Trifecta

HELLO, WORLD! 

Born in water. Caught on fire. This may sound like a series of unfortunate events, but it is actually quite the contrary for me.

Allow me to explain. As an infant, I was baptized into the Catholic Church with water. Through Confirmation, a sacrament of initiation, we receive the Holy Spirit – the same one in the Bible which came down in tongues of flame on the apostles – to become full-fledged members in the Catholic faith.

Growing up Catholic means that I spent practically every Sunday of my life sitting in pews; I picked up some Latin over the years (Kyrie eleison,1 anyone?) and have prayed the Rosary with my fingers. I admit that I have dozed off in homilies and dreaded going to church for a time in my life. I still stumble through some of the responses since the implementation of the new English Roman Missal translation – for those who haven’t gone to Mass since November 2011, boy you’re in for a treat. When people hand me flyers asking, “Are you saved?”, I’m not sure if they’re looking for a simple yes/no answer or a theological debate. Oh, and the awkward moment when you reference books that are only in the Catholic bible during a discussion with Protestant friends (“Wait, the book of Judith? You mean Jude?”). 

My spiritual journey hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, but it has been the most worthwhile investment that I have made. I began taking my faith more seriously during my later high school years and have since then grappled with questions that I... probably still struggle with. Yet over the years, I have also discovered the beauty of having a universal church – that’s what the word “catholic” means!

My goal for this blog is to NOT jump in all the angry debates and add to the hollering – there are already plenty of CAPS-lock shouting matches. I would like to take a step back from talking about Catholicism as a political issue.

By sharing how my faith challenges and grows me, I hope to demonstrate that Catholicism may be ancient, but it is far from dead. My aim for this blog is to provide some thoughts on various issues that our society faces through a Catholic perspective and answer some questions that one might have about the Catholic faith. In this modern age, what does it mean to be religious or even spiritual, for that matter? Are Catholic teachings out of date? What’s the difference between Christian and Catholic and will we ever get along? Can the Mass get any more boring and why do Catholics bother to go? Will Catholics get lung cancer from inhaling too much smoke from burning incense? (Partially kidding on the last one, although I think I will go Google that now... here's what I found)

Oh and one other thing, growing up Catholic doesn’t mean you were deprived of the Disney channel, Pokemon, or the Power Rangers in your childhood. It just meant that in addition to them, you also had the Avengers like St. Joan of Arc and St. Michael the Archangel. Further evidence of awesomeness: St. Moses the Black happened to be featured on the "Badass of the Week" (is it a sin that I laughed too hard at this?). 

Hopefully you'll find through this blog that Catholics aren't old, dying, and boring, but can be full of life, joy, laughter, and growth. Until next time, I'll leave you with what our St. Francis of Assisi would often address at the end of his sermons and letters,

Pax et Bonum.2

1 “Lord have mercy” in Latin, one of my personal favorite prayers said in Mass

2 “Peace and the good”  in Latin

THE CATHOLIC PROFILE

In light of recent events, it seems like everyone has an opinion about what’s going on in the Catholic Church. The resulting question is: which are ones that are actually good and worth reading? The search through the Internet for accurate information, untwisted by media, is quite a gnarly task that requires untangling truth from fiction. After combing through several web blogs, I’ve come across a few good ones – definitely check them out! I’ve got them on my blog roll, so feel free to explore!

One of my pet peeves is hearing people who don’t know anything about Catholicism voice their opinions on the subject – sigh, misinformed people spreading misinformation.  But Dr. Taylor Marshall, the author of the Canterbury tales blog -- this guy knows his stuff! Need the proof? He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and is the chancellor of the College of Saints John Fisher & Thomas More in Texas. He has also written books (check out The Crucified Rabbi), been a guest lecturer, and been featured on podcasts. He posts about 5 times a week about topics related to Catholic culture, including the liturgy, saints, philosophy, theology, the Church fathers, and Mariology. On the bottom of the front page, there is a list of tags that he uses – some of the more popular being “Mary,” “Pope,” “Thomas Aquinas,” and “Old Testament.”  Over the six years of running the blog, he has had over 5 million hits and 14,000 followers. (sidenote: wow, imagine if Jesus had a blog...) You can subscribe for email updates, connect through twitter, facebook, linkedin, rss feed, and even youtube – AND he gives free stuff to subscribers (GOTTA LOVE FREE STUFF!)!

Dr. Marshall posts both personal and scholarly work – including a provided list of links to the 21 ecumenical councils, Catholic apologetics, and Bible study help for Catholics. His blog posts are catchy, but contain academic references. For example, his post “How to Spring a Soul from Purgatory in 4 Steps” caught my eye (the more in Heaven, the merrier, right?), and the post included citations and references to theological work. Based on his posts, it seems like the blog leans towards the traditional and orthodox side. The blog post “6 Reasons Why Contraception is Sinful and Contrary to God’s Will” presented arguments based on the scripture and theology. For example, he references specific Bible quotes such as Rev 9:20-21, and quotes Saint Augustine:

"I am supposing, then, although you are not lying [with your wife] for the sake of procreating offspring, you are not for the sake of lust obstructing their procreation by an evil prayer or an evil deed. Those who do this, although they are called husband and wife, are not; nor do they retain any reality of marriage, but with a respectable name cover a shame. Sometimes this lustful cruelty, or cruel lust, comes to this, that they even procure poisons of sterility…Assuredly if both husband and wife are like this, they are not married, and if they were like this from the beginning they come together not joined in matrimony but in seduction. If both are not like this, I dare to say that either the wife is in a fashion the harlot of her husband or he is an adulterer with his own wife." Augustine, Marriage and Concupiscence 1:15:17 (A.D. 419)

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His more popular blog posts have also generated lots of discussion – his more recent post “Traditionalists and Pope Francis: Can We Take a Deep Breath and Please Calm Down?” received over 300 comments. The audience which responds to the post varies in views, but for the most part, engages in very intellectual discussions – it seems that many readers also have a foundation in Catholic theology. Dr. Taylor Marshall also jumps in the comment section with some of his responses. While his blog posts are academic, he still writes clearly and simply, with even jokes such as “Don't let the haters get you down.” Although maybe the next step would be for him to include .gifs as such:

But maybe that's why he has his own blog and I have my own, haha! Aside from the lack of funny Disney gifs, I personally found this blog super insightful because it balances academic and scholarly information on the Catholic Church with personal thoughts and testimonies. Perhaps thanks to some moderation of comments, I was able to come across other interesting Internet users – Catholic and non-Catholics alike – that partake in discussions on topics that I also blog about. All in all, this guy’s legit and has really awesome – actually Catholic – things to say. Check out his blog, his books, and free stuff!

Hearing Voice in Words

You can recite all that happened over the 2000 years of Catholic church history and list all the theological arguments in the world, but nothing can quite replace someone's personal story of how they encountered God's love in their life. Being part of a Catholic community -- in your local diocese or your internet blogosphere -- allows people to not only engage in intellectual dialogue, but also share their testimonies. Your story of what you've been through requires your voice; that's how we get a feel for your personality and individuality.

Jennifer Fulwiler, the author of a Catholic and personal blog “Conversion Diary,” writes with humor, thoughtfulness, and individuality. I came across her blog several years ago, and recently rediscovered it -- I LOVE HER! She welcomes readers to take a glimpse into her life by sharing reflections of her spiritual journey and daily shenanigans. Her voice is lighthearted, funny, and insightful in the post “Notes from beneath the veil,” while it is solemn, earnest, and personal in the post “Explaining where God is when we suffer, when there are no words.” Through her choice of words and expressions of emotions, Jennifer’s personality and voice on her blog is engaging and unique.

In “Notes from beneath the veil,” a comical story with a sincere message, Jennifer presents herself as a devoted Catholic mother who has learned to live life with sense of humor.

And then Fr. Uche … he mused, “What did Jesus go up the mountain to do?” I jumped when a voice beside me shouted at the loudest possible volume:

“TO PWAY!!!!!”

That would be my sweet daughter’s pronunciation of “pray.” She’s so excited about Jesus and was so delighted to know the answer that she just had to scream it at the very top of her lungs — and, wow, who knew that a young child’s voice could fill an entire huge building like that? The church was packed with about 1,100 people, and I am pretty sure that every single one of them looked over at us in that moment. I had already felt like THE WOMAN IN THE CHAPEL VEIL!!!!, and now I felt like THE WOMAN IN THE CHAPEL VEIL WHOM WE’RE ALL NOW STARING AT BECAUSE HER KID YELLS AT THE PRIEST DURING MASS!!!!

Even though I haven't met Jennifer in person, I could just totally imagine this comical scenario. It's written in such an engaging story-telling manner -- I can just see her laughing over this with a friend at a coffee shop. By choosing the words like “loudest possible volume,” emphasizing the “1,100 people,” and italicizing “every single one,” Jennifer describes her interior state of insecurity about wearing THE CHAPEL VEIL!!!! The long capitalized phrase with many exclamation points creatively depicts the frantic panic and anxiety of stage-fright which we have all experienced at some embarrassing point in our life (like the annual piano recitals, man they get me every year). At the same time, the phrases “my sweet daughter” and “TO PWAY!!!!!,” “wow, who knew…” show her love and forgiveness towards her daughter despite the minor freak-out session she had at the moment when the entire church turned to stare at them. It's just like how we shake our head when we think about the embarrassing yet endearing things our friends do; I often say to them, "why am i even friends with you..". 

Not only that, I love the references Jennifer makes -- it helps me think that I'm cool (whether I actually am is a different story). Jennifer’s references to Dr. Phil, and double parenthetical comments “(… I do not get all my life wisdom from daytime talk shows anymore.) (Now it mostly comes from Pinterest.)” are funny and relate to the modern culture which many of her readers are familiar with. I laughed!

Even when she is slightly more serious about what she had learned by wearing the chapel veil, I like how Jennifer maintains a lighthearted tone: “To my great surprise, it seemed to me that the people around me were (wait for it…this is going to be shocking…) focused more on the Mass than they were on me. I know, amazing.” By using some playful sarcasm to joke about what she learned about her inaccurate assumptions, I can see her as a friend sharing her thoughts rather than a didactic teacher. This is an awesome strategy because in all honesty, who wants to be lectured at, right?

Her honesty, humbled, and reflective character is revealed through the sentences “Waves of shame rushed through me when I realized: these are the people whom I assumed would be judging me.” "These” emphasizes the lovely people she described in the preceding paragraph and her own realization of how absurd her worries are. Her reflections spurred me to think about times when I was worried that people who loved me very much in my life would judge me. 

In her more serious posts, such as “Explaining where God is when we suffer, when there are no words,” Jennifer’s voice and tone of writing shifts to be more reverent. It’s amazing how powerful just some of the simplest short paragraphs can be. Even though this post does not contain any jokes or sarcasm, I was soo moved by the sentences “What to do..? Where can we turn..? How can we ponder..?”. I remembered my painful life experiences and related to the “raw human agony” and “rail[ing] against God” described. But she doesn't leave it there -- she encourages me by pointing us to her “only one source of comfort...The crucifix." What is it like to ponder, to gaze, to wonder upon the cross which Jesus died? Within these sentences (and yay, parallel structure, my favorite!), she explores the significance of God – the creator of “each molecule… in all the billions of galaxies…” – dying on the cross to save “creatures who introduced misery into their world… through their own free will,” in order to reunite his children “in an eternity of peace.” The following concluding paragraph, short and simple once again, provides a concise message that contrasts our “scream” to the crucifix’s constant “wordless response.”

Jennifer’s voice in her writing is what drives me to be a better blogger. I love how as readers, we can share in her emotions and respond to her writing (smiles, laughter, comments, inspired thoughts). Through both carefree and heartfelt tones, Jennifer provides thought-provoking messages in each post – even the casual posts on her life point back to the theme of living out the Catholic faith. And that is exactly the beauty of sharing your faith with others: when you write from your heart, when you let your voice speak through your words, even strangers can feel touched by the love story between you and God.