Be my Valentine?

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!  

   Now, as a secular holiday, this one can get pretty depressing.  I mean, all over the place we see ads for chocolate, and here it is the beginning of Lent.  Talk about bad timing.  Not that it works out that way every year, but hey, it happens.  Oh, not to mention the high expectations getting dashed and the longing that gets multiplied in every lonely single heart out there.  We shall conveniently ignore the immorality that abounds out there.   Wait!  Don’t go!  I do have something good to say!!!  Sorry for the sad start, but hey, it’s out there.  Hopefully you’ve never experienced it, but I’ve read enough blogs and forum posts to know that lots of people do find this a horrible tradition, best to be defended against either with no expectations or with “making their own fun” so they don’t feel so left out.  All because of this false, worldly idea of “love.”  But what, pray tell, is love?  And what does a priest martyred for his faith eons ago have to do with romance?

   Don’t get me wrong here.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with “romantic” love.  Actually, I think it’s awesome, and great fun.  Flowers, love letters, chocolates....Mmmm, chocolate...What’s not to love?  It’s all wonderful.  I mean, I’m a hopeless romantic, probably too much of one.  But don’t tell anyone.     Yet I can’t help but feel that romance is the wrong focus for this feast. True, St. Valentine is the patron of married and engaged couples, but I mean, think about it.  When I ask someone to “be my Valentine,” am I really asking them to “be my sweetheart”? Shouldn’t it be “be my holy friend, who will instruct me in the truth and bring me closer to Christ, regardless of the cost”?  Which, if you think about it is absolutely, totally, brilliantly, awesome.  And it’s what friendship is all about. Not to mention true love.  
   May your St. Valentine's Day be full of many true Valentines.  And chocolate, even if you have to save it for Sunday.  Because both good friends and chocolate are further proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.Love and God Bless,Rae  

Farewell to Pope Benedict?

     I woke up to some bigger-than-usual news on my Facebook this morning. I’m sure you all know by know that Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation. So, unless something changes in the next couple of weeks, we will have a new pope. Extra prayers for the college of Cardinals certainly are in order. 

    Now, popes don’t usually resign, although it has a happened a few times. Just not in the last oh, six hundred years or so. Longer, if we are talking voluntary resignation. But with life expectancies being longer now and people living though things they used to die from, and living in a weaker body than they used to...well, I suppose it is reasonable for a Pope to resign if he feels he can no longer do his duty. Of course, now every one is talking about prophesies and anti-popes. Well, not EVERYONE, but the chatter is out there. Nothing new. If I were to take a minute to ride that bandwagon, I would call a Pope’s resignation the perfect and logical way for an anti-pope to take the Chair of Peter. I mean, that’s usually how it goes in the books...although generally there is an assassination attempt involved and everyone THINKS the real pope is dead, only he isn’t. Goodness! This could be the end of the world! It could be the start of the great tribulations! Aggghhhhaaaa!!!!!!!
Of course, it could be that life will continue as usual. Always hard to tell with these things.

Does it really matter? Seriously?

Yes and No.

    First the no. No, it doesn’t matter if it is the end of the world, because we need to be prepared for Judgement anyhow. For you or I, the end could come in two minutes and twelve seconds. Or not for another sixty years. Our souls should be in the state of grace regardless. I mean, we’re talking about a healthy relationship with God. Is there really a good reason to ever put that in jeopardy?
     And another thing. Truth doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter if it is good times or bad, Truth is True. Whether anyone believes it or not, it is still true. Practice may look easier or harder depending on the times, but Christ is ever faithful, and nothing can change that truth. So really, if we have our trust in God, it doesn’t matter if the times are good or bad.

    Now for the Yes. Yes, it does matter. Because if we are living in times of tribulation, or even the times at the end of the world, we are going to be challenged more. There will be more confusion. If we are looking at the end of the world, things are going to get really bad, because our purgatory will be on earth. The stakes are higher and the time shorter. Where we expect to find truth, we will find lies. That is the danger of the anti-pope, as it is of the anti-christ. Lies coming out of not only the mouths of high ranking Church officials (and dishonest media reports,) but out of the mouth of the man himself. So our main concern is to know the truth, or how can we can recognize the lies? Again, this ought to be a standard, regardless of whether we have a new pope or not. The truth does not and cannot change. That’s the really nice thing about truth. But if you don’t know the truth, it really doesn’t do you much good, does it. This is probably why Pope Benedict gave us this “Year of Faith.” We need to really wake up and work on strengthening our faith and our knowledge of the truth.

     I am very grateful for all Pope Benedict has done during his papacy, most especially for giving us back the Tridentine Mass. He will be missed. I am not going to assume that the next pope is the anti-pope. Nor am I going to panic that this is The End Of The World As We Know It - although I have had my suspicions since November.

    What I am going to do is pray. I pray for Pope Benedict. I pray for our Cardinals and for our next pope. I pray for Catholics everywhere, especially those facing persecution, not only for what they believe, but also just for believing that there is an absolute truth. I pray for those Catholics who DON’T believe, whether from choice or from poor instruction. You know, there is no such thing as “Catholic in name only.” Even an apostate is still Catholic, whether they like it or not. Not even excommunication can change that status. I pray for our political leaders, and I pray for those who persecute us. And for those searching for the truth.

God Bless,
              Rae

This is the photo on my iPieta app.  Get it, it's awesome.

Insert Catchy Title

   G’day to you!  Me again, popping in to say hello.  See, I knew it was no good saying when I’d be back.  I’ve had a terrible streak of writers block.  For that matter, I’ve had a terrible streak of thinkers block.  Ever have that problem?  No?  Oh.  Well, in that case, I can only tell you that it is quite uncomfortable.  The brain gets annoyingly mushy feeling.  Unfortunately, if there is a cure, a person with thinkers block will never find it.  They can’t think well enough to find it.  But anyhow, I digress. I think.  Hmmm...

   So, I follow this lovely little blog called “Experimental Wifery.”  Love it.  All sorts of good thoughts and advice, even if you aren’t married.  And really, I feel that one should gather as much information on marriage and raising children as one can before the fact, because afterwords there will likely be no time for such things.  Hmmm, perhaps I should say, when people ask me what I do, that I am a private chef while studying for my MRS degree.  Teehee.  Yup, I did just change that on my blogger profile.   

   Ah yes.  I was talking about Experimental Wifery.  Great blog.  And she is doing this thing called “12 Months to a Better Woman.”  Each month focuses on something different.  Last month was self care.  That was lots of fun, especially when I got my new eyeshadow.  I am probably the only girl on the planet who ordered eyeshadow to get the trial-size mascara that came with it. But what can I say?  It’s just that good. This month, the topic is “self-reflection.”  Now THAT is a challenge.  But a good one.  I know I for one don’t make self reflection a habit.  Self-DEflection, maybe. I spend lots of time AVOIDING myself.  So here I am, reflecting upon myself.  do-di-do-da-do.  Hmmm.   I think I need a mirror....never mind.  I look terrible.  I’ve been sick for over a week, I have an excuse to look terrible.  But really, a mirror probably won’t show me much.  A mirror can only show what the world sees, not who I really am.  But it is important that we are “ourselves” sometimes.  And even more important that we take are really good look, inside and out, at who we are, and who we are becoming.

   Enter Lent.  I love lent.  It’s my training camp.  It’s my yearly opportunity to push myself a little harder, with that feeling of (stronger) outside accountability. It’s climbing the mountain.  It’s diving into the deep end. It’s....well, you get the idea.  Lent is the PERFECT time for self-reflection.  It’s a great time to look at our weaknesses and work on them, and pray for help overcoming them.  So I am really glad that these two challenges overlap each other this year.  And now I’d like to challenge you.  When finalizing your lenten sacrifices this year, take a moment for self-reflection.  Are the things you are doing and giving up chosen because they address something you are struggling with?  Or are you just doing them because that’s what you’ve always done?

God Bless!

P.S. 

There is a lot of wisdom in fasting.  It can generally strengthen any virtue, and weaken the hold of many a sin.  Nothing like telling the flesh who’s boss, dontcha know.