Temptation

http://www.catholicmemes.com/not-impressed-2/padre-pio-not-imressed/

Writing.

I havn't written here in a long time.
The poems I've posted have been written for other purposes.


This, however, is a vain attempt at writing something, different.

Stuff it. That's not going to work.
I can not currently put what I'm thinking or feeling into sentences and paragraphs.
That's why my tumblog has been overused of late.

I want to write something that is at once meaningful and universal.
I want to write something that is at once interesting and personal.
I want to write something that is at once poigniant and popular.

I want to write something at once.

Litany to the Holy Family

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, most worthy of our veneration, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, called “the Holy Family” from all time, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, son, mother, and head of the Holy Family, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, divine child, pure spouse, and chaste spouse, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, restorers of fallen families, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, image of the Blessed Trinity here on earth, Pray for us.
Holy Family, tested by the greatest of difficulties, Pray for us.
Holy Family, with much suffering on the journey to Bethlehem, Pray for us.
Holy Family, without a welcome in Bethlehem, Pray for us.
Holy Family, visited by the poor shepherds, Pray for us.
Holy Family, obliged to live in a stable, Pray for us.
Holy Family, praised by the Angels, Pray for us.
Holy Family, venerated by the wise men from the East, Pray for us.
Holy Family, greeted by the pious Simeon in the temple, Pray for us.
Holy Family, persecuted and exiled to a foreign country, Pray for us.
Holy Family, hidden and unknown in Nazareth, Pray for us.
Holy Family, faithful in the observance of divine laws, Pray for us.
Holy Family, perfect model of the Christian family, Pray for us.
Holy Family, center of peace and concord, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose protector is a model of paternal care, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose mother is a model of maternal diligence, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose Divine Child is a model of filial obedience, Pray for us.
Holy Family, poor in material goods, but rich in divine blessings, Pray for us.
Holy Family, as nothing in the eyes of men, but so great in heaven, Pray for us.
Holy Family, our support in life and our hope in death, Pray for us.
Holy Family, patron and protector of our Congregation, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Let us pray.
O God of infinite goodness and kindness, who has deigned to call us to this Congregation, give us the grace to venerate Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so that, imitating them in this life, we may enjoy with them the life to come. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Dear Mum,

January 22, 2023

Dear Mom:

Can you believe it is already the year 2023? I’m still writing ’22 on everything! It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in the first grade and celebrating the change to a new century.
I know we really haven’t chatted since Christmas, Mom, and I’m sorry. Anyway, I have some difficult news to share with you and, to be honest, I really didn’t want to call or talk about this face to face.

But before I get to that, let me report that Ted just got a big promotion, and I should be up for a hefty raise this year if I keep putting in all those crazy hours. You know how I work at it. (Yes, we’re still struggling to pay the bills.)

Little Timmy’s been okay at kindergarten, although he complains about going. But then, he wasn’t happy about the day-care center either. So what can we do?

He’s been a real problem, Mom. He’s a good kid, but quite honestly, he’s an unfair burden on us at this time in our lives.Ted and I have talked this through, and we have finally made a choice. Plenty of other families have made the same choice and are really better off today.

Our pastor is supportive of our choice. He pointed out the family is a system, and the demands of one member shouldn’t be allowed to ruin the whole. The pastor told us to be prayerful and to consider all the factors as to what is right to make our family work. He says that even though he probably wouldn’t do it himself, the choice really is ours. He was kind enough to refer us to a children’s clinic near here, so at least that part is easy.

Don’t get me wrong, Mom. I’m not an uncaring mother. I do feel sorry for the little guy. I think he heard Ted and me talking about this the other night. I turned and saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs in his PJ’s with his little teddy bear that you gave him under his arm, and his eyes were sort of welled up with tears.

Mom, the way he looked at me just about broke my heart, but I honestly believe this is better for Timmy, too. It’s just not fair to force him to live in a family that can’t give him the time and attention he deserves.

And please, Mom, don’t give me the kind of grief that grandma gave you over your abortions. It’s the same thing, you know. There’s really no difference.

We’ve told Timmy he’s just going in for a “vaccination.” Anyway, they say the termination procedure is painless. I guess it’s just as well that you haven’t seen that much of little Timmy lately.

Please give my love to Dad.

Your daughter

(Author unknown) via Partick Madrid

Difference

People don't come up to one and exclaim, "I hear you're becoming a lawyer!" "... a doctor!" "... an engineer!" or "... a hairdresser!" Yet, in the past fortnight, I have had no less than four people say to me, "I hear you're becoming a nun!" Then, predominately, once I've explained that I am still discerning that, and I ask that the statement of my apparently-impending nunhood not be repeated, I am told "But it gives such hope to people!" or am asked "Why do you think you get to be treated differently?"

Why doesn't the thought of good Catholic lawyers, doctors, engineers and hairdressers give people hope in the same way the thought of another nun reportedly does?

Also, if one would not go around discussing unconfirmed marriage plans, then why do people go around discussing unconfirmed consecration plans?

I don't want to be treated differently: I want to be treated the same.

How long, oh Lord? How long?

Have you ever had the feeling of your heart been torn, very slowly, both out of your chest and into pieces?
Have you ever wanted to give a complete stranger a bear-hug and tell them that everything's alright and that they don't have to go through their pain anymore?
Have you ever wanted to cry, but not had the tears?
Have you ever asked God to allow you to suffer some horrible fate, rather than allow an injustice to occur?
Have you ever wondered what type of good He must be bringing out of a great evil, while thanking Him for that good?
Have you ever wanted to run away screaming, yet found yourself unable to tear yourself away?
Have you ever gone to speak, but no sound would come out of your mouth?
Have you ever wondered what their pain is like, and wished you could take it away?
Have you ever longed for them to stop, and been unable to show them why they ought to?

How do you say "I love you and I want the best for you" to people who don't want you to speak to them?
How do you piece your heart back together after the one you've loved has been torn apart?
How do you continue to get up in the morning, when the whole world seems to be against the love you long to show?
How do you give to the next person, when you've emptied yourself entirely for this one?
How do you explain what drives you to do it over and over and over again?
How do you explain why you are there and how you can stay there all day, without others around?








I just sat down to blog about today's experience of praying and side-walk counselling, but I don't know where to start or what to say. These are my questions.

What Jen Learnt From Praying Outstide Abortion Clinics

Over at the National Catholic Register, Jennifer Fulwiler writes about the five things she has learned form praying outside abortion mills (my words, not hers.)

She writes:

The first time I went out to pray in front of an abortion clinic as part of a 40 Days for Life vigil, it felt surreal. Not only am I naturally awkward about public displays of faith, but less than a decade ago I was still a pro-choice atheist. In fact, it felt like such an unnatural thing for me to do that I was tempted to back out at the last minute and see if I could find someone else to cover my hour. I’m very glad that I went through with it, because it ended up being a powerful, eye-opening experience. Here are a few things I took away from it:

1.  The pro-life movement is well organized.  

2. Average people are getting involved in the pro-life cause.

3. Communities don’t want abortion facilities in their neighborhoods

4. Pro-lifers care about the mothers just as much as they care about the babies.

5. Spiritual warfare is real.

6. Prayer works. 

To Do List

• Get an art degree. Ask people if they would like fries with that.
• Major in philosophy. Ask people WHY they would like fries with that. 
• Marry a guy named Jessie. Have a girl named Stacy. Become Stacy's mom and Jessie's girl.  
• Buy a parrot. Teach the parrot to say, "Help! I've been turned into a parrot." 
• Change iPod name to "Titanic." Download new songs. Be amused by the fact that the Titanic is syncing.  
• Put sign on door that reads "Dumble." 
•  Boycott shampoo. Demand real poo.
• Break personal record for days without dying.  
• Find out what color a chameleon is while it's on a mirror. 
• Buy Connor a mirror.*
• Make elaborate Hogwarts rejection letters. Put in mailboxes of the neighbours who have kids.
• Play hide and seek in Ikea. 
• Write essay.
• Live forever or die trying. 
• Get a dog. Name it Curiosity. 
• Find a sleeping mosquito. Make a buzzing noise to wake it.
• Find out what that mysterious ticking noise is.  
• Place an empty guitar rack in a public space with a sign that reads, "Free air guitars!"
•  Invent time machine that only moves forward at normal pace. 
• Find a deaf person. Have them take a video camera to a forest and cut down a tree.  
• Complain about how everything sucks. Do nothing about it. 
• Attach a sign to a manhole that reads, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tryouts. Inquire within.
• Close browser window. Get a life.

  Most items on this list are from Grouchy Rabbit. They own the copyright. If they want, I'll take this down. Until then... Some of these are actually do-able...

*The real lyrics to that BoyGeorge Song

Weekend Reading

This post is for a friend of mine. I think that she should follow this link and read the whole article. Of course, the rest of you can do that too and even, perhaps, ought to.

Here's a few lines before you do that though.

There is a case to be made for spending some time with ugliness. Specifically, ugliness at Mass.
You really don’t have to seek it out. Unless you’re cloistered, sooner or later you will find yourself in a parish that just doesn’t get it — doesn’t get beauty, doesn’t want it, chases it out with a stick every Sunday.
...
The whole production, from the opening joke — I mean, the Introductory Rites — to the last hurrah — I mean, Final Blessing — will seem designed to irritate, to offend, and to cause you grief and pain. And you know what? This is your big opportunity. You can either clench your teeth, wrap your scapulars around your ears to block out the tambourines, and hightail it out of there as soon as you can . . .
Or you can think to yourself, “Christ is here. And if he can stand it, then so can I.”

 Read all of it at the National Catholic Register:  Why I Love My Ugly Little Liturgy

Coke or Pepsi?

You all know I'm a die-hard Pepsi-Max fan.

Or, rather, you all knew that I was a die-hard Pepsi-Max fan.

I, Kelly, do hereby give up Pepsi-Max and all other PepsiCo products until such time as that company severs ties with Senomyx, a company that uses cells from 'electively aborted' babies.

Thatisall.

Deo Gratias! Brave Bishop in Malta.

Praised be to God for Bsp Grech of the diocese of Gozo in Malta.

Here is copypasta from CatholicCulture.org:

Malta: bishop says dissenting Catholics should not receive Communion

  May 20, 2011

Preaching less than two weeks before a nationwide referendum on the legalization of divorce, the head of one of Malta’s two dioceses said that dissenting Catholics should not receive Holy Communion.
“Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. And the wolf is now saying he is Catholic,” said Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo in what Maltese journalists describe as a reference to a pro-divorce Catholic organization. “This is a falsity, this is deceit. I am ready to dialogue with everyone but do not be false, do not lie … If you are not in communion with Christ’s teachings, you are not in communion with the Church and you cannot receive Communion.”
“To be politically correct and not tell things as they are will lead us to be sorry,” he added. “There are the brigands among us who are utilizing every means possible to lead the flock astray. They are going after marriage, and then other things will follow.”
During his April 2010 apostolic journey to Malta, Pope Benedict urged the nation’s citizens to defend the indissolubility of marriage.
“Your nation should continue to stand up for the indissolubility of marriage as a natural institution as well as a sacramental one, and for the true nature of the family, just as it does for the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death and for the proper respect owed to religious freedom in ways that bring authentic integral development to individuals and society,” he said upon arriving in the nation.

Catholicism: You're doing it wrong.

Statue of Gandhi at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry

There is a link attached to this post of The Vortex episode for the 8th of April. It's on how not to be Catholic.
Only watch it if you have a strong stomach. It is actually sickening.

Much, much more sickening than the video that you can find here.<-- that video, btw, is Cazza's favourtive clip ever. Everytime she goes on a YouTube binge, this clip comes up. I think that 9 or the 10 million views are hers. That's all.

Spare Change

Life is changing.

Life is always changing.
It just appears to be changing more rapidly than before.

Is that because I'm revisiting previous decisions and re-discerning them?
Or is it just that I have so very much to do and almost all that I have to do has a deadline that is closer than I would like?