Happy All Saints!

I'd like to dedicate this particular post to my four patron saints, plus St. Katharine Drexel, who my church is named after! (We're the first church in the world named after St. Katharine, as our bulletin so proudly proclaims...) She was a pretty awesome lady, filthy rich by means of her filthy rich parents, but she spent it all creating schools and the like. She was especially dedicated to the black and Native American populations. For instance, she founded Xavier University in Louisiana, which was the first black university in the nation (or something like that, I'm not quite sure).

In the first picture, you can see Patron #1, Saint Joan of Arc, who was also my Confirmation saint. I admire her greatly for many reasons. When I was little, it was because she kicked butt and had a sword. Now, I also admire her piety, obedience, bravery, and total submission to God above and beyond whatever weapons she may have possessed. All the same, I still think it's cool that she was leading armies and stuff... Catholic girls rock.

Next and less predictable is Patron #2, Saint Dismas who has the great honor of being the only saint canonized by Jesus himself. I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but the story about "the good thief" is somewhere in the Gospel of Luke. He rebukes Gesmas, the author thief, for being a jerk, and then asks Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. Jesus then says something along the lines of, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." St. Dismas, so commonly overlooked, has become a comforting patron for me and I have an extra special devotion to him.

Next is Saint Lucy, shown here with her weird little eye plant, who was the Confirmation saint of two of my best friends. I look up to her because sometimes I think about how nasty it would be to have your eyes gouged and I absolutely marvel at her dedication to God to bear all that bravely. Plus, my seventh grade CCD teacher handed out saint cards on the last day, and I got Saint Lucy. I'm a sucker for seeing the Hand of God in little things like that, so ever since then she's been my Patron #3. Going along with that theme, St. Gerard is another saint I pray to, because once our youth group was visiting this old church and the priest there handed out saint medals, and I got one with St. Gerard on it. So, I guess he's sort of an unofficial Patron #5. To tell the truth, I have a lot of saints and blesseds I pray to off an on more frequently than others, but I'm dedicating this to my "core."

Finally comes my Patron #4, St. Augustine of Hippo, whom I adopted as a patron a.) because he's a scholarly sort of guy, and b.) because he started his life off as much less than a Christian but then changed his whole life around and became a Father of the Church. I respect that. As with St. Dismas, I have a great love for the themes of repentence, forgiveness, and redemption of the notorious sinner. (For example, I hated A Tale of Two Cities until in the end Sydney Carton sacrificed his life to save Darnay and then I was this huge Sydney Carton fan because he was redeemed by his sacrifice and I thought that just rocked.) As for the scholarly bit, when I first got into reading about theology and religious stuff, I decided that he'd be a good patron saint, and that was even before I decided that maybe I'd like to be a professor of theology. Then I decided that would really rock, and I found my choice of patrons even more appropriate.

So anyway, a very happy All Saints to everyone! (I know it's tomorrow, but I just got back from a vigil Mass so it's on my mind...)

Papal Bull

I was organizing my notebooks today, and I came across this little drawing completed during a long and boring history lecture, in which my friend and I were sparring pictorally about our respective religions. She's Lutheran, I'm Catholic, and we always debate and make fun of each other. People get worried when they hear us, or we tell stories, but we're both really good friends and don't "fight" in a mean or intolerant way... we're just both really interested in theology (she wants to be a minister, and I'd like to be a theology professor), and it's fun for us! Anyway, she came back with this... (To which I added the horns and tail.)

The Most Important Issue?

My mom today, just sort of randomly while we were watching the news, said something along the lines of, "There's this article in [something] that I want you to read. You know dad and I debate politics quite a lot, and I don't really know what your politics are, but I know you support the current administration's pro-life stand. But, there are much more important issues in the world."

I kept my silence for the sake of domestic tranquility; I'm still just happy that she let me go to the March for Life with my church last January -- she very nearly didn't. She's not Catholic or really anything, and we don't see eye to eye on some things, but in order to "honor thy mother and father" I decided it's best if it's something we don't discuss much. Maybe that's wrong. I don't know.

But I was thinking about it, and I don't think she's right. I think abortion may very well be the most pressing moral issue of our day. Okay, there are other terrible, terrible, terrible awful things in the world and understand me that I'm not trying in any way to discountenance a single one of those issues. There's still slavery and all sorts of murder and prostitution and I don't even know what else but the world, in short, has a lot of issues. But here in our own country we kill millions of babies. Babies, who can't defend themselves. We are a society that allows the murder of children. And that isn't "the most important issue?" Let's say these babies weren't even unborn... they were all, say, somewhere up to 12 months of age. There are two presidential candidates. One says that we should be able to kill the babies, one says that's wrong. I don't care if the first candidate has better policy on every other issue, from foreign relations to economics to the environment. If they support baby-genocide, THEY DON'T GET MY FREAKIN' VOTE! DO YOU HEAR THAT, ALL YE POLITICIANS? IF YOU KILL OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN, YOU DON'T GET MY VOTE! Technically, I'm not 18 yet, so no one gets my vote, but sometime soon.

I think maybe non-pro-lifers don't understand our position. Don't they realize that we honestly believe that actual living babies, precious wonderful beautiful little defenseless children, are being cruelly murdered? That mothers are killing their own children? Then, don't you think they'd understand where we're coming from? Don't think that, at least, they'd stop trying to convince us that other things are more important? I just don't know. It depresses me -- it makes me want to cry. A lot of things in the world do. Pray and pray and pray and pray and pray for those babies and their mothers and the cause and everyone supporting murder.

At the same time, I think my mom was a little off base saying that I "support the current administration," because in my mind, Bush has failed miserably. He says he's pro-life, but he hasn't done nearly enough about it. Current Supreme Court nomination, case in point. Plus, although abortion is my #1 issue, I don't like most everything else he's done, either.

Just remember... pray like there ain't no tomorrow!

A Bit Delayed

Yesterday, October 1, marked two important dates! Number one, the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux (of the Child Jesus). Her autobiography, Story of a Soul is highly, highly, highly recommended reading, although it will make you feel like absolute trash. Whenever I'm reading any really good spiritual fare, two things happen. First of all, I get really depressed. It makes me realize how far I have yet to go. I have a bad habit of comparing myself to people around me, and going to public high school it's very easy to make myself out to be a saint. But I'm working on this whole pride thing, and reading about St. Therese is one good way to bring you back down to earth. And luckily, the second thing that happens when I read good things is that I'm inspired to get my butt in gear. Currently, I'm on The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, and boy... I'd better get a-workin'! (I love reading it though, because every other sentence I feel like he's talking directly to me, because he's constantly dealing with things I stress over all the time.)

Sometimes when I get especially angsty, I just have to remind myself of that children's song wisdom, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so," because there's no functioning without that knowledge. Things get too overwhelming for me when I just think about how worthless I personally am, without thinking about how much Jesus loves me anyway. I'm a spiritual leper, but my Lord isn't afraid to touch me. That isn't to say He doesn't want me to get better, but He doesn't want us to live in constant fear and disgust of ourselves, even if that's what we deserve, because otherwise we'll obscure His message in our own hearts.

Second date, the five-year anniversary of the canonization of St. Katharine Drexel, who my church is named after! Indeed, we're the first church in the world named in honor of St. Katharine Drexel, as our bulletin so proudly proclaims! She had a special concern for blacks and Native Americans, as well as in general the "poor and marginalized of our society" as our parish prayer says. So, woot, woot, St. Katharine. Pray for us!

Oh, and Happy Respect Life Sunday! Pray, pray, and pray some more for an end to the genocide of the unborn in American society! And you know, do more than pray too, but never forget our most powerful weapon...