paula-of-christ

[paula-of-christ]

@marian-devotee

Catholic reaction images >>>>

All found on Pinterest, not mine 💕

[paula-of-christ]

I did end up going to my priest. My main concern was that he doesn't always have time for last minute, and there's a lot of parish events happening this week. He was incredibly helpful and I am far more at peace about it.

Please pray for me. There's been some stuff that came up that I'm very conflicted over and I don't know what to do.

[paula-of-christ]

I live in the Midwest and that simply isn't true. It is going to depend on what city you live in.

whats the deal with catholic schools in north america? (Im european, my only knowledge on this is american tv and american/canadian internet users.) Like, they get mentioned so often, and even people who arent catholic seem to send their children to them?

Most schools that are private, are going to be Catholic, in comparison to public schools which are run by the state. Because they don't have 1 unifying governing body that decides all of their curriculum for vastly different areas of the country (ie, with public schools the same rules apply to a school in a rich area with tons of funding as a school that serves a low income area with little to no funding outside of tax dollars) Catholic schools get to more or less customize their curriculum to the area they are serving. They still have to teach based on some standardized testing the state decides, but they have a lot more freedom about how to teach that, which public schools do not.

In a very general way, private schools, since they are privately funded and can make their own decisions about how the school is run, have better education than public schools. Individually you may find specific schools that are better or worse than their surrounding public schools, but for the most part, private school is going to be better in America.

It's just that most private schools are Catholic. But there are a considerable amount of them that are Lutheran, and even a few non-denominational ones. I also know the Orthodox Jews have their own ones and there are a handful here and there that are secular, but those are few and far between. With all this, the connotation in America is that private school = Catholic, and if that school has a better education for their child than the local public school, parents who can afford it will send their kids there, regardless of religious affiliation.

[paula-of-christ]

^ the Catholic Church does not claim that it's liturgies cannot ever change. Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church has claimed that their ceremonies and doctrines cannot be changed under any circumstance, and then go ahead and change them once enough people dislike them. We can see this in the Temple ceremonies, but we also see this in things like allowing black men to hold the priesthood and polygamy.

RE: the temple ceremonies changing - Catholicism has also changed over time, and Mass does not look the way it did when the Catholic Church was established either - or adding/subtracting ritual, consider the Rosary, TLM, celibate priesthood, etc. Not trying to argue Catholicism, either, I just think that change will be found everywhere, and any faithful adherent will find a somewhat logical explanation for why that change occured.

Those are very different than "this sacred ceremony done exactly this way is vital to your entrance into the celestial kingdom". It's a very weak strawman argument.

[paula-of-christ]

per your last couple Orthodox posts: I married a Byzantine Catholic in 2023, and in my limited experience of being a part of our Church's Eastern side, there do seem to be a few misunderstandings that boil down to "things don't look or sound the same so the theology isn't the same" or vice versa. Like some Latin Rite sedavacantists thinking that we'd be more on "their side" because our liturgy is older than the Novus Ordo. Like sorry, but we sing "God Grant Him Many Years" for the pope in Rome!

Yea it's kinda like. The concepts are the same but we use different language so things look more different than they are.

[paula-of-christ]

whats the deal with catholic schools in north america? (Im european, my only knowledge on this is american tv and american/canadian internet users.) Like, they get mentioned so often, and even people who arent catholic seem to send their children to them?

Most schools that are private, are going to be Catholic, in comparison to public schools which are run by the state. Because they don't have 1 unifying governing body that decides all of their curriculum for vastly different areas of the country (ie, with public schools the same rules apply to a school in a rich area with tons of funding as a school that serves a low income area with little to no funding outside of tax dollars) Catholic schools get to more or less customize their curriculum to the area they are serving. They still have to teach based on some standardized testing the state decides, but they have a lot more freedom about how to teach that, which public schools do not.

In a very general way, private schools, since they are privately funded and can make their own decisions about how the school is run, have better education than public schools. Individually you may find specific schools that are better or worse than their surrounding public schools, but for the most part, private school is going to be better in America.

It's just that most private schools are Catholic. But there are a considerable amount of them that are Lutheran, and even a few non-denominational ones. I also know the Orthodox Jews have their own ones and there are a handful here and there that are secular, but those are few and far between. With all this, the connotation in America is that private school = Catholic, and if that school has a better education for their child than the local public school, parents who can afford it will send their kids there, regardless of religious affiliation.

[paula-of-christ]

(tone of complete and utter exhaustion) this is the day that the Lord hath made

[paula-of-christ]

pornography is easily one of the top demonic things in the world but no one wants to blame it because it's that pervasive. it's much more appealing to say it's the elites, or some other small outside group. but wouldn't it make more sense for this thing that is so evil to be so pervasive

[paula-of-christ]

Hubby has an interview this afternoon. Please pray that he does well, and if he gets the job, that it will be an improvement over his current job.

[paula-of-christ]

Prayer request. I am seeing my psychiatrist tomorrow and will be telling her about the bipolar-like symptoms I've been experiencing since withdrawal. I need her to believe me.

I have experienced a "Maybe you're not actually experiencing this, maybe you're just noticing it because you're worried about it" from people before, so I am worried she's going to tell me this isn't actually what I'm experiencing and essentially gaslight me.

Please pray she takes me seriously.

[paula-of-christ]

I wish there was someone I could talk to about this stuff but it isn't cut and dry, it requires knowing a lot of context that would be difficult for other people to grasp. So its kinda just like. I'm stuck contemplating it with my husband and myself. Like o could theoretically go to my priest but he is not aware of 95% of the context and I'm not sure that I want to burden him with it

Please pray for me. There's been some stuff that came up that I'm very conflicted over and I don't know what to do.

[paula-of-christ]

Please pray for me. There's been some stuff that came up that I'm very conflicted over and I don't know what to do.

[paula-of-christ]

For my little sister who was in a near fatal car accident today. Somehow she’s not hurt but her car was on fire. She’s still in complete shock hours later.

[paula-of-christ]

met up with sqam today :-)

Screaming crying etc etc

[paula-of-christ]

Realized that I don't have my "How Do I Con-/Re-vert post on my FAQ so uhm. Here yall go lol.

[paula-of-christ]

Why do you veil? I've been thinking about and reconsidering my own practice of veiling (I veil during mass and adoration. My rule of thumb is that if Jesus isn't in the tabernacle, I'm veiling in that room) and I wanna hear some perspectives from women who veil more on a daily basis.

I answered my reasoning for doing so privately with you, since I wasn't at my computer and didn't feel i could type out an adequate response on my phone. But I didn't answer the question fully to my satisfaction, and as this ask will be thrown into the queue, it will be some weeks before it is actually posted.

I would first like to start off by linking to a post I made a couple of years ago regarding the discernment of headcovering. There's nothing wrong with searching for answers from others, but I don't want you to feel a decision paralysis regarding it. If you feel a pull towards doing so, you can get some cheap scarves from thrifting or bandanas and try it out, and if you don't like it, no harm done!

Now that I am older, have done more historical research into it, and have grown theologically in my own life, the reasons why I cover my head on a (roughly) daily basis can be boiled down to a few points. Not necessarily in the order of importance.

1) women - particularly if they are married - have been covering their heads across every culture and ethnicity for several millennia. It is only in very recent history (regardless of if you believe in young earth or not) that women have stopped covering their heads, and then it's only in western countries that they have done so.

2) it is healthier for the hair to keep it in protective styles (such as braids) and covered from the elements. Since I started covering my hair, the health of my hair has skyrocketed, and I need trims much less frequently, as I do not have split ends or dryness in my hair.

3) this is kind of a two-for-one, as it makes it more special that my husband is just about the only man who gets to see my hair, and it provides a very clear line around other men that I am not to be flirted with/engaged inappropriately with. It's like wearing a subconscious neon sign saying that I am religious and not interested in messing around.

4) it makes it easier to be modest in my dress. I am not going to cover my head but then wear skimpy clothing, because that would feel weird. This is relatively not an issue, as my wardrobe in general isn't going to be tight or showing a lot of skin, but there are a few articles of clothing that I only wear for date night or that need to be paired with something more loose fitting in order to look correct with a head covering.

It's come around a lot for me, and there are definitely days when I don't do so, be it convenience or comfort, but I do have some sort of covering on 90% of the time I'm leaving the house, and it mostly boils down to modesty, rather than religious reasons in particular.

[paula-of-christ]

Not fit to hate

People ask where I get the stuff that I write about.

I pray with the daily Mass readings. Then I read commentaries. Mostly InterVarsity’s “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.”

The series gives you a few sentences to a paragraph on each verse. That someone wrote during the first 500+ years of the Church.

Maybe from someone famous, or someone not so famous. Sometimes nobody knows who wrote it. But always the good stuff, stuff that’s stood the test of time.

Like this one, on today’s Gospel (where Jesus says to “love your enemies”). It’s an anonymous work* from the 5th century, that reads like it was written this morning.

“I think that Christ ordered these things [to love our enemies] not so much for our enemies as for us: not because our enemies are fit to be loved by others, but because we are not fit to hate anyone.

For hatred is the prodigy of dark places. Wherever it resides, it sullies the beauty of sound sense.

Therefore, not only does Christ order us to love our enemies for the sake of cherishing them, but also for the sake of driving away from ourselves what is bad for us.

If you hate [your enemy], you have hurt yourself more in spirit than you have hurt him in the flesh.

Perhaps you don’t harm him at all by hating him. But you surely tear yourself apart. If then you are benevolent to an enemy, you have spared yourself rather than him.”

(* Known as the Incomplete Work on Matthew, St. Thomas Aquinas was so fond of it that he once said that he would rather have the complete work than be mayor of Paris.)

Today’s Readings