Ok, I'm Gonna Comment

I really did not want to get involved in they hype of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I didn't even watch more than 2 minutes of the wedding. And personally, I kinda got sick hearing of it. I know it is a special occasion and we don't see princes and princesses getting married every day, but to me the pomp and circumstance of such an occasion can sometimes be too much.

However, there are just a few things that I want to comment on. First off I need to give Princess Kate Kudos for choosing a beautiful, simple, and modest dress.

Her dress was designed by Sarah Burton from the House of Alexandre McQueen and it is very Grace Kelly-esq.



I simply LOVE the long lace sleeves and the train was not enormously long like Diana's was. There is some debate in the 'modesty' world asking if Kate's dress can really be considered modest because the v-neck is a little on the low side. However, I have to agree with Rebecca from Modestia, saying that Kate is a rather skinny girl and she does not have a lot of boobage going on, therefore cleavage was not an issue. So, I say, that Kate's dress was modest!

Pippa, her sister and maid-of-honor, also wore a beautifully modest wedding dress. I could hear the gasps of the conservatives when she stepped out of the car wearing an ivory dress, because nobody is supposed to upstage the bride on her day, but no doubt Kate helped choose the dress and if she wants her sister to dress in ivory, then I say go for it! Diana's maid of honor wore ivory at the wedding too. Maybe it is a British thing?Pippa's dress was simple and elegant and did not overshadow Kate in the least!

Also, from what I understand, Kate did HER OWN MAKE-UP! Now that takes some courage! Apparently she wanted William to recognize her on their wedding day. So, I have to give Kudos to Princess Kate for dressing modestly and not over-doing it on the make-up. We have yet to see what she will do as princess, but I think this will begin a new era on wedding dresses with sleeves, which I will be very thankful to see!

Now, all of this wedding dress talk makes me want to comment on my experience shopping for a dress. As we all know, the trend going on now is sleeveless wedding dresses, or dresses with a 'tube-top' style. Three years ago, when I first got engaged, the first thing I did was buy a wedding dress.

There is one thing you need to understand. At the time, I was not a practicing Catholic, and we did not have any intention of getting married in a church. But we planned to have a small wedding of no more that 50 guests at a B&B. You know, something small and simple. I am a simple kinda girl and I don't really want extravagance. So, I bought a simple dress, with no straps, sleeves, or even any lace or sequins. It was ivory with a little ruching on the side and no train. It cost me $250 from Davids Bridal and I was very happy with it.

After my fiance proposed to me, the economy went in the tanker, so we postponed our wedding and we will get married before the year is out. Now that we are devout Catholics and want to be married in the church, I decided to get a new dress, something a little more dressy than the one I originally bought because my fiance and the groomsmen will all be in full Scottish Kilt regalia, and they will look dressier than I. And I, like most brides, want to be the focus on my wedding day. Since I could not have my future husband look nicer than me on our day, I decided to get a new dress and he supported the idea.

Almost immediately, I wanted to find a modest dress, something that at least had sleeves. But that was more difficult than I thought. First off, there is very little selection in my area, and I hesitated to buy something online without trying it on. I also wanted to stay away from discount online bridal shops because most of those dresses are made in sweatshops in China. I did not want to spend a lot on a dress because it is something I will only wear once. Personally, I think it is ridiculous to spend thousands of dollars on a dress, very vain. So, I set my budget at $750 max.

Since there were very few wedding dresses with sleeves to chose from, and most 'modest' dresses tend to look very frumpy, I thought that if I go with a sleeveless dress, I will purchase a lace bolero to cover my shoulders during the ceremony, I will be in front of God after all! Since I wanted to see dresses at a place other than David's Bridal, I tried a small bridal boutique outside of Frederick, MD. The reason I went there was because they actually posted prices on their website. I don't have time to go from boutique to boutique to try on dresses out of my price range. (I am a very know-what-I-want kind of shopper, but not in a bitchy kind of way...I don't think.) The boutique was quaint, but did not have a lot of selection and I just did not find 'the dress'.

So, I went back to David's. There I tried on about 6 dresses, some with sleeves some without, and I settled on an lace ivory and champagne dress with capped sleeves and a small train. I have to admit, this dress looked so stunning! My friend and fellow classmate who works at David's, Joey, just had to come up and tell me how beautiful I looked! (Joey, you're the greatest!)  I am a very fair red-head, so the colour worked very well with my skin-tone. Also, it was within my budget, $724. Paired with a beautiful mantilla veil, I will certainly look beautiful on my wedding day!

 

I may not have long sleeves, but at least my shoulders will be covered. However, I am still debating on whether or not I should get that lace bolero for more coverage at the ceremony. Any thoughts?

I was flipping through the channels the other day and for lack of anything else on, I settled on Say Yes to the Dress, which takes place at Kleinfelds in New York City. Of course everything in NY is expensive and they sell designer dresses, so they tend to be very pricey. One woman, who was getting married in a church, chose the most horrific and revealing dress I had ever seen.

Notice that the bodice is practically see-through! It also laces up the back like a corset with no modesty panel. The bride to be bought the sample dress without her mother seeing it. So, when she brought her mother to back Kleinfelds for her fitting, and the dress was revealed, the mother's jaw practically dropped to the floor! "You remember that you're getting married in a church!" she exclaimed. So, the mother insisted that modesty panels be added to the bodice, and the neckline be brought up a bit. Luckily, the mother had some sense because this bride was getting married in the Roman Catholic church! (I think it was St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC.)

Why would this Roman Catholic bride have little sense of modesty? Why would she think it is ok to practically bare your midriff at the altar while saying vows before God?

I know that the Mormons have a dress code for those entering the Temple, and they require that wedding dresses have proper sleeves and a modest neck-line. There are thousands of 'modest' wedding dress shops in Utah. In fact, I was tempted to buy a dress online from a shop outside of Salt Lake City. But I just could not bring myself to buy it without trying it on.

I sincerely hope that Kate Middleton's dress will have an impact on the wedding dress market and hopefully sleeves and modest dresses will be brought back into the fold with beauty and grace. Hopefully, it will be a trend that lasts!







Women Cannot Become Priests

I am a Roman Catholic. I am also a woman who will soon take part in the sacrament of marriage to the love of my life. We are practicing Natural Family Planning and will soon start a family of our own after we consecrate ourselves before God in His Church.

As I try to do some research on what a woman's role in the church is, I am constantly bombarded with two extremes. One, being on the utter right says that women should be silent, wear long skirts all of the time and be submissive to her husband. The other, being on the utter left, argues passionately that women should become priests. There is even a group who call themselves Roman Catholic Women Priests who are leading the way. There are even a few members of the clergy who are supporting this.

Let me make one thing clear: Roman Catholic Women Priests is an oxymoron, and I will tell you why.

As a Roman Catholic there are a number of things that we are required to believe in order to be in full communion with the church. A few of these beliefs are that in order to really call ourselves Roman Catholic we are to believe whole heartedly that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist, this is the center of our faith. We are also to believe that Christ died on the cross and resurrected three days later. We are also to believe that he handed the Keys of the Kingdom to Peter, the Rock, to lead His Church and become the first Pope who handed down this power through apostolistic succession. One other thing, we are to believe that the Pope, the successor of Peter, is infallible on matters of faith because he is being guided by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore as Catholics, we believe that the Holy Father, when speaking ex cathedra, is being led directly from the Holy Spirit and is therefore free from error.

Back during the reign of Pope John Paul II, who is about to be beatified this May, the Holy Father clearly states:

"Only a baptized man [ vir] receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men [ viri] to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible."

He states again:

"Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful" (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 4).

The Pope in his infallibility has spoken. Jesus chose 12 male disciples to become His priests. Jesus gave them the ability to cast out demons, baptize nations, and forgive sins. While Jesus did have women followers and some women who were very close to Him, He only gave these abilities to his male disciples.
During his crucifixion, while most of His male disciples fled, the women stayed with Him to the very end. Did Christ reward their faithfulness by making them priests? No, He did not. Christ did not make the Virgin Mary nor Mary Magdalene priests.
Some say that Jesus was a man who was bound by the culture of his time, but we are enlightened now and therefore women should be able to become priests. Jesus was not bound by the culture of His time. He allowed women to follow him and be in his inner circle! He dined with sinners and prostitutes. He spoke to the Samaritan women like she was His equal. And because of this, the Jewish leaders liked Him even less.

The Pope is infallible. As Catholics we are bound to believe this. In his infallibility he has conferred the church is unable to ordain women. Those groups like Roman Catholic Women Priests are not truly Roman Catholic because they do not accept this crucial doctrine, and the members of the clergy who participated in their ordination have done so outside of the realms of the church. Therefore the ordination of these obstinate women are invalid. They are not Roman Catholic and they have not been ordained within the apostolistic succession.

As a Roman Catholics and as a woman I accept this teaching. Those of you who continue to argue, you have many other protestant denominations to chose from.

Modestia

I was surfing the net today and I came across this blog written by a woman named Rebecca who is very passionate about modest yet fashionable apparel. It's called Modestia. This is a very awesome blog and it strikes at a topic that I seem to be becoming more interested in. Can we as modern day women still be stylish and not leave little to the imagination? Modestia emphatically answers, YES!

Rebecca states her missions quite clearly:

Catholic modest fashion? Oh yes….
As far as resources go for Catholic women, there are plenty of sites for children, tweens, 30-something singles, and moms…but what about those of us in our late teens and 20s?
This blog was born out of a random moment in the Holy Spirit.
“Modestia” literally means “moderation” in Latin, but it is also indicates “modesty” too. The mantra of this blog: Because you can be modest and fab too means exactly what it sounds like. “Modesty” doesn’t mean “frumpy,” just like “Catholic” doesn’t mean “backward prudery.”
I hope you will find this blog to be a resource for Catholic modesty, Catholic modest fashion, Catholic thought on everything from chastity to feminism, and a comfortable environment to express what the late John Paul the Great called the “feminine genius.”
God bless you and may the Blessed Mother watch over you.

As a devout Catholic woman who wants to live and witness to others by example, I do my best to dress as modestly as I can while still looking beautiful and feminine. I am not an extremist who wears long skirts all of the time, but I try to dress in a way that is respectful to me and others around me.
I don't wear shorts, not because I have anything against shorts, it's just because I am very self-conscious about the scars on my legs, so I will always wear either pants, jeans, long skirts, or skirts that go to my knees with pantyhose, even in 100 degree weather. It's just how I am. I prefer shirts that have either long sleeves or 3/4 sleeves. Mainly because it may be hot outside, but a lot of places have the air-conditioners turned to 'arctic' and I get cold very easily. If I do wear a tank top, I will typically wear a cardigan over top of it.
For me it is a style that I prefer. I don't have anything against people who wear shorts, skirts without pantyhose, or sleeveless tops. However, it seems to me that some people dress just to show off their boobs or their legs or their butt in an attempt to draw attention from the opposite sex. The media and pop-culture is telling us that it is ok to show off your body and wear slinky clothes because it is sexy, and we all want to be sexy, don't we? We are constantly being bombarded with adds that feature thin women in suggestive poses telling us that we want to be like her so we should get such and such product. Our children and teenagers are the ones who are the most impressionable when it comes to this. As a result, every year the shorts get shorter, the tank tops get smaller, and our 12 year olds are exposing their cleavage.

I work at a college campus and I cannot tell you how many times I have confused a student for a street walker. I've seen heels the size of a stripper's paired with skirts the same size as a Kleenex. What mother would let their 18 year old child out of the house like that? (But I'll admit, not all of them have been 18...I've seen 60 year olds dress like this too, a little too disturbing.)

The thing that kinda upsets me the most is I sometimes see people dress this way in church. It seems that the Catholic church is the most lax when it comes to a dress code. I kinda understand why, I mean it is better to go to church dressed in jeans then not to be there at all. I will admit, when I go to church straight from work or another function, I will sometimes be in my jeans, but I am always wearing a respectful top.
Seeing people come to Sunday Mass dressed in torn jeans, a tank top with no cardigan showing some major cleavage, or a worn t-shirt I think shows disrespect. We are not only there to listen to the priest give his homily, we are there to receive Christ in the Eucharist and He is really present. You wouldn't wear jeans and a t-shirt to meet the Queen of England, would you? Since we know that Christ is really present in the Eucharist, why don't we dress like we are going to meet Him? Scott Hahn once said in one of his books that treating something that is Holy as a common thing degrades it. I think that some are degrading the holiness of the Mass by treating it as something that is common.

About three months ago at my church, a woman walked up the aisle with her husband and son to present the gifts. She wore a tight sweater that left nothing to the imagination, a skirt that barely covered her butt, and six inch platform stilettos. Hardly appropriate attire in my opinion.
People should put more of an effort of wearing their Sunday best to Mass on Sundays. It is a special occasion and it should be reflected by dressing as such.

Enough of my tirade, back to Modestia. Rebecca gives great exampled of modest dresses worn by celebrities. Such as Cate Blanchett:


And Ginnifer Goodwin:


These dresses are amazing in my opinion and it shows you don't have to bear all to be beautiful! The awesome thing with the vintage trend is that it bring out your femininity and still keeps the good covered.



Modestia has great resources for women who want to dress modestly and still look fashionable. Like she says, 'modesty does not mean frumpy'! I highly recommend this blog and I think a big kudos should go out to Rebecca for her awesomeness!

Sixteen & Pregnant

There are days when I am sitting in front of the boob-tube, trying to unwind from a series of graduate classes, I will flip through the channels and settle on a show called 16 & Pregnant on MTV. I am a little torn about the show and here is why:

First off, I need to give credit where credit is due. Kudos to all of those girls who chose LIFE instead of abortion! You should all be commended.
Also, I do think that the show does demonstrate the trials and tribulations of having a child too young and I think we can all agree that 16 or 17 or even 18 is too young to have a child, especially if you do not have the stability of a steady home life. Some girls have been very lucky to have such a supportive family, others have had an extremely diffucult time trying to raise a child. Some have had the courage to give their babies up for adoption, an extra big KUDOS to those couples!

However, there is a website that is being promoted during this show: http://www.itsyoursexlife.org/. The information at this site I think gives mixed messages. Firstly, and again I have to give credit where it is due, they do promote abstinence and state that it is the ONLY form of birth control that is 100% effective with no side-effects, be it physically or emotionally. But this website also promotes all the other forms of birth control. This basically gives the message saying that if you're going to have sex, use contraceptives, especially that magical pill. This website also tells teens to go to Planned Parenthood if they think they might be pregnant.
The site does mention Natural Family Planning...but it says that this form of birth control, even though it has no side effects, is not very reliable, which gives NFP an even worse reputation. According to this site, 12%-25% of women get pregnant while using this method. I don't know where they got their statistics, but it is contrary to all the information that I've read on NFP. Then, this website gives kinda contradictory information by saying that when used perfectly, 2%-9% will get pregnant in one year while using this method, yet they still list this as an unreliable form of birth control.

NFP requires consistence, knowledge, and instruction. Those of us who are using this method understand we must be consistent in our observences and we must record what we observe every night, no exception. We do this becuase we are dedicated to our sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Drew, who always hosts the 16 & Pregnant reunion show, asks each and every girl what form of birth control she is using. He chastizes those who are not using contraception.

While I think it is good that teens are seeing how hard it is having a child at such a young age and the teens who are featured are brave telling their story, I don't think that the right message is getting across. Instead of saying teens should go on contraception to avoid pregnancy, the message should be, 'Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time'. If you can't afford or are not in a proper situation to have a child, you should not be having sex. People will not explode if they put off having sex. You can still be in a loving, monogamous relationship without having sex.

Abstinence is the BEST answer and that message should be pushed more than what it currently is.

Senator Joe Manchin = Disgrace!

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Roman Catholic and member of the Knights of Columbus (4th Degree) voted to NOT defund Planned Parenthood. I wrote to him about a month or so ago, when all of this hoop-la began, and I begged him to uphold his faith and vote to defund Planned Parenthood. I got a very generic letter back from him basically saying that he wants to make sure that people have access to the health care that they need. What a bullshit answer and I am not afraid to say it!

We all know that Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in this country. Yes, they do other things as well, like offer pelvic exams, STD testing, and mammograms. (Wait...they don't offer mammograms? Then why do they get money from the Susan B. Komen foundation? Didn't Cecile Richards go on national TV and say they offer mammograms...Oh, she lied? SHOCKER!) And yes, they do offer free condoms and that magical pill. Supposedly they educate women and teenagers about safe sex and birth control. But last time I checked they did not offer Natural Family Planning classes, therefore, they are not education women on ALL of their options. Just the ones that make the drug companies money.

They also are in cahoots with the Girl Scouts of America teaching young girls how to masturbate and give oral sex. I don't know if they've forgotten, but STD's can be transmitted orally too! And those cheap condoms that they give away have a high failure rate. But hey, I guess it's better than no condom at all, right? Because abstinence is just too hard to practice these days and we can't expect young people to deny themselves instant gratification without suffering the consequences.

Ok, enough of that rambling. We all know how immoral Planned Parenthood is. However I think this is where I need to come clean. I know that as of this point I have 0 people following my blog, and that's OK. I did not always practice my Catholic faith. For about six years I was a practicing Wiccan and I used birth control since I was 16 years old. I was not sexually active at age 16, but I suffered from major crampage during my period and the doctor gave me that magic pill to help. I was on the pill for 10 years.
Now, when I left my previous job to the one I have now, I went one month with no medical insurance, and the prescription for my pill just happened to run out during that time period. I just needed a prescription for birth control for one month until I got insurance through my new job and got in with a doctor in West Virginia where I was moving to. I decided to go to Planned Parenthood. I sat in the waiting room for like 3 hours and watched herd after herd of teenage boys trot in and out getting these paper lunch bags that they were handing out like candy, I assume that they were full of condoms. Eventually a doctor sat down with me and without a pelvic exam gave me a prescription of birth control for six months. She prescribed Yaz, a name brand pill. I paid $60 for this service. She didn't ask me anything about my medical history, what drugs I may have been on, my sexual history, whether I was monogamous or not. She just asked what I needed and what pill I wanted prescribed. At first she suggested Seasonique, the magical pill that only gives you four periods a year, but I have never thought that stopping your period was a healthy thing to do.
So, yes future readers of mine, I have gone to Planned Parenthood. I am not a saint. HOWEVER...I was a completely different person back then and my moral standards were embarrassingly low. I now see and understand that contraceptives (unless used for medical purposes and if all other avenues have been explored) is against God's Will. I was once Pro-Choice and am now Pro-Life. I see that Planned Parenthood is not fully educating women and teaching our children that sex is for gratification only. They are degrading a wonderful Gift that is God given and presenting it as a common thing!

Joe Manchin (D-WV) has failed to uphold the teachings of the Church that he belongs to. It seems that he can easily step away from the morality of his faith to gain political standing. If this is the case, then he is not truly a Catholic. Faith is something that you live by and actively practice, it is not something that you can ignore when it is not convenient. Being Pro-Life is not always popular, but it is the right thing. As a leader of our nation Senator Manchin should have the courage of his convictions! Or maybe his convictions are not in standing with the Church he belongs to. If that is the case, he should be denied the Eucharist and thrown out of the Knights of Columbus until he either sees the error of his ways and repents, or he should explore Anglicanism.

Message to Joe Manchin: You should be ashamed of yourself!

Palm Sunday

My grandma came down to spend a few days with me and my fiance. We did the regular girly things and we also chose my wedding dress! This morning she and I went to Palm Sunday Mass and next to us sat my NFP instructor, Angie. Angie has four children, all beautiful girls. My grandma points to them laughing and says, "I hope she is not practicing the same birth control you are!" I smile and say, "She is my NFP instructor. All of those children were planned."
The look on my grandma's face was priceless! For some reason people equate family planning to having no more than two or three children. Yes, there are people out there who want to have large families and have the means to support them, and society should not judge these brave people harshly. Children are a blessing, not an obstacle that takes 18 years to overcome.
I saw a YouTube video of President Obama giving a town hall lecture on energy and fuel prices. The president basically blames the high cost of fuel on those who drive SUV's and vans. One person called out saying that he drove a van becuase he needs it for his family...of ten children! President Obama had a very similar look on his face as my grandmother had this morning. So, we can blame the high cost of gas on very large families. I am not suprised that the President's action was so severe, he has Pro-Choice and Anti-Family sentiments. This can be seen by his vehement defense of Planned Parenthood, a morally corrupt  corporation.

I am praying that God will grant me and my fiance children, but I hope no more than two. But is He sees fit to grant me more, I will graciously accept them and be thankful!

NFP= Laughter!

I told my friend yesterday that I am ow off of the pill and am practcing NFP. there was a silence on the other end before she asked, "What's that?"
"Natural Family Planning. It's how Rick and I can space out our pregnancies naturally."
Another silence. "Yeah, good luck with that."

I find this kinda funny becuase she had a negative experience with the pill when she was younger, and as a result she has a hormonal imbalance. She grows hair on her chin and neck which she is constantly trying to remedy, and she is now having a diffucult time conceiving. She is saving money to start fertility treatments. I broached the topic of NFP with her a few months ago when I asked if her and her hubby were still trying to conceive and told her that if she began to chart she may be able to pinpoint when she is fertile. Unfortunately, she kinda shrugged me off and prefers to pump more hormones into her body to conceive...hopefully she won't go octomom on me...

Retreat Time!

Yesterday I attended a Woman's Retreat sponsored by the Womans Club from my church. It took place at the awesome Catholic retreat center outside of Inwood, West Virginia known as Priestfield. We listened to one of our local priests, by the name of Father Larry Geesey speak about his book on cults and how they are very dangerous. It was a wonderful and spiritually fulfilling day! When we were discussing Wicca and the New Age movement I actually had the courage to blurt out that I had been a practicing Wiccan for six years.
Everyone, and I mean all 63 ladies turned in their seats to stare at me it complete shock asking, "You did?" And all through the day ladies cam up and asked me about what i used to believe and how I was able to come back Home to the Church. Even Father Larry seemed a little intrigued. I did not think it was that big of a deal and I was kinda suprised at the reaction I got.

New Age and Wiccan principles are becoming deeper ingrained in society, and I think that some of these ladies were oblivious to that fact. We are located not too far from a college town (a college where I work, in fact) where drum circles and new age stores are as common as Starbucks in New York City. The whole 'just do whatever makes you happy' philosophy runs rampant in towns like these and it used to be a philosophy I believed in whole heartedly. Instant gratification and cafeteria religion is becoming more and more common as we are being taught that everyone has different beliefs and morals and that's OK. Just like the whole concept that 'Abortion is not right for me, but it could be right for you and we shouldn't judge eachother' is becoming more accepted. Well, I hate to break it to you, but abortion is wrong, period!Just like murder is wrong and rape is wrong and stealing is wrong!

Yes, Jesus told us not to judge other, for we too will be judged. Those without sin cast the first stone, and I do feel that is important advice. However, Jesus told the money changers in the Temple that what they were doing was wrong and He cast them out. If I had a girlfriend who told me she was pregnant and was going to have an abortion, I would tell her that abortion is wrong. However, I am not going to tie her down in a chair to prevent her from doing it. We all have free will and we must live with the consequences of our actions. I would let her now that I would pray for her and would be there to help her pick up the pieces.

This 'just let anybody do what they want' attitude is a result of the New Age movement. Morals are getting fuzzier and fuzzier. There is more gray than black or white.

My Deacon's wife, a very prominant figure at my church, came up and told me I was very brave for coming out of the proverbial broom closet. It was an act that is very unusual for me because I am a very introverted person and I don't really like bringing attention to myself. I don't know why I revealed that to some of the most talkative women in the church. I know God works in mysterious ways and maybe someone will ask me for help in that particular area one day. Even though I caused a stir in that room yesterday, all of those ladies seemed happy that I had made my way Home.

Lent Continues...

Alright, we are halfway through Lent. How is everyone doing with their sacrifices? I gave up meat for Lent. It may not have been the biggest sacrifice I could have made becuase I don't eat a lot of meat to begin with, but my life right now is stressful enough and I didn't want to go crazy by giving something up like chocolate or alcohol, and if you have my job, sometimes a glass of wine with a big box of chocolates is a necessity. However, I am craving an Italian sausage sub right now. I was talking about Lent with my classmate, Amanda, and she said, "My friends make fun of me. I am the Mormon who gave up coffee for Lent!" Well, if you're a graduate student, coffee just flows through your veins like blood. I don't understand why she hasn't had a nervous breakdown yet.

I have not been very good keeping up with my daily Lenten reflections. But I have been able to attend the Stations of the Cross at my church and at least 30 minutes of Adoration.

I had an interesting confession a few weeks ago where the visiting priest made a comment about my mantilla. Yes ladies, I am one of those weirdo's who veil and I personally find the story of why I veil to be kinda funny. About three months ago, I was praying after I had received the eucharist, and I am asking Christ to help me understand. After being away from the church for about five years, I was still going through a difficult time in my spiritual development and my faith was low. I had just finished reading a book called 'The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything' and I was trying to take a new turn in my sprituality.
As I was praying I heard a distict voice say, "I want you to cover your head in my presence". My eyes flew open and I thought to myself, 'Cover my head? Are you insane! I am not the submissive type and I may be slightly conservative, but covering my head is over-the-top!"
Then that same voice replied, "Will you not obey me?"
Immediately I started freaking out becuase there is a whole chapter dedicated to obedience in 'The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything'. So, I did something I have never done before, I e-mail my Deacon and he called me in for some one-on-one time. I did not relish the fact that I had to tell my Deacon that I was hearing voices. I had images of him tying me up to a stake and watching me burn like a campfire while all of his Deacon buddies sang Kum-Ba-Ya! Instead, he was very encouraging and said that there have been a few women, young women around my age, who have decided to take up the veil as well. So, I wear a lacy thing on my head everytime I enter the sanctuary.
So, as I told the priest this, he commented that maybe one day I will feel that God is no longer calling me to wear the veil. What is up with that!? Here I hear the call from the Holy Spirit to return to tradition, and this priest, I felt, down played that and in a round about way told me he doesn't approve of women veiling.

Veiling is an old tradition that went away in the 1980's becuse the church stopped enforcing the veiling rule. Some people say that the requirement itself never went away, but that women should be encouraged, not forced, to veil in the Presence of Christ. If a woman feels she is called to veil, she should be encouraged to by priests and deacons, not discouraged. I thinking bringing these traditions back is a good thing becuase it is a physical and visual expression of our Catholic identity. You won't see a Presbyterian woman wearing a veil to church.

Ok, time to go refill my wine glass and open another box Junior Mints.

Why Am I Starting a Blog

I was on my lunch break the other day and I sat down to eat my Lean Cuisine lunch when my boss sat some magazines down on the table in front of me. She had just come back from Paris and obviously did a lot of reading on the plane ride home. Charlie Sheen donned the front of People magazine and I glanced at through those pages briefly only to wonder why society seems to put these losers on a pedestal. Next I glanced at the cover of a magazine I used to read constantly: Cosmo.
The headline that caught my eye was an article about the new advancements on birthcontrol and how they can improve a womans life. They covered the condom, the IUD, the shot, and, of course, the magical pill. The cheapest and safest form of birthcontrol was nowhere to be mentioned: Natural Family Planning.

I will admit, I may be a devout Catholic, but I haven't always followed the church's teachings. I've cohabitated with my fiance for four years and I've taken that magic birthcontrol pill since I was sixteen. I have primary desmenaria, so I was prescribed the pill for medical reasons. For ten years I took this tiny pill that helped with menstral pain, and when the time came and I became sexually active with the man who is soon to become my husband, it prevented unintended pregnancies, which is the whole reason why the pill was invented.

Now, ten years later, I have a completely different view on sex and contracteption. Contraceptives defile an act that is supposed to be holy, love giving and life giving. But since we live in a society that promotes we are 'sexual beings' who do not have to live with the consequenses of such an act, drug companies make millions on pills, shots, and IUD, all of which have side-effects and are not 100% affective. But, that's ok, becuase if they fail you can take the morning after pill which also has side-effects. And if that fails, that's ok too, because then you can have an abortion, which can also have medical and emotional side-effects. But the workers at Planned Parenthood won't tell you that, or provide counseling afterwards.

We all know that abstinence is the only form of birthcontrol that is 100% effective. But Natural Family Planning is more effective than the pill and it has no side-effects...and it's free! Why did Cosmo fail to mention this form of birthcontrol in their article?

After ten years of being on the magic pill, I have thrown away my pill pack and am meeting with an NFP instructor through my church. I want to share my new journey and maybe I'll write an article for Cosmo someday.