What I got for Christmas

Some more for me to read.


Celine: Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face: Sister and Witness of St. Therese of the Child Jesus by Stephane-Joseph Piat


Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen


Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Linus understands

Why don't we?

P&P and Little Women

I finished reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen a couple of days ago. So I will begin my commentary on that.
I enjoyed it very much, and I could identify with Elizabeth very well. The book focuses a lot on how women are so obligated to get married because they can do nothing without a husband and are no good once past their prime. Youth seems to have been very favored in that society and time. Very unfortunate for Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte, whom was unmarried because of her plain looks, was in her late twenties. She ends up settling for Elizabeth's uncouth, impertinent cousin, Mr. Collins, for mere comfortable living and financial support.
I particularly enjoyed Lizzy and Darcy's exchanges when they were together. She seemed to have much disdain for his actions and ideas, and he found her interesting, though he did see her as beneath him.
The new movie doesn't follow the book as well as the A&E movie. I kept skipping back and forth from both movies and found I would find a lot of the A&E version in the book.

Next for review is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, which I am currently reading. I enjoy this one a lot. It follows the accounts of a family with four girls. The father is away at war while the mother is left to raise the girls on her own.
The girls are a scream! I see a lot of the character Beth in myself. She enjoys staying at home and doesn't like to be with people too much. She finds it tiring to have to think of clever things to say and is more content cleaning the house or playing her piano. I can be like Amy too, the youngest. It must be youngest child syndrome. The book is way better than the movie I think. There's so much more to the book and they get into all the girls' lives instead of just Jo's.
I am almost halfway through it so I will probably write another review about it once I reach the middle. And if not, farewell until I finish it! God Bless!

~Kathryn~

Marriage is a Vocation

My brother, Thomas, and I were talking the other day about Marriage and the Religious life. I was mostly ranting and spilling my guts about the matter but the concern was this, why do people see the sacrament of Marriage as such a second rate practice? I feel as if I were to tell a fellow Catholic that I've found out that my vocation is to be a wife and mother, they wouldn't be as thrilled as they would be if I had chosen the religious life.

Now, Im not doggin on the consecrated life. I was telling Thomas that the Religious life and the Married life are like man and woman. They have very different strengths but are both equal. The RL has strengths that the ML does not, just like men have strengths that women don't and vise versa. For example, the ML has the advantage, if it is a holy marriage, of sex which is described as the closest thing to experiencing God's glory, when it is pure, unadulterated love; at least as pure as a human couple can make it. Now, the RL does not have this but that is the sacrifice that has to be made. Also, in the RL, a man or woman has the privilege of being united with Christ or the Church as their spouse. Which the ML does not have. So married people have to leave behind that honor. These examples could be compared to a woman's ability to be more nurturing to a child than a man could, or how her domestic abilities may be more acute than a man's. Also, a man may be more able to support is family or even something on a smaller scale, like lifting an axe. Man and woman are equal, just as the two vocations. Both are just as beautiful and contribute to this earth in some manner.

Im sure the reason people have the wrong view on Marriage is because it has be secularized. Why? because everyone does it. Everyone "gets married" whether it happens on a beach or jumping out of an airplane. It is not a sacrament to us anymore, so even people within the Church don't see the holy union in the same light it should be seen. Bring back the "Holy" in Matrimony!

mat·ri·mo·ny [ma-truh-moh-nee]
-noun
1. the state of being married; marriage.
2. the rite, ceremony, or sacrament of marriage.


http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/matri.html#EFFECTS

IV. THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY

"From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state by a special sacrament."[140]-(CCC; 1638)


The marriage bond

"The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself.[141] From their covenant arises "an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of society."[142] The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love."[143]-(CCC; 1639)

"Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved. This bond, which results from the free human act of the spouses and their consummation of the marriage, is a reality, henceforth irrevocable, and gives rise to a covenant guaranteed by God's fidelity. The Church does not have the power to contravene this disposition of divine wisdom."[144]-(CCC; 1640)


V. THE GOODS AND REQUIREMENTS OF CONJUGAL LOVE

"Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values."[150]-(CCC; 1643)


The unity and indissolubility of marriage.

The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh."[151] They "are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving."[152] This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives of the common faith and by the Eucharist received together."-(CCC; 1644)

"The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection."[153]-(CCC; 1645)


The fidelity of conjugal love

"It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind oneself for life to another human being. This makes it all the more important to proclaim the Good News that God loves us with a definitive and irrevocable love, that married couples share in this love, that it supports and sustains them, and that by their own faithfulness they can be witnesses to God's faithful love. Spouses who with God's grace give this witness, often in very difficult conditions, deserve the gratitude and support of the ecclesial community."[156]-(CCC; 1648

God Bless!

~Kathryn~

Praise be to God!

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!!!!

The reason Im posting this is because I got this wicked awesome email from a friend.

"What a beautiful thought: salvation history began in the womb of Mary's mother, where God formed the first of the elect, the first to be saved and redeemed by the superabundance of grace from the sacrifice of Christ --- which hadn't even happened yet! God prepared for himself a woman with purity unimaginable, holiness inconceivable, and the perfection of every virtue, from her very conception preparing her for that "yes" she gave, that "yes" which brought Christ into the world, bringing the "dawn from on high" upon us to "shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Well, I just want to say, we now possess the grace that Mary received, through Baptism. And there are many in this world who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, even many in the Church. Mary serves as a model for all of us, and God is asking all of us that question: will you abandon yourself to follow Christ and bring Him into the world? Please, don't be hesitant to give Him your "yes." I know we are often afraid. It is a big risk, and it simply seems beyond us. But the angel's words apply to us as well: "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." I echo Peter's words, "be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble. For, in this way,
entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you." (2 Pet. 1:10-11)

If you asked Blessed Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul II how they became what they became, they would tell you it was all because they responded with courage to God's call and said "yes." This saying "yes" to Christ, the truth, and all the demands of living the Gospel is a radical thing, true. But it is the only way to the fulness of human life. Keep close to Mary, she'll show you how to say "yes"! The world is very cold, be a channel for that divine fire!

God bless you, all of you, and Mary keep you. Please, give God your "yes" with courage, in faith and in love! I'll cya round the bend. Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception!


atM, John"

How beautiful is that? It's so true too. Mary should be our ultimate role model, even for those young men out there. God asks something of us every day and every minute of our lives! Though many of us may be hesitant, or dare I say miserly, with our "yes" God does not cast us aside or give up on us. This is why we must strive to act like the Blessed Mother who so perfectly and freely gave herself to be the Mother of our Lord and Savior. Just think how much easier our lives would be!

Many people confuse the Immaculate Conception, Mary, with Christ's Virginal Conception. This article from http://www.catholic.com/ sheds some light on this subject.

http://www.catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Conception_and_Assum.asp

The Immaculate Conception

"It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is the Virgin Birth. Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived "by the power of the Holy Spirit," in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what "immaculate" means: without stain. The essence of original sin consists in the deprivation of sanctifying grace, and its stain is a corrupt nature. Mary was preserved from these defects by God’s grace; from the first instant of her existence she was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature original sin brings. When discussing the Immaculate Conception, an implicit reference may be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary. The angel Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. It therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary. The traditional translation, "full of grace," is better than the one found in many recent versions of the New Testament, which give something along the lines of "highly favored daughter." Mary was indeed a highly favored daughter of God, but the Greek implies more than that (and it never mentions the word for "daughter"). The grace given to Mary is at once permanent and of a unique kind. Kecharitomene is a perfect passive participle of charitoo, meaning "to fill or endow with grace." Since this term is in the perfect tense, it indicates that Mary was graced in the past but with continuing effects in the present. So, the grace Mary enjoyed was not a result of the angel’s visit. In fact, Catholics hold, it extended over the whole of her life, from conception onward. She was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence."

God Bless and Mary Protect you!

~Kathryn~