Posted By Christina M on June 14, 2005

I’m going to join the bandwagon started by PPK and continued by Bettnet, and mention the things I wish they’d taught me in CCD, and add also the things I wish they hadn’t “taught” me in CCD.

1. I wish they’d taught me that Communion is the Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. I wish they had not taught me that it’s a way of symbolizing, by way of a meal, that I’m really accepted by the congregation as a member.

2. I wish they’d taught me to read the Gospels. The one teacher who ever tried to get us reading the Bible was good, but I wish he hadn’t started us with Genesis. Matthew would have been much more instructive, both doctrinally and morally.

3. I wish they’d taught me how to make a good examination of conscience. I wish they’d done that with the time that they spent having us draw God as a tall old man with a beard.

4. I wish they’d taught me Church history so I could answer mistakes with knowledge. I wish they’d skipped all the current trendy stuff.

5. I wish they’d used more books and fewer crayons.

My list is shorter than Domenico Bettinelli’s, but that’s because he already took so many of the good ones.

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Posted By Christina M on June 13, 2005

I think that my Charming and Patient Husband’s point about Michael Jackson’s fans is a darned good one. He notes the discrepancy between how Americans treat nutty stars and how they treat men who make sacrifices for God.

Why, I wonder, do we even care what Michael Jackson’s verdict is, unless it is out of concern for our children? We put an awful lot of emotional investment into entertainers who don’t know our names.

It saddens me to think that more Americans care passionately about a man’s singing ability than about doing God’s work.

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Posted By Christina M on June 9, 2005

These are the words of Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Assembly Education Committee. She was speaking of California Assembly Bill 756, which bans schools from purchasing textbooks of over 200 pages. I intended to write on this sooner, but I had to wait until I could catch my breath.

While the same Democrats who voted for this bill are opposing private school vouchers, homeschooling, and anything else that might make it easier remove children from public school influence, they are supporting a nail in the coffin of genuine education in public schools. I can just hear Mark Shea saying “Did I mention we homeschool?”

What bothers me most about this obvious dumbing down of public education is the dichotomy it will produce in California between public schooled children and educated children. Those children whose parents cannot put them in private schools are not at fault, but they are the ones who will suffer when their transcripts reflect a lack of great literature or comprehension of long works. They will have a harder time than their private school counterparts getting into college, surviving in college, and getting well-paid jobs. They will have a harder time as adults finding the funds to afford a decent private education for their own children, and the cycle of undeserved ignorance will continue.

I can only be thankful that the California Assembly does not represent education at large. Even while I’m frustrated at the discrepancy between the education public school kids will receive and the education private school kids will receive, I’m awfully glad that there is a private school network in place. I’m awfully glad, too, that other states have not adopted this ridiculous policy. At least not yet. The reason I’m glad is that maybe in 30 years some member of my family will need surgery. I’ll want to know that the surgeon learned to read well enough to read and comprehend all the details in his surgery texts.

If this trend were universal, who would build the bridges and teach my grandchildren? Who would find a cure for cancer if this generation cannot?

Thankfully this trend is not universal. We must do what we can to get the word out… if they try to dumb down your children, fight. If they try to dumb down your neighbor’s children, or your grandchildren, fight. If you believe that all children deserve a good education, FIGHT. Speak up. Let the lawmakers know that we support literacy, and we want to know that at least some of our children will read War and Peace even though it’s more than 200 pages.

Whatever you do, don’t take it sitting down. Pick up your pens and show these lawmakers the power of literacy!

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Posted By Christina M on June 8, 2005

Just when I thought I’d gotten used to the sort of Christians who hate Catholics for being too liberal, the Church gets a sideswipe from Secularists who hate Catholics for being too conservative. Specifically, the National Secular Society in Britain has begun a campaign to exclude Pope Benedict from the Live 8 concert.

Pope Benedict, according to the organization, is spreading AIDS in Africa by not permitting the use of condoms for Catholics. No mention is made, of course, that the Pope also does not permit adultery and fornication, the two primary ways in which AIDS are spreading.

Color me naive, perhaps, but I have a hard time believing that a faithful Catholic would engage in the behaviors that spread AIDS, but then refuse to use a condom because that’s a sin. There has not been a single case of a mutually monogamous couple contracting AIDS through unprotected sex, folks.

It is sad, if you think about it, that when there is a problem — yes, a crisis, even — among people who live lives with much suffering, as indeed many in Africa do, the answer of the wealthy like Elton John is to throw rubber at it and hope it will go away. Unless lifestyles change, AIDS isn’t going to disappear or even slow down. And unless people have hope, they are not likely to change their lifestyles. A piece of latex isn’t going to change that.

But it’s easier to blame the Pope than it is to do something that could really help stem AIDS in Africa, like encouraging lifelong monogamy.

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Posted By Christina M on May 31, 2005

With poverty, like with most problems, it’s a lot easier to pinpoint the problem than to solve it. The Anchoress has some strong and much needed words on the subject, and I urge all to read and reflect on them. I won’t say more, as she’s already said it, and better.

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Posted By Christina M on May 30, 2005

I was going to blog today about Manna, and gratitude, and how we sometimes scoff at how God chooses to meet our needs when, in materialism, we want more, or better.

The first time I sat down, one of the kids knocked on my door immediately. She wanted to explain why she refused to do her chores, and that she refuses ever to leave her room again, and will not be going to school from now on. I dealt with it, I think, pretty well.

Finally I got back to the computer and pulled up the blog to start writing. Within seconds, another door knock. Another child wanted to tell me how the previous child had yelled and been rude to her. Again I dealt, again I tried.

Patience beginning to wear thin, I sat down to write again. Another knock. One child had hit another. This is not the first time that child has committed violence today, and already she’d received punishment. Two minutes later (I timed) another knock, and two minutes after that, another, and yet another two minutes… you guessed it.

I didn’t answer the last knock, but instead lay my head on the computer desk and asked myself how I am going to write about gratitude to God when at the moment it is difficult to dredge up any feelings of gratitude. As I mulled over this subject, two more knocks interrupted my self pity.

I had reached the point where I could not bring myself to write about how to be a good Christian when I certainly couldn’t bring myself to feel like one. At this point to write warm fuzzies about my relationship with God would feel rather hypocritical, even though I knew it was just emotion and that it would pass.

And that’s when it hit me. A relationship of love is not about warm fuzzies. It isn’t about how I feel at this moment. It is about the fact that God continues to love me when I’m self-pitying and not being very charitable. It’s about the fact that even when I feel completely negative, I don’t want to say anything terrible to or about God that I know with all my heart I would regret later. Why? Because even when I am full of frustration, I know that my temporary emotions do not reflect my permanent love for Him.

Love isn’t about always feeling good, and it certainly isn’t about always feeling passion. It is about having and valuing a relationship. It is about knowing my Beloved, and wanting to be the kind of person who deserves the kind of love He already lavishes on me. It isn’t about never lacking hyper-happy emotions, but rather about continuing to love Him and maintain my relationship with Him even when the hyper-happy isn’t there.

My Loved One doesn’t need to see me always happy; He is glad to be the shoulder for me to cry on occasionally.

Forget Manna. For my Daddy’s shoulder — for that I am grateful.

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Posted By Christina M on May 5, 2005

We all have our weaknesses, you know. I have mine.

It isn’t like I don’t have enough to do around here. I know that. There’s the garden to mulch, and the dishes to wash, and there are always enough diapers to change. But sometimes picking up and putting away the same toys that I picked up and put away an hour ago just ceases to fulfill. I can’t help myself.

Like I said, I’m weak. In my bored, lonely moments I just can’t help myself. I waste time on the computer. And then I drag my family in.

It started out innocently enough. One day I was at the library and I found a book about “blogging.” I didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded interesting. I checked out the book, and before anyone knew what had happened, I had keyed my first entry. I should have known something dangerous had begun.

Next, I merely attempted to increase my computer’s security by changing from IE to Firefox. Then I discovered extensions. Handy little devices, I tell you. I could set it to check my mail automatically, and to alter the way downloads are displayed. And to Stumble. Before I knew what was happening to me, I’d become a websurfer par excellence. It was so much fun!

And then, I stumbled upon a games site called Popcap. They have puzzle games like Bejewelled, that draw you in. Then, you discover the live games. Specifically, one listed in little innocuous letters: Psychobabble. If you’ve ever played with Magnetic Poetry, you’ll understand this one easily. You are timed, and each round you make a sentence with the words provided. The whole room votes on which sentence is the best. If you think that doesn’t sound addictive, that may merely be because you haven’t tried it.

Now, I am still as busy as ever. I still have dishes to wash, a garden to mulch, and diapers to change. I know it. Do you think I do not feel guilt?

Maybe if you joined me in some of these activities, I would feel a little less guilty.

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Posted By Christina M on May 3, 2005

The other day, my husband had to go to work early, and our 1 year old was already up. When hubbie said good-bye to me, I got up to get dressed, and the baby was out in the family room playing (or maybe destroying something; there’s a fine line with him). When Dada left, I was still getting dressed, and I noticed something peculiar. Davy wasn’t crying. He had seen his dad drive away, and he didn’t know where I was, or even if I was home, but he didn’t cry. Why should he? He trusts us.

It got me thinking: when we don’t know where our Parent is, do we trust Him, or do we cry? The Father wouldn’t leave us alone, any more than I would leave my toddler to fend for himself; so why, when I feel abandoned, do I cry in fear?

Small children are supremely trusting. They will cry when they have a need, but they don’t cry because they fear they will have a need, and that the need will be unmet. It is as though they understand, inherently, that there are things they don’t understand. If, for some reason, you take too long to get to them when they do cry, they still cry for you the next time they have a need. And they still come to you for love.

I used to puzzle over what Jesus could have meant when He said we must be like little children. When I actually watch little children in their relationships, though, I begin to think I understand.

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Posted By Christina M on April 20, 2005

I admit, my first reaction to the announcment of our new Pope was one of confusion. Part of that confusion was simply that I had been so certain that this was the last man who could be elected Pope, so I didn’t really have any reaction ready. And part of it, I realize now, was that I’ve listened far too much to mainstream media that I should know better than to trust.

But now that I’m getting used to saying “Pope Benedict,” I feel even optimistic. People like Patrick O’Hannigan of The Paragraph Farmer have helped. He recently listed the reactions of a number of other people to the announcement, and I think the list is worth sharing.

We do have a good new Pope. I am disappointed in myself for having expressed any ambiguity on the subject.

We are indeed fortunate to be in the midst of a run of good leaders. God has been good to us.

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Posted By Christina M on April 19, 2005

Long live Pope Benedict XVI.

I am curious to see what the papacy of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, will hold. I must admit it’s with a bit of a bittersweet feeling that I see a Carmelite Pope replaced by one who takes the name Benedict. And I will admit that I felt absolutely certain that Cardinal Ratzinger would not be the new Pope.

But God, and the Cardinals, know better than I. I’ve worried some over whether John Paul’s legacy of building bridges will continue under a Pope who was inquisitor. I wonder if Pope Benedict’s history of what I perceived as extreme conservatism is a thread he will continue, or if perhaps it was simply an expression of the role he held. Time will tell, but above all I know that the Holy Spirit is still in charge.

For those who might see the above statements and worry that I’m a closet liberal, hush and calm your fears. By the standards of most of the world, I’d be considered a staunch conservative. But one of the things I loved about Pope John Paul the Great was the way he strove to bring people back to the fold. I dearly hope that our new Pope will not take such a hard line against heresy that he drives those wavering away, instead of helping to heal them of their misconceptions.

I’m blathering, I realize. My mind is full of a rush of thoughts and emotions right now. One thing I can tell you without reservation, though: I am prepared to love our new Pope. I believe he will be a blessing to our Church.

May God bless Pope Benedict XVI with long life, good health, and above all, wisdom.

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