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I watched a video the other day of an adult daughter interviewing her mom and her aunt. The adult daughter was probably my age. It was a Mother’s Day video and she was asking them about their favorite parts of motherhood. They had not one positive answer. Their favorite part of motherhood was when their kids left the house. They wished they didn’t have as many kids as they did. It was all negative. The daughter looked a bit shocked by some of the answers. I’d sure be hurt if I heard my mom say such things. Anyway, it had tens of thousands of views and thousands of comments, but I couldn’t find one comment that was disturbed by the mom’s and aunt’s responses. There was praise all around. A few comments: “I love my kids to death but if I had to do it all over again, I’d just be the rich aunty.” “Can you love your kids and hate motherhood?” “Waiting for the day my kids leave.” I’ve been a mother for 24 years now and I’ve been through every stage for kids to go through. Parenting is not easy and not everyday is a walk in the park. But, you cannot love someone if you wish they were never born or you wish them gone. And you are not brave or noble if you voice that about your kids. It’s one thing to be excited for your kids to fly the nest and watch them go out into the world. It’s a different thing to count down the days until they’re gone. Imagine if a father said he hated fatherhood. We would not be praising his “brave honesty.” We would say he was a bad dad and feel sorry for his kids. But, we have allowed moms to voice these horrific things about their kids and praise it in the name of “just being real.” No, what is real is the levels of selfishness on display for far too many. Love is not selfish. Love does not seek to be away from the one you love. Love is enduring. I have loved every stage of my kids’ lives. Motherhood is challenging, of course. But, I also have three beautiful souls to share life with and watch grow into unique individuals. I get to be their mom. What an honor. Live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingWe all know the book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," but have you ever read "The Magician's Nephew?" It's the first book in the series and it tells you how Narnia came to be. My family is reading it together in the evenings right now and there are parts that are very similar to the Genesis creation story. For example, Aslan sings things into existence. Once Aslan is finished, he calls animals from the earth and ends up talking to them. Two children- Digory and Polly--and a cabby can hear Aslan and the other animals speak. They have no fear and Digory wants to talk to Aslan. Another person in the newly-formed Narnia is Uncle Andrew, Digory's uncle. He is a selfish, shameful man and he can't hear Aslan talk or sing. To him, Aslan sounds like he is roaring, which consequently makes him afraid of Aslan. Uncle Andrew sees him as a violent beast set on devouring him. When you come at the Bible without love or a desire to understand God, all you will "hear" or read is an angry God. If someone comes to the Bible simply to find ways to attack Christians or prove Christianity wrong, the Bible will only "roar" at you. The Salvation story will be utterly missed and all will be like clanging gongs. Digory and Polly are able to hear Aslan because they are not hardened by prejudice to goodness and truth, as Uncle Andrew is. Therefore, they have eyes and ears that see more of the fullness of who Aslan is and what they see is not threatening or disagreeable. Grace is what is needed to understand God more and more, Catholic Pilgrims. Grace and love. Without these, all you will hear are roars. Have a blessed Thursday.
Continue ReadingOne of the things that blew my mind when I was on the path to converting to Catholicism was the discovery that the Apostles did not have a compiled Bible to work with or refer to. I had never really wondered where we got the canon of Scripture. It fell out of the sky was my best guess. The head teacher, who I help, for OCIA, told the class this year, “The Bible does not insist upon itself.” Meaning, there’s not one letter or book that says, “This book is to be included one day in the canon of Scripture.” No letter or book insists that it must be included. If nothing in the Bible insists upon itself, that means that it had to be compiled. There had to be debates and arguments about what would be added and what wouldn’t. The compiled Bible didn’t come about until nearly 300 years after the last Apostle died. So, what did the Apostles do without Scripture? They didn’t have the New Testament. There are some who preach that Scripture alone is the only way we can know the truths of our Faith. But, today in our first reading from Acts, we see the Apostles and elders making a decision without a compiled Bible. What we see is the teaching authority—the Magisterium—of the Church at work. They decided with help from the Holy Spirit that Gentiles don’t have to be circumcised to be saved. Once they’ve made the decision, they write letters to believers in far off places, and send representatives to delivery the message. Scripture, the Magisterium, and Tradition: These are the pillars of the Catholic Church, Catholic Pilgrims. We are blessed to belong to the Church that recognizes the importance of all three. Have a blessed Sunday.
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