Category: Adoration

An Advent goal

Advent is about preparing.

Preparing a way for the Lord. In our homes, our hearts, our lives. (I tried really hard for a word that started with an “h” there.)

So my goal this coming Advent (coming so fast!) is to spend some time in prayer for one particular person every day.

Maybe I’ll say a (decade of a) Rosary for them. Maybe I’ll offer them up during the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Maybe I’ll pray while I’m driving.

There are those points in my day that remind me of someone. For instance, anything to do with the GOP, and I think of my friend that works at the headquarters in DC. Anything to do with layout in the newspaper, I think of my best friend and old managing editor.

When I think about working out, I think about Steve Kamb at Nerd Fitness. I think about Juli at PaleOMG and Michelle Tam at NomNomPaleo when I’m hungry. I think about people for weird reasons, too.

I think (I hope!) we all do it. We relate people to things in our lives.

So each day this Advent, will be someone else. Someone special (they’re all special). And I don’t even have to know them! Though I’d like to know Steve and Juli and Michelle because they are all really awesome from what I know at least. (That’s what the Internet tells me.)

It’s going to be different every day. It’s going to be fun and refreshing.

And if I forget a day, it’s OK! The point is not to get stressed about it. It’s for prayerful reflection on my friends and people that I know.

I’m sure I’ll prayer for all my family, my friends, my coworkers. But I think those prayers for people we don’t know are important too. They work, too.

Probably a day for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Adoration

I went to the Communion Service and Benediction this morning.

It was beautiful. And right after the Benediction, when we were praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and I was kneeling there in the REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST, I got a large… um, sniff… of the incense.

Oh, Lord. I thank God that I am a Catholic and we use all of our senses in our Worship. Not just sight, not just sound. Smell, feel, taste.

We are humans, and I think I learned this from Scott Hahn (probably), we can worship with all of our senses! Thank God for that! Praise the Lord.

It was one of those moments where I was so glad, so grateful that I had come to the church this morning. So grateful that I am Catholic, that I belong (kind of… I’m not a member yet) to a Parish that practices Adoration weekly.

I can bring my pain, my sorrows, my worries, my troubles, my failings to the feet of Jesus. And he’s there to say, “Child, just take my hand.”

At least, that’s what I imagine Christ saying to me. Take my hand. The way a child takes her mother’s hand when crossing the street. I take Jesus’ hand in life.

Well, I try to.

God Bless. Happy Advent.

Mistakes (and those who make them)

Which is all of us, of course.

Because we’re human. Though we strive to be Christ-like every day, all day, it doesn’t always happen.

In this, it really is the trying that counts. The honest effort we put forth, makes it valuable. Especially if we learn from our mistakes.

As I’ve written about before, I am a reporter. I write for a medium-sized (circulation) weekly.

This week, we put out an early issue because of Thanksgiving… and I’m reading the printed copy now… and there are mistakes. It’s full of mistakes. It’s pretty bad some of these mistakes we made.

Let me show you.

Those question marks are filler text… who ever “sends” the page (the final reviewer) to the print house is supposed to fill it in. That didn’t happen last night.

That should be “budget (and) levy hold.” We use commas to mean AND. That’s OK in the headline, but the subject-verb disagreement is not OK.

(Just to be clear, subject-verb agreement is important everywhere.)

Anyway, as I read the entire paper (not just my stories!), I’m sure I’ll find more. It’s rough.

But I kind of become complacent with it, too. I mean, we publish every week. And we have four sections that the editorial team works on. It’s easy for us to overlook things when we’re in a hurry, tired or hungry.

It happens. We live with it. We beat ourselves up over it, and then we get over it.

Year of Faith goals

How are you going so far?

My goals (copied and pasted for you):

  • Attend adoration (1 hour)/attend benediction once a month
  • Attend Mass at a new Parish/Church once a month (somewhere I haven’t been yet)
  • Read the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • Read six (more if I can) books on Church History, including saints, popes, council documents, papal documents, etc. These should be published with at least an imprimatur. I’m really interested in more on the Crusades.

I spent an hour in adoration in October. Will probably go next week for November (see how I push it back? haha). It’s important to make my goals a priority, but “every day life” gets in the way sometimes.

In October, I went to St. Andrew’s. The past two weeks I was at St. Paul’s. There we go. So far so good with that. 🙂

I’m keeping up with the Catechism daily readings (you can still sign up). It’s day 41 in the Year of Faith. Wow. It doesn’t seem like that long at long.

Imagine all the things we’ll learn and experience the rest of the year?

I’m still working through Scott Hahn‘s “A Father who keeps His Promises.”

Also, Chesterton’s Orthodoxy is on my night stand. I plan to spend Thanksgiving reading (seriously).

Then up next is TOB for Beginners. I’m excited for that, so excited that I want to only be reading one thing while I read it. That will be a challenge itself (such a bibliophile).

Anyway, God bless ya’ll, and Happy Thanksgiving! See you in Mass! 🙂

(I traditionally go to Mass on Thanksgiving… why not? Another chance to be close to Christ in the Eucharist, yes, please!)

The Year of Faith

It begins…

 

I read the Porta Fidei over this past weekend and have some ideas.

I want this year to be about the Catechism, Mass, Adoration and Church History.

Here are my goals:

Attend adoration (1 hour)/attend benediction once a month

Attend Mass at a new Parish/Church once a month (somewhere I haven’t been yet)

Read the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church

Read six (more if I can) books on Church History, including saints, popes, council documents, papal documents, etc. These should be published with at least an imprimatur. I’m really interested in more on the Crusades.

 

That’s not too much to handle at all.

I had reflection about the Porta Fidei, but I’m feeling that it’s more a personal reaction than anything I want to share. At least right now.

Maybe some of it will be shared in bits and pieces.

I hope you have some goals (write them down to be accountable to yourself) for this year. It’s really a great reasons (excuse) to get to know the faith better. What better time to do it?

 

God Bless.