admin September 26th, 2006
Update on the “womanpriest”!
…she’s not one! PHEW! 
She came back in today for something, and I chatted a little with her. Turns out she attends a Brethren-run seminary. I suppose it’s still a bit odd that she picked St. John of the Cross for a paper, but hey – at least I’m no longer feeling like I’ve been helping someone prepare to defy the Catholic Church!
admin September 26th, 2006
Uhhh…
So apparently British Muslim women want to be taken more seriously. (Hat tip or the hatless feminine equivalent on this one to GayandRight.)
I’m all for taking people seriously. What do they want?
“Muslim women wearing hijab, or headscarves, should be employed in front-line roles in the media…
“More women wearing hijab needed to be seen in the public eye, particularly on television, to encourage more Muslim women to put themselves forward, it said.
“…Ethnic minorities have a lower employment rate than the rest of the population. For Bangladeshi and Pakistani women it is particularly low at only 24 per cent: the average employment rate for women of working age is 70 per cent.”
So in other words, the Brits need veiled Muslim women as news anchors so that other Muslim women realize it’s OK to go out and get a job (or so that the men in their lives realize it’s OK for Muslim women to have jobs).
Now, I’m as in favor as anyone of having some news anchors who don’t look like they’re carved out of cream cheese (whether male or female). In fact, some non-blond, modestly-dressed women in conspicuous roles might be kind of nice. But to overtly promote that as some sort of social-engineering ploy just creeps me out. To me, it screams “VALIDATE ME!” And frankly, I’m not sure it would work.
I accept that not everyone has parents standing over them intoning “You WILL go to college…you WILL go to college…” like my parents did to me. And I think there’s some basis for the idea that people try to emulate people they see in the media. But I don’t see Joe Bangladeshi Muslim seeing a veiled woman reading the news and thinking “Look at that modest Muslim woman. My wife/daughter would really enjoy doing that. I should encourage her to pursue a career in journalism.” And as long as the cultural norms are such that Joe Bangladeshi Muslim determines what his wife and daughters do, I’m not sure that any such endeavor would work. Much as I loved (and love) the movie Bend It Like Beckham, the ending is not especially realistic. (I know – shocking.)
admin September 25th, 2006
Had my first RCIA class…
…it went pretty well.
Background: I knew from the time I signed up I would have to miss the first week (Sept. 17) because I had a pre-scheduled work event that I had to attend. No problem, said the DRE. So Sept. 24 was it.
I had to go to church alone, because Joe packed for the weekend on three and a half hours of sleep and completely forgot church clothes. Besides, he was dead on his feet from (a) a new shift at work, (b) his dad STILL being in ICU, (c) the aforementioned three and a half hours of sleep Friday, and (d) the fact that I had a mini-housewarming with the girls who used to be in my Bible study group on Saturday. So I didn’t blame him for not being there, but for some reason it was way more intimidating to walk into the church knowing I’d be dismissed two-thirds of the way through the service. Especially since I didn’t know if I was supposed to sit in a particular section to facilitate dismissal…
After doing my best to look helpless and lost (that works at a Baptist church, but apparently not at a Catholic church; they seem to just assume you know what you’re doing and pay no attention), I found an older gentleman in a navy blue blazer who looked vaguely usher-y and asked him. Turns out he’s an RCIA sponsor (though not an usher), and he was very nice and helpful – got me to an actual usher, who told me where I should be sitting. (For the record, I don’t think most of the catechumens were actually sitting there.)
So we had the Liturgy of the Word, and then Fr. John gave a fantastic homily about the value of human life, and then we wannabes were dismissed for Scripture study while the REAL Catholics celebrated the Eucharist. 
I will say that the Scripture study was interesting. We were reflecting on the readings from Mass, including one very poignant foreshadowing of the Passion from the Book of Wisdom. The leader had us read it all in context, and that made a huge difference in how I understood it.
Anyway, so we wrapped up after two of the three readings and moved on to the room where the actual talk was going to be. It was different than I expected it would be; I guess I was anticipating more of a classroom setting. However, with the size of the group, I don’t suppose that would really be feasible. There were probably 15 or 20 people in the Scripture study group, though I don’t know how many were catechumens and how many were ‘just there to learn’ (I know there was at least one of the latter). Plus, once you get to the topic lecture, you’ve got sponsors and general parishioners who are interested in broadening their understanding of their faith, so it’s a pretty big group; and Fr. John really made an effort to engage people. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: he’s a rock star priest!)
The first lecture was primarily background: here’s an introduction to the Church and why she does things the way she does. Fr. John likened it to getting a drink from a fire hose, but I guess I have more background than I thought I had, because I knew enough to follow his discussion and clarify some of my understanding further. It was a nice balance.
One thing I’ve got to say: you should see the materials they gave us! I collared the DRE (hey, I wanted my Bible and Catechism! how else am I supposed to do my homework for next week?), and she gave me:
- a sheaf of handouts from last week, including a small 30-page booklet on the Catholic Church and a 36-page issue of The Coming Home Journal
- several handouts for this week, including the text of Dei Verbum (a Vatican II document)
- a three-inch three-ring binder, which gives me some inkling of how many materials I should expect to receive over the next six months
- a Catholic Study Bible and an unabridged Catechism of the Catholic Church. In case you were wondering, each one is about nine inches long by about six inches wide by about two inches thick. In other words, they’re HUGE!I think the only larger books I have are my copy of The Timetables of History and my Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
Then I had to go ask the man who’s in charge of the Scripture study for the handout for that so I can prepare for next week. In short, I was only seated for about three minutes before Fr. John began his talk…so I was slightly irked when he commented about 20 minutes in on how some of us hadn’t even taken our Bibles out of the shrinkwrap yet. “We want to see those bindings BROKEN!” said he; I was tempted to stick out my tongue and point out that I’d only gotten it five minutes before he started talking, but I resisted. I’m quite sure sticking my tongue out at the priest is verboten – we’ll probably cover that next week. (What about wrinkling my nose?)
Anyway, quite seriously it was an excellent talk, and I was reassured that I’d made the right decision in coming to St. Anastasia for RCIA. I don’t know if there’s another priest in the metro area who’s quite as good an apologist and teacher as Fr. John. Funny story – I ran into one of my neighbors, who’s a nun, and mentioned that I’d started RCIA. Once she got over her initial surprise that she hadn’t known I wasn’t Catholic – I’m not called the Clam Rampant for nothing – and congratulated me, she then expressed surprise that I was driving all the way to Troy for RCIA. She asked if that’s where my boyfriend was from; I said no. She said “Is that *the place* to do RCIA?” half-jokingly, and I said “Well, in my opinion it is, because Fr. John Riccardo teaches the RCIA classes…” and she immediately said “Oh, of course!” Rock star much?
admin September 22nd, 2006
I Am a Good Sister…sort of
How Well Do You Know Your Siblings?
You scored 15, on a scale of 0 to 16. Here’s how to interpret your score:
0 – 5
You and your brother or sister may have drifted apart. Dig out their e-mail address and start typing.
6 – 11
You’re still close to your sibling, but may have lost touch with them recently. Try calling them this weekend.
12 – 16
You (or a conscientious sibling) have worked to maintain a connection. Keep at it!
from www.beliefnet.com
In fairness, I have to say that it’s more the conscientious sibling, as I am a hopeless flake who would forget my head if it wasn’t attached to my body. I’ve often gone months without answering e-mails or calling friends. But I’m glad she’s kept at it – does that count? (anxious look)
admin September 22nd, 2006
I’ve been blogrolled!
The first person EVER (to my knowledge) to blogroll me!
Take a look at his blog (in the list on the right bar) – Generations for Life. (assumes Cartman voice) It’s pretty sweet.
admin September 22nd, 2006
My Nerd Score
AAAAUUUUGH! I swear, I’m nerdier than this! The test is flawed! I PROTEST!
Sigh. Well, to thine own self be true. And for the record, Hamlet did not say that. That Polonius guy did.
Thanks to Fr. Erik at Orthometer for posting this test and showing me my true colors.
admin September 22nd, 2006
Woohoo!
Further proof that there is no such thing as an original idea…I was going to start an elaborate series of posts arguing against the “pro-choice” position, but I happened to be blog-surfing, and found that JivinJehoshaphat, one of my fellow Michiganians, has already done so! Take a look!
This guy is my hero du jour. Enjoy!
admin September 11th, 2006
9/11/06
I have no great insights.
I can’t say anything better than what so many people have already said, and will say.
But I feel somehow like I would be remiss if I didn’t say:
God bless those who died five years ago today; God bless their families and friends; and God please give us the grace to also pray for the people responsible. Because as Our Lord Himself said, it is no great thing to pray for those who love you; pray instead for your enemies, those who hate you.
I guess this goes to show my own weakness: I still can’t bring myself to pray for them yet. But someone once suggested that I pray for willingness to be willing: that I pray for God to give me the grace to open my ears and heart, so that He can then put the will to do His will into me. When I can’t pray for something, and I can’t even quite pray to be willing to do something, I can still pray “Lord, make me willing to be willing.”
Amen.
admin September 8th, 2006
GARSH! *duck* *scrape* Aw, shucks…
So I was over on American Papist’s blog yesterday and chimed in my two cents about something. (The link to the post is here.) One of the other readers expressed some doubts about my opinion, so I expanded. He wrote back:
“Kasia: Reasonable points, clearly made. Thx.”
Which may not sound like a particularly high compliment on its face, but (a) the reader in question is a canon lawyer and professor of some stature, and (b)having seen him around the blogs a bit, he doesn’t seem to compliment people lightly. It puts me in mind of how my former boss, a very talented development officer, used to gush praise on people for the littlest thing. It came off as very insincere. On the other hand, her boss, the dean of the college, is a stereotypical New Englander and physicist from whom “You do good work” is high praise. When he compliments people, it makes an impression. (For the record, he’s also a gem of a man, and one of the finest human beings I’ve had the honor of working for.)
I’m just tickled pink that someone so S-M-R-T thinks I “clearly made” “reasonable points”. As I said in the header, “GARSH!”
Note to self: both AOD and Right to Life are possible job avenues. Keep checking both sites for appropriate jobs.
admin September 8th, 2006
Good news on Joe’s dad!
They’ve stopped the sedation and completely weaned him off the breathing tube. He’s doing some physiotherapy too. He may be out of ICU soon!
Thank the Lord!
