Our culture does not value beauty beyond its relationship to function or earning power. Girls are taught to pursue careers and earn good money; they are taught to develop a career before they consider marriage and family. Men seek wives who can add a solid second paycheck; men used to seek wives who had the skills to create a beautiful home for a family. There was a time when the beauty created by home makers was valued. Girls were taught the skills and could expect to have those skills valued. Those days are long gone. Our culture glorifies the career … Continue reading
Tag Archives: relationship
“The warp of that garment is life, all other issues are weft, and without the warp all you have is a pile of tangled threads.”– Ann Seeton All the social issues of the Catholic Church are good things, they are each only a single weft thread that weaves in and out of the warp threads and all together create a fabric, one that is, to borrow a phrase, a “seamless garment” BUT, one must never ever ever forget that the warp threads of that garment are life, and without life you haven’t any garment at all, you have nothing but … Continue reading
The Book of Jotham by Arthur Powers is a powerfully written little book which I recommend with enthusiasm. I found it deeply moving, intense, and even jolting. I cried off and on as I read it, want to read it again, and am recommending that EVERYONE who knows me, and anyone who reads this post run right out and get a copy and read it that same day! Historical fiction is rarely this alive, present, full of energy. Do read it! The title character, Jotham, is a special needs person. There isn’t any sickly sweet idealization here. The physical realities … Continue reading
I have MET SUPERMOM! I recently read an article in the Texas Home School Coalition Review (August 2011, Vol. 15, Issue 3)* titled “Insights From a Supermom Wannabe” in which the author made the conclusion, “Supermom does not exist.” and my instant response was, “Yes she does and I know who she is!” This mother demonstrated utter faith in God, total obedience to God’s will, a deep humility in her own person, modesty in all her actions, dedication to her vocation, patience in adversity, kindness to others, and an eagerness to serve God no matter what it was going to … Continue reading
Our Church is supposed to be a family and a community but so often it is simply the place where we go to Mass and then go home. One common solution to this is to attempt to turn the Mass into a social connecting time. This is a serious error for this reason: Mass is for worshiping God and becoming closer to Christ through participation in the Liturgy of the Word and in receiving the Eucharist. Our unity as a community comes through our unity with God and to change the Mass is to downplay this essential aspect. Keep the … Continue reading
On my favorite forum we had a discussion about divorce. Agreed upon was that divorce is too common among Catholics. I believe it is also too common among other Christians as well, but here I deal from the Catholic perspective and allow other Christians to apply the ideas to their own situations. I argued that the problem is not divorce but that Catholics enter into civil marriages without entering into Sacramental Marriages. Furthermore, the problem of lack of sacramental marriage is due to poor Catechesis (knowledge of what the Church teaches) and lack of discipleship (application of Church teaching to … Continue reading
I’ve been thinking about marriage since I responded to a post on Catholic Online Forum. A young man was asking about what we thought important to finding the right spouse. I’ve some things I think worth saying on this topic. I think shared values and faith are pretty well understood to be important in seeking a partner. The following are rarely discussed to any extent and so here is what I have found to be important: Know yourself. This is an important key. There are things about each of us that when we are honest about ourselves are traits which … Continue reading
Summer days start out early, the sun shines brightly through the skylight and I wake with the dawn. Today, I woke at 6:00. MORNING OFFERING I attempt to remember to greet the day with a brief prayer asking God to accept my efforts this day and asking for His aid in doing my work well. This is the ideal, this sometimes even happens! Other days, sadly all too often, my morning offering is made well after I begin my day. Still, I keep reaching for that ideal I have of waking and dedicating every day to God even before my … Continue reading
What is a Lay Vocation? A vocation is the work a lay person does for God and includes everything that person does in this life. Every vocation is as unique as the person to whom that vocation belongs. Each of us has a special call, a special vocation, and it will be made up of many elements unique to us and is designed to help us become saints. A Lay person is any person who has not received Holy Orders (anyone not a deacon, priest or bishop). What are the elements that make up a vocation? Every single activity in … Continue reading
There is a booklet put out by a Catholic Saint called “Passionately Loving the World” and in this is expressed the need for every Christian to mediate the love of God to a world that often forgets Him and does not know Him. How does this work? It works by our recognizing the inherent goodness in God’s creation in spite of the many flaws created by human sin. We must love the good that is there, no matter where it is to be found. Do you love your dog? There is a lot of good in the family pet but … Continue reading