer articulated some of the feelz I have in an accessible and non-emotional account. 

It deals with couples (and individuals) who eschew all/almost all physical affection until marriage.  These are the side-hug, no-hand-holding, first-kiss-on-the-altar type folk.  While the idea of purity appeals to me, something about this manner of courtship has started to bother me more and more since I first heard about (and considered) it in high school.  

It's Never Too Early

This morning, the Sleeping Dragon grabbed my bookmark (pictured above), which contains an image of the Divine Mercy on one side and Our Lady of Guadalupe on the other.  I enjoyed watching her play with it, telling her, "That's Jesus; that's Mary," as she flipped it back and forth.

I let her play until she went from putting it to her mouth to actually chewing on it.  "No, babe, we don't eat --" I started, and then changed the end of my sentence -- "Jesus, when He's in that form.  We eat Him in another form."

Because it's never too early to teach about the Eucharist, and I don't want to be spouting heresy to my child!

Power, Joy, and Awe

It has come to my attention that it is National NFP Week. I'm not really sure what that means for people who aren't in the habit of writing about touchy subjects online -- after all, it's not really something you can do for just a week...

On Babies, Bathwater, and Protecting One's Virginity

Have I mentioned before that I want to be Simcha Fisher when I grow up?  Not only is her baby pushing up on her knees before mine (I promise, I don't stalk her -- blame Facebook), but she wrote this wonderful piece on Maria Goretti and what it means to be a saint.

A Newfeed Game

The world appears to be exploding or perhaps imploding in response to today's Supreme Court decision.  And while I acknowledge the importance of the decision, I still (naively) go the Facebook to see cat memes and stalk "friends' " baby updates.  So, here's today's game:

Life Updates

It's finally time to announce a major life change in the works!  I have left my job (a couple months ago, actually) and am staying home with the Sleeping Dragon until August when I start doctoral work at the Catholic University of America.

I registered for classes last week, which makes it real enough to put on the internet.  I am pursuing a PhD in Moral Theology and Ethics, fully funded (yay, no loans!).  So one day, I get to wear fancy robes.

On the Nature of Beer

What could be more perfectly Theology of the Body than the question: "Whether Beer Exists in Heaven?"

In Which We Take a Risk

Happy Easter, my dear 3.14 readers! This year the Captain and I brought a tiny baby to all three of the Triduum services. Rather than immerse myself in the sensual experience that is these three days, I spent most of the liturgies either feeding a baby or keeping her quiet. So I simply found one spiritual anchor to cling to each night.

Doing Things Differently

Remember how I mentioned parenthetically yesterday that right now I eat lots of calories since there is a little person on me for food?  Well, because of said tiny person, not only am I technically exempt from today's fast, but also, it would be a bad idea for me to keep a fast right now.  

On Susan Pevensie

Die-hard fans of The Chronicles of Narnia, like myself, don’t talk much about Susan Pevensie.  For those who have not read all the books enough time to have at least three committed to memory, she is one of the four children in C.S. Lewis’s first novel about Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Four children slip through a wardrobe into the enchanted world of Narnia, where, with the help of the lion Aslan, they break the kingdom free of from the world of the evil White Witch. 

La Virgencita

In honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Roses in the Mexican Winter

Guarding Your Heart

Okay, so I believe I promised to over-analyze this article about “guarding your heart.”  I like it because in some interweb circles, the phrase (and even the concept) of guarding one’s heart is taking a hit, often because people decide it means “be emotionally inaccessible.”

Deborah Fileta writes, “Just like physical intimacy, emotional intimacy is beautiful and binding in the correct context, but can be just as harmful and heartbreaking when it moves too deep, too fast.  Here’s the thing about dating in an emotionally healthy way: It’s important to make sure your emotional relationship is growing proportionally to your level of commitment.”

Dancing, Dating, and Gender Roles

Sometimes, I read articles and think, “Oh, so close!”  Normally, these are blog posts that make really really really good points, but gloss over important nuances or forget something major.  In order to ease myself back in blogging (yes, I know it’s been a while -- I’ve been distracted), I am going to share two of these in a two part series that covers an easy target: dating.

The first is written by a friend, Daniel Paris, who works for FOCUS, a college evangelization program, and is about dating in a more general sense.

The Things for Which I Thirst

Miss E, who works downstairs in my building, recently forwarded me an email from her department regarding training in "Catholic terminology."  The examples given were along the lines of "What is a diocese?  What is the difference between a bishop and archbishop?"  I jokingly suggested that she add hyperdulia and anamnesis to the list.

Creative Ministry

Sorry I've been gone so long, guys! I promise I am still alive! I've been in a creativity slump, which I need to force myself out of -- and which I will force myself out of with short posts, sharing exciting things with my loyal (and possibly quite bored) 3.14 readers.

Today I came across a story of a basketball ministry in Oklahoma City.  I wish my kids in St. Louis had had something like this.  Reading the story made me want it for those kids, and looking through the photo gallery made me miss them and wonder where they are today.  Every now and then I hear about one of them, since Ana still lives in St. Louis, and the stories are not always happy ones.

If you have a few moments today, please say a prayer for those kids.  They live in the world that produced the blow-up in Ferguson.  It's encouraging to see a ministry like the one in Oklahoma, but heaven only knows how badly we need more ministries like that -- ministries that reach out to kids in the language that they speak.

Image Credit goes to The Oklahoman.  Go read the story and see the other pictures.

On Tragedy in the Christian Life

Some time ago, not long after I briefly studied Buddhism in a comparative religion class, I got into an AIM discussion (that should provide some dates) with a Catholic friend about suffering.  He tried to depict suffering as an evil to be avoided at nearly all costs.  Pointing to the cross, I tried to argue that as a Christian, running from suffering makes no sense.

Something Light-Hearted and Holy

For your amusement and my reprieve (that word is surprisingly hard to spell, or I am very tired), here is something light-hearted for today: an article on "The Wit and Humor of the Saints."

It has a good overarching message, but really I recommend it for the one-liners from holy men and women.  For example, my favorite:

When Men Disappear from Fertility

Last week was “NFP Awareness Week,” and, as usual, I am showing up late to the party.  Although my party started actually before said week, when I read this response to a BuzzFeed on contraception.  The actual post is not my cup of tea (I am not so much about slogans and sound-bites), but the comments are, wonder of wonders, well-moderated!  After reading the NFP post, the contraceptives post, and the NFP comments, I found myself thinking, “There’s something missing here.”

On Waffles and Vocations

This post is going to move quickly from pillow talk to saints to vocations. With some breakfast foods thrown in for good measure.

Sunday morning, the Captain and I slept delightfully late.  When we at last committed to getting out of bed soon, he asked me, “What do you want for breakfast?”