44 Reasons I love being Catholic.....# 9 Our Shepherds

Well I was supposed to list 44 reasons I love being Catholic by my birthday which is quickly approaching.....I have only done 8 this year. What a slacker....but I have had a request from a follower of my blog to keep on talking the Catholic stuff.....and she is NOT Catholic, go figure.

I was raised as the daughter of the church receptionist. My mother worked in the church office from the time I was very small until she died when I was 20. Because of her working with the priests, our family came to know many wonderful men serving our church. We had them over for dinner, went to hockey games with them, played cards, doing "normal" things. I am blessed to have gotten to know these holy men in the everyday life as the vocation of a priest is a very hard life, they sacrifice so much. I know they can be intimidating in their vestments up on the altar and they stand out in their Church attire and collars, but really these are just men who have answered a call to serve Christ and the church.

I thank God for these men. I found an article by Vicki Thorn which stated "A priest is a man, clothed in tenderness, who speaks of God's mercy, who prophetically pronounces the truth, unpleasant though it might be and who reflects God's love to a hurting world. Sometimes he is shoring up souls and sometimes he is breaking up concrete. He is comforting the grieving and challenging the young. He is soothing the dying and blessing the newborn".

SO this year, Pope Benedict has declared the year of the Priests in an effort to encourage "spiritual perfection" in our priests. Priest are men, humans with faults and temptations just like the rest of us. They have a very stressful job which can be lonely. They need our prayers now more than ever. We need to pray for those who have a calling to serve Christ. We are called this year to pray for our priests.

I am so grateful for those who are called and answer that calling to serve us in bringing us closer to God.

44 Things I love about being Catholic...#8 Reconciliation

Its been a while since I have blogged a reason I love being Catholic, as it has been a while since I went to confession..... BLESS ME FATHER FOR I HAVE SINNED.......sounds funny doesn't it to ask for a blessing when saying you have turned against God.

One criticism we Catholics faces is "confession". I think its a misunderstood sacrament that gets a bad rap......like its OK to sin knowing you can confess and then go out and do it again...that is NOT really how it works. You can't confess something you aren't sorry about and that you plan on doing again....I mean what is there to forgive in that? And I have heard MANY times "I don't need someone to tell me God forgives me, I ask directly for forgiveness". Well we all have opinions, I love the GRACE I receive when I participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation....also known as Penance or Reconciliation.

The act itself involves the examination of conscience, so periodically - however often you go to confession,-you sit and think of what you have done to keep you from God. Without the sacrament, I honestly don't think I would do this. Sure I might commit a sin and ask God for forgiveness for that sin....but I don't think I would really reflect and try to think of the many things that turn me away from God. When you start to think, its scary how long the list easily comes. Especially the little things....which to me can be the scariest as unreconciled can get bigger and bigger. The examination of conscience really keeps things in check.

To physically sit in the presence of the priest who is God's agent and disciple and to say out loud the sins committed is hard.....think of how hard it will be to face God himself at the end of life. I think saying these things aloud really does help in the "boy I have screwed up" department as we are admitting our downfalls AND our desires to become closer to God. In the sacrament, you say what you have done to offend our heavenly Father, you ask forgiveness and pray with the priest. The priest is has the task of giving you your penance to try to compensate for the offense. He is not the one who forgives, its God who forgives, he just serves as God's agent.

I don't go to confession often enough - I went today for the first time in 3 or 4 months. Technically you only have to go once a year, but if you are in a state of sin, you should not receive holy communion at Mass. I think for the new year I am going to try and make it monthly. About a month ago, I thought of a few sins I had committed and how I should not be receiving communion....that's a whole other post..... So I decided to stop going to communion at mass until I had been to confession. I would go up for a blessing, but not to consume the Holy Eucharist. I don't know why I have such a hard time making it the confessional.....but I finally went today after mass.

The cool thing is....I will receive communion, the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, at the Christmas Vigil Mass next. Talk about symbolic, during the season of awaiting the coming of our Lord. I will receive him for the first time in a while at the very mass we celebrate his arrival. I have been restraining myself, because I realized how precious the holy Eucharist is and I also realized for so many years, with my habit of not going to confession, how I was not respecting Holy Eucharist by consuming in a state of sin. For me, denying myself communion really put into perspective how sin separates us from Christ. Even though I could get a blessing at mass, which I most gladly accepted, it made me think of how sin affected my relationship with God and his son.

I have never felt God's grace stronger in my life than after confession....especially the one where I had been away from the church for so many years. The best thing about reconciliation is that it totally wipes our sins away.....not just offers forgiveness, but through the holy spirit we are truly cleansed and the ugliness of our sin is gone.

OK, so if you have made it here......may the Peace of our Lord be with you, as we celebrate the coming of our Savior this week......think of how awesome it is 2000 years later, we can be cleansed the sacrament and made in a state worthy to receive his most precious body. Through reconciliation, its all wiped away and we are made a new.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

44 Things I Love About Being Catholic...#7 Incense

Again the numbers have no significance as far as what i love the most...

I love the burning of Incense to symbolize our prayers going up to heaven.....though when pregnant, it kind of made me sick to be honest. I love all the pomp and ritual the priest goes about swinging the censer around. A priest a my church once commented that his seminary prided themselves on how they could cloud up the congregation with incense. I say the more dramatic the swing, the better.

On Mondays I pray in my church's adoration chapel for an hour each morning, and the past 2 weeks I noticed the unmistakable scent of the incense. No nothing divine or miraculous there were funerals in the church and incense is used as a part of the funeral rite. When I had that whiff last week, I was still pretty deep in my grief for Fr Kenny and that aroma reminded me to pray for the repose of his soul and for his family, friends and the staff at the Cathedral...to be eased in their (and my) grief. Then I was reminded of the image of my prayers, sweet requests rising to heaven......like the aromatic smoke from the incense rising from the censer. The Holy Spirit in me, burning in my heart as the incense was....

Yes, I know in my youth I would do the dramatic holding of the nose with the PU face to my mom as it can be quite strong, but I suppose I have grown to appreciate this beautiful gesture. Actually Roman Catholics aren't the only ones who use incense, but I like it when we do.

I learned tonight in the Book of Revelation incense symbolises the prayers of the saints in heaven - the "golden bowl full of incense" are "the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8 cf. Revelation 8:3) which infuse upwards towards the altar of God.

To the saints.......All you Holy Men and Women Pray for Us!

44 Things I love about being Catholic.... #6 a simple prayer

I love The Sign of The Cross......where you say, "In the name of the Father"...as you touch your forehead, "the Son" as you touch your sternum and the "and the Holy Spirit" as you touch each shoulder. Follow with a big AMEN.

This is a visual and verbal prayer acknowledging the God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...the Trinity using the visual of the cross which Jesus died for us on.

The sign of the cross is probably one of the most used sacramentals of the church. Probably most familiar, its used to start and end prayers and when blessing one's self with Holy Water. When I was in grade school we were instructed to make this sign when we heard a siren....as a blessing for those in the car/truck/ambulance and for those they were going to help - I still do it sometimes, probably need to do it more! Sometimes when I am trying to think of a prayer, I will just sign myself - as the simplest of prayers.

I came across an optional prayer to pray after signing yourself, said to be favored by St. Benedict which I think I might give a whirl:
By the Sign of the Cross, deliver me from my enemies, O Lord.

I must admit there are times when I lack boldness in my faith when it comes to signing myself in public. NOW, I don't think there needs to be this big dramatic motion for it to be an effective prayer, simple is always good....but I guess sometimes we don't want to stick out as "one of those people" and it takes courage to do a simple sign of the cross.

I came across this from Saint Cyril a Bishop of Jerusalem which I am now reflecting on and thinking, I need to be bold to honor my God:

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor's sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the Gift; but for this rather honor thy Benefactor." -- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 - 386

44 Reasons I Love Being Catholic...#5

Those beautiful bells during mass. They are called the Sanctus Bells....and most are made of Bronze.

This tradition goes back over 800 years. My cliff note version, NOTE: I am no theologian.....I am just saying my understanding.........they used to ring the church bells...the big ones like outside in the tower to signify mass was starting AND during the consecration and presentation of the Eucharist. By ringing the bells, people who could not make mass could hear that something divine and miraculous was happening at the local church. They could stop what they were doing and make a small adoration or prayer to the Lord. The bells also helped the faithful in the church...and they still do.....to refocus on what is going on if their minds have started to wander. Yes, it happens...... I also seem to recall, when the bells were instituted I am thinking the mass was in Latin and many didn't speak the language so it helped them know what was going on. At some point, the big bells were replaced with the little bells that are now rung in the sanctuary. Its a set of 3 or so bells.

They are rung as the priest elevates the Body of Christ and also when he raises the Blood of Christ. This is actually optional, so you might not hear it if you go to mass. My church will ring them so long as someone is serving with the priest. Its a BEAUTIFUL sound, 3 rings which represent the most Holy Trinity.

When I was pregnant with Sarah Cate, and was at mass when they would ring the bells she always moved in my belly. It made me smile and think of how in Luke when Mary went to tell her Cousin Elizabeth she was expecting and it excited John the Baptist who was in her belly at the time....

Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,

After Sarah was born, she would look around for those bells, they seemed to calm her. I guess she remembered them. Now when she hears them she looks at me and smiles. It brings me so much joy as I LOVE those bells. I was thrilled on the CRHP weekend when I got to ring the bells during one of the masses. I cannot express how much that meant to me as when I was younger, girls were not allowed to serve on the altar....which has totally changed....lucky girls now who get to ring those bells.

I found the following on the site Adoremus Bulletin referencing bible verses mentioning the use of bells....

The use of bells is mentioned four times in the Old Testament of the Bible. Exodus 28:33-35 describes the vestments worn by the high priest Aaron as he approached the Arc of the Covenant in the Holiest of Holies:

On its skirts you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet stuff, around its skirts, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, lest he die.

This description of Aaron's extremely ornate priestly vestments is repeated in Exodus 39:25-26 and again in Ecclesiastes 45:9:
And he encircled him with pomegranates, with very many golden bells round about, to send forth a sound as he walked, to make their ringing heard in the temple as a reminder to the sons of his people.

The bells were likely included as part of high-priest Aaron's vestments for two reasons. First, they created a joyful noise to God, which is something man should undertake as described in Psalm 98:4

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.

Secondly, bells were long thought to possess apotropaic powers, or the power to ward off evil spirits. The bells were seen as tools to be used to avert dangers to Aaron before he entered the Holiest of Holies.

Bells were also used to signify adoration to God during early times, as shown in Zechariah 14:20:
And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "Holy to the Lord". And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar.

The ancient cymbals mentioned in Psalm 150:5-6 are said to have resembled water pitchers with wide open necks, similar to the bells of today:

Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

SO there you have it folks....I learn a little something new each time I post one of these 44 reasons! I just love the sound and the reverence it adds t the Mass.

See you at #6

44 Things I love about being Catholic #4

Honoring The Blessed Mother.....

I have always been drawn to her since I was a young girl. She is such a powerful example of acceptance of God's will. A loving and devoted mom with her Son to the very end. God gave her the task of being the mother of Christ and she stepped up.

. . she is our Mother. As a woman and a mom, she is one powerful role model.

Catholic Catechism 967

By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.

Catholic Catechism 968
968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace."

My patron saint from whom I took my confirmation name is St Bernadette. When I was young, I prayed every night to the Blessed Mother to come see me like she did to Bernadette. Not to sound like a nutcase, I believe she has answered my prayers and made her presence known to me much later in my life......when I needed it most.

What a role model. She said YES to God's call to her. He sent an angel, which had to be scary as heck....

In Luke 1, we read of the foretelling of the birth of Jesus. An angel appeared before Mary.
And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

There are some truly beautiful inspired works of art of Mary.........just fantastic. I still need to get my backyard grotto going, just need to get my statue of Mary! I vow to have it by Christmas! My Grandmother had a Mary grotto in her backyard which is a tradition I want to continue. I mean, when I see Mary, I think of how she accepted God's plan for her, day after day as she mothered our Lord Jesus Christ....I have the perfect spot picked out right outside the window - I will be able to see it when I am doing mundane things like dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

My mother had faith in the power of Mary's intercession with her Son....she named my sister after her and dressed her in blue for 7 years to honor her and ask her for strength for Mary Beth...and for my mom. I am hoping that I continue to pass this devotion to my daughter. The cutest thing after Mass is watching Sarah Cate go to the Mary statue outside the church and blow her kisses. I hope she always knows how much Our Blessed Mother loves us.

A GREAT Marian Prayer is the Memorare....so if you need something, ask Mary to help you. She loves us and loves to help us. Its like asking a dear friend to pray for you!

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother;

to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.

See you for #5!

44 Things I love about being Catholic #3

You can dance if you want to.

Keep it clean people!

Psalms 150:4
Give praise with tambourines and dance, praise him with flutes and strings.

44 Things I Love about being Catholic #2

Infant Baptism.

From the Catholic Catechism.....paragraph #1250....

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.

Thanks Adam and Eve staining us with original sin - but you know, if they hadn't have fallen I am sure somewhere along the line one of their descendants would have because we humans are weak I tell ya. Isn't it great to know that though the Sacrament of Baptism, a parent can help wash this sin away once and for all. The parents need to take a class beforehand to understand the importance of the sacrament and all the responsibilities that come with it afterwards - but this simple sacrament is so beautiful as it makes our babies perfect.

I learned when Sarah Cate was baptized that traditionally, the white gown was not put on the child until AFTER the baptism, symbolizing the rebirth and clean spirit. So when we baptized her, she started out in pink and ended up in the white gown which her cousins also wore.....this gown was actually made by MY cousin, Kathleen.

I love Baptisms ......vows rejecting Satan and His Empty works, anointing with holy oil, the pouring of holy water and the baptismal candle. We had a small family party this year celebrating Sarah's first year as a Catholic on her baptismal Birthday. Fun tradition to start.

We had Caleb baptized the night he was born. It was just Andy, Fr Liam and the NICU staff......I am glad that Andy got to be there since I wasn't able to make it after my surgery. The only comfort in losing him is knowing that he went straight to heaven. I am glad as his mom, I gave him the gift of a perfectly clean soul through his baptism.

There is nothing more pure than a newly baptized baby...they are so small and so innocent....about as close to perfection as you can get I think. In a way, I see Jesus telling us this also......

Mark 10: 14-15

When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

The importance of Baptism goes back to well, Jesus himself. But its wonderful to see the first Disciples telling us how important it was and still is.

Acts 2:38-39 "But Peter said to them: Do penance: and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call."

Infant Baptism....about as good as it gets I think.

44 Reasons why I love being Catholic #1

I am a cradle Catholic, so I have been one all my life. There were years when I thought I knew everything in my youth and strayed away from the church....and from basic Christianity for that matter....but thankfully, my family and friends prayed me back.


On my birtheday this year it hit me how much I love my Church as it is such a powerful force in working on my spirituality and gives me so many tools and aids to helping me grow closer to God. My faith keeps me grounded and helps with the anxiety and depression that can seems to chase me.

I started a list of the 44 reasons why I love being Catholic - one for each year on earth. So as not bore my faithful few blog followers, I will do one at a time with a goal of having them all listed by my 45th birthday. They are in no particular order.....so here we go.....


#1 Transubstantiation.....aka The True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist


It is such a blessing to be able to physically receive Christ 2ooo years after his body was crucified and he died. While we aren't lucky enough to hang out in person with Jesus as the first disciples did....which I bet was WONDERFUL as he must have been such a nice, loving and fun person to be around - we can still recieve him after his death. Our communion is not a symbol of what he did, our Eucharist IS the body and blood. When we receive him, we are filled with Christ and His love and it fuels our desire to further look for him in our lives and to listen to the will of our Heavenly Father.



For any non catholic readers.....The Catechism of the Church states:

The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all sacraments tend." In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church: paragraph 1374


I came across a website recently that really did not like the catholic church and stated we just made stuff up....which is not true. All beliefs, teachings and rituals of the church are scripture based. Here's is one on Eucharist....


John 6:53-58, 66-67
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.' After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, 'Will you also go away?'"


Its very hard to wrap logic around this belief....its a tough one to accept - no wonder when Jesus said this, many people no longer followed. To be honest, I have wondered sometimes....what if it is just a wafer and wine....but you know, then it always hits me.......CHRIST SAID THIS IS MY BODY AND BLOOD. He told us to remember him this way. And as a Catholic I believe and Thank God for giving us his Son.