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Oh, this book. I have a thousand thoughts swimming around in my head about it.
First, let me say, I am glad I read this book. It’s not necessarily a feel good book and I spent most of the book a tad depressed. Yet, the story telling is excellent.
This is a story set in 1930s Mexico during the Catholic persecutions which gave rise to the Cristeros.
The story follows a “whisky priest” (you never know his name) as he tries to evade authorities. He’s such an interesting character because he isn’t a good man or priest, but he isn’t evil either. He’s a priest that has given himself over to vice (he drinks and has a child), yet you don’t dislike him.
He’s a bad priest and he knows it; he knows he’s unworthy to hear confessions and hold Mass and, yet, something in him hangs on to his calling.
Graham Greene the author was Catholic and he was not, I mean was not, a good practicing Catholic. He abandoned his wife and struggled with fornication and substance abuse, so I have to believe there is a bit of himself written into the character of the priest. With all that said, he gets the Catholic Faith. He writes it so well—the vice, the virtue, human frailty, redemption, hope, and suffering.
I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I won’t say much more. It is a book I would recommend, but to caution for sensitive souls, there is a scene where the priest is in a tightly-packed dark jail cell and a couple is being scandalous by engaging in sexual acts. It’s not overly depicted, but the author makes it clear what it is happening.
My favorite line from the books is: “He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that counted - to be a saint.”
How true that is, Catholic Pilgrims. May we always keep that at the forefront of our mind.
P.S. I did a bonus episode in my podcast where I read a short story by Graham Greene called “The Hint of an Explanation.” It’s all about the Eucharist. You can listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/journeying-with-the-saints/id1602865917?i=1000645856665
We've probably all seen the videos of the young women (and men, too) who are defending their decision to never have kids. I'm not here to talk about that necessarily. But, I saw a young woman make a video where she said, "People always ask me what the purpose of my life is. The purpose of my life is to get my nails done. The purpose of my life is to take naps. Have you ever taken a nap? They are fantastic. The purpose of my life is to travel..." I watch those kinds of things with such sadness. No, you were not born so that you could get your nails done or take naps. Those aren't purposes for a life, they are activities that you do (all can be done with kids, I might add). The purpose of your life is to be a gift to others. Never has anyone been born where God had in mind for them a life totally lived for themselves. Never. The mantra of our western culture for far too long has been to focus on the self to an extreme degree. This has not made us more healthy, happy, fulfilled, or capable human beings. Yes, being a gift to others is not as easy as living for oneself, though I would argue that it's harder to go through life imploding in on yourself. Everybody has a purpose and that purpose is to be a gift to other human beings through loving them, caring for them, supporting them, and enriching their lives. And it can't just be a now and then kind of thing, it has to be a gift of self that stretches you and asks something of you. Christ's life is a full and complete gift to us. Mary gave herself to the whole human race by saying yes to being the Mother of Our Savior. The Saints give themselves away for love of God and love of others. You were made for more than nails and naps, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
Continue ReadingI went to grade school in a very old looking building right in the center of my hometown. If I think about it hard enough, I can actually conjure the smell of that building up in my mind--floor wax, chalk, sunlight on old books, and wood. One year when I was home for Christmas, I asked my mom if she could get us in to look around. It had been at least 34 years since I'd been in there. The last time I had walked the halls, I had been a kid. Since my mom knows everyone in town, she got us in. It smelled exactly like I knew it would. Naturally, everything was smaller than I remembered. As I was walking down the halls stopping by each classroom I had once been in, I thought to myself, "It's so weird to come back to a place you once spent every day in after all this time." I looked in my 3rd grade classroom and it was almost like I could picture little Amy sitting there with her penny loafers on and her new glasses. That room had once been my whole world when I was 8-years old. Take, also, the church that my husband and I were married in. I haven't been in it since the day we walked out as husband and wife. Isn't that weird? I drive past it all the time when I'm home, but I don't go inside. Mostly because it's a Protestant church and I'm Catholic now, so there's really no reason to go in. But, it was in that church that my life with Dustin started. There are lots of places that are so significant to our lives that we will never go into again: Hospitals where we were born, hospitals where our children were born, homes that we grew up in, homes of our grandparents, churches that we attended and schools. Whenever we move for the military, right before we leave our home, I like to sit in the empty, clean house and just think about all the memories made there. All the memories that will just seep into the walls and I wonder if the "ghosts" of our laughter and love somehow linger. I hope it does. Life is a funny thing, isn't it? In the moment, certain places are our whole world and then time marches on and those buildings and towns get replaced by other buildings and towns. And sometimes, you can't go back, you just have to keep moving forward on our pilgrimage through life, which ultimately leads to the place we all long to be--Heaven. Have a good Thursday, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingWelcome to our small town church showcase for this week. Here we have Our Lady of Consolation in Vattman, Texas. This church has a very cool story. Vattman is probably the smallest town in our show case and quite possibly the only town named after a Catholic priest. Today, its population is about 160. "So, back in 1907, a land developer, Mr. Theodore Koch, came and purchased a large swath of land and established the town of Riviera. Well, he needed people to come and live on the land, so he approached a Catholic priest, Father Vattman, about finding Catholic families to come and settle on the land. Father Vattman came to look at the area, liked it, and went back home and started encouraging Catholic families to move to the area and purchase land. A German Catholic family came first from Westphalia, Texas in 1908. After that, several other families followed. This church was built in 1916 and was the center of the community. Never a big community, the church is noted for its traditional Thanksgiving dinner where everyone comes to celebrate." Vattman is not far from the east coast of Texas, in fact, it's a straight shot west from Padre Island. Our Lady of Consolation is a small, simple church which sounds like it has been the heart and soul of a community for over 100 years. If ever in south Texas, maybe make time to stop by this church and the area that was built by Catholic families. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday, Catholic Pilgrims. *Information was sourced from About South Texas Facebook Page
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