Joseph Francis!

This is the new addition to my former roommate's little family! She and her husband haven't even been married for a year yet :) How CUTE is he??

And he just keeps it coming...

"Only God knows how many suits, coats, dresses (and much else) are bought, not because the present suit, coat or dress is worn out, but simply because it has been seen fairly often or because Parisian designers have decreed that lapels shall be wider or skirts shorter. Which is a frightful tyranny when one reflects for a moment on the millions in the world who have no wardrobe at all and who today are starving and dying at the rate of ten thousand per day."
~Authenticity, p130 Thomas Dubay, SM

Prayer to St. Raphael

We wretches love the Archangels!

O Raphael, lead us towards those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us! Raphael, Angel of Happy Meetings, lead us by the hand towards those we are looking for! May all our movements, all their movements, be guided by your Light and transfigured by your Joy. Angel Guide of Tobias, lay the request we now address to you at the feet of Him on whose unveiled Face you are privileged to gaze. Lonely and tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of earth, we feel the need of calling to you and of pleading for the protection of your wings, so that we may not be as strangers in the Province of Joy, all ignorant of the concerns of our country. Remember the weak, you who are strong--you whose home lies beyond the region of thunder, in a land that is always peaceful, always serene, and bright with the resplendent glory of God. Amen.

(Found online- not sure who wrote it)

Heroic Humility

"A person possesses heroic humility when promptly and easily he avoids vanity in dress, domination in conversation, or desire to impress. He experiences little difficulty in accepting correction -- indeed he desires it. He is content and at peace with accusation, neglect, blame, rejection."

~Thomas Dubay, SM: Authenticity

Yikes.

The View

Well, inspired by Mrs Spice, I watched a part of "The View" that was on someone's blog- where Rosie says that "radical Christianity" is just as threatening as radical Islam "in this country, where we have a separation of church and state."

As one of the other ladies finally chimed in, "Radical Christians aren't threatening to kill us."

When you decide to follow your own truth, a lot of simply being able to see goes with it. I think most people, if they are thinking objectively, see a big difference there and it is striking that she would not. And that so many people in the audience clapped when she said it is disturbing.

But all that stuff aside, I only watched a few seconds before remembering why I can't stand watching The View in the first place: They all just talk over each other.

I haven't watched a whole episode in years, but I remember that, and saw it even in this short clip. It's all about what each woman has to say- they're not really listening to one another. This is not genuine conversation. I can't stand it! Yak yak yak- It reminds me of that song from The Music Man: pick a little talk a little pick a little talk a little cheep cheep cheep! talk a lot pick a little more.

What's the point? Bleh.

Tumbleweed

There's not a single other person on my hall at work this morning. I have Ben Harper playing. Not too shabby. Too bad I might not be here very long!

Hilarious Pearls

Hey! I resemble that!

The Pope's Address

That has everyone talking.

Read it for yourself

Grrrr media. What, are we no longer permitted to do research or quote medieval texts in lectures on Greek thought at universities?

Annie H had some words about it yesterday at CL. She pointed out that BXVI acted very much in freedom, both in speaking and in apologizing. It was like, "Ok, you're burning churches, I'll take that as dialogue."

Also interesting from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091800992.html

Prayers for Laura C and Family

Please pray for Laura ("sweet somewhere bound" blog under friends) as she and her family approach the end of her father's heroic life and battle with the "c word". May the Lord remind them of His promise and Mary hold them in their grief. May the Holy Spirit be intensely present to them in these last few days or weeks and guide all words and actions to bring an unearthly peace to the family.

Also for Matt and Lucy as they are also battling with the "c word".

St. Augustine and Wretchedness

St. Augustine is totally a friend of the wretches!

As if we needed further proof... Fr. Fisher said a beeeautiful special mass for Sr. Rain on Monday evening and he bust(ed?) out a first class relic so that St. Augie could give us each a blessing!

The occasion? Our Sr. Rain is off to the Sisters of Life! We are so happy for her and wish her the best. Given the miraculous way the Lord cleared up the medical concerns that could have prevented it, I think the sisters would have had a hard time saying no :)

Gosh, I'm just the announcement queen these days. At least that's all for a while- right ladies?

Rosemary's beautiful post

Check it out y'all:
Little Low Heavens: Lift Up Your Arms

Adoro te devote

Like what tender tales tell of the Pelican

Bathe me, Jesus Lord, in what Thy Bosom ran

Blood that but one drop of has the pow'r to win

All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

Mountains and Volcanoes!

The beautiful young lady on the right- next to her sister Water on the left- Sr. Mountain, is joining the Dominican Sisters of Mary,Mother of the Eucharist next week. Pray for her continued joy and peace in this discernment and important step in her becoming more who she is! She is such a blessing to the wretches and we will all miss her presence even as we rejoice in her gift of self!



And perhaps appropriately at the same time, we welcome a new Sister: Volcano! She will always remind us of both Mountain and Fire. Yay!!!

Community announcements...

I'm happy to announce that we have a Sr. Clouds now- Erin G!

Also happy to announce that Sr. Light is "graduating" from her crazily complicated neuro-something program in MN. Yay!!! Congratulations Light!!!

We've heard from Sr. Moon's mom who says that she's vastly contented at the motherhouse of the Nashville Dominicans and will receive her new name and the habit on August 14th... when her younger sister will also be entering the convent. "Jesus be praised!" as her mother wrote.

Also both happy and sad to announce that Sr. Dawn will be continuing her wretchedness, but in Florida; We're so happy that she's found a call to nursing but sad that it means she's moving!

Sr. Sunrise has joined the ranks of those called to the married state and is engaged! Perhaps a couple more announcements like this will not be far away...

And before the summer is out, we will probably have at least a couple more announcements to make about members joining religious orders! We're praying for you ladies! Never forget that you are first and forever a wretch :) What an exciting time to be alive in the Church!!!

Too Cute

I hadn't visited the site recently, but this picture says it all!!!!

The caption is "On our way to chemotherapy, get excited!" How much do we love Sr. Sea and her husband?

Keep praying for them y'all.

A Spicy Wedding

Veni Sancte Spiritu! Our Sister Spice was united last Friday to her handsome husband. Doesn't she look gorgeous?




This was taken during the mass from my great view :)

Missionaries of the Eucharist

Have you met them yet? Here's the website and Sr. Sand is on the walk with them, spreading the message of the Theology of the Body and looking to spread the Gospel of Life. I also met a couple of them at a praise and worship night... they are really great and totally on fire for the Lord! Let's keep them in our prayers.

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Now that I got that awful song in your head.... hehe.

Thank you so much to all of you who made my birthday so special; Rarely have I felt so loved both in the presence of friends at my house and the messages I received. Wow this wretch is so blessed!!!

Today is the installation mass for Bishop Weurl, our new Archbishop here in DC. He is the Shepherd the Lord has chosen for us, and I hope that he will be humble, courageous and prepared for the enormous task that it is.

I'm hoping to get a seat since I sprained my ankle or did something funky to it yesterday playing soccer. shoooooot. NOT GOOD considering I'm leaving for WorkCamp tomorrow. Is there a patron saint of sprained ankles? Please pray for the 300+ teens that will be there; that they may encounter Christ in their service and our reflections and activities.

Still looking for a job. I want to teach high school religion/theology. I'm willing to move... anyone know of anything???? I thought this would be easy, but it's not turning out that way. There's a plan, right?

Mid-Twenties Crisis

Last night while I was with some friends/wretches I do not see very often, we talked about our mid-twenties crisis, brought on in a particular way by being around or talking about our friends who are already living their vocations (beautifully, might I add). It especially comes on when said friends are younger than you. By years.

We didn't talk too much in depth about it but I'll try to articulate my frustrations and they can affirm or deny them.

• I'm tired of moving. Basically, I'm tired of temporary homes. You move somewhere, live there for a year, then at least one roommate gets married, the house changes, or you don't have a job and have to move home again, only to be wondering when you'll be able to move out once more and who you can live with who isn't guaranteed to be getting married a year from now, all the while secretly hoping one day it will be you.
• When you go to parties with your married-with-children friends (who you LOVE), you're pretty much the only single woman there and may even be asked, "Where is your husband?" (true story- I should have replied, "You tell me!")
• You get lots of comments from you family and friends along the lines of, "But you're such a catch! What's wrong with those guys?" Which you appreciate but at the same time wonder about because it can't really be all their fault, can it?
• Many conversations go like this, "Do you ever hear from so-and-so?" "Oh, yeah! She's engaged- it's coming up next month." or "Yeah she's entering the CFRs in a week"
• You have many many many girl friends who are all in the same boat as you, and you love being with them but you have to laugh about having a "girls' night" because every night is a girls' night.
• And finally... You have to sit in a cublicle for hours to make money to pay rent for your temporary living situation and discuss "career options" and try to sell yourself, all the while thinking, "Actually, all I want to do is get married and have children."

Along those lines, I'll relate a story from my junior year of college. I received a letter in campus mail saying that I'd been nominated for some kind of award/scholarship program. There were a million steps, and I had to go to the dean's office to be interviewed. I went to her office, having no real idea what I was in for. She said congratulations and some nice things about my studies, and then asked the question I knew was coming but still dreaded, "What do you want to do?" I froze. By this point I had figured out that the most important thing in my life was my faith, and that I really wanted to help people. Something vague. I didn't know how to answer her question adequately and I think I literally said, "I don't know; I'm not sure." She said, "That is not an acceptable answer for an intelligent young woman." and proceeded to lecture me on that fact and how she couldn't possibly recommend me for anything if I could not answer such a simple question.

I said, I agree. Keep it; I don't want it! And left in tears. I recall with perfect clarity that I just wanted to say, "I just want to get married and have a family!" but knew that that would go over even worse than "I don't know", if that was possible. That reaction actually surprised me at the time- particularly because I wasn't raised at all to consciously think that that was most important. It was never a question in my house whether I'd go to college or whether I was expected to do something with my mind. Of course I was! School was important, and finding something you loved to do was as well. I also never dated anyone so it's not as if I was always thinking about it or actively "husband hunting." But faced with the question by a stranger I found the answer in myself.

Three years later I'm wondering if it was just me, or the Holy Spirit, or both. That's where the mid-twenties crisis comes in. How do you know if you're doing God's will or just seeking your own desires. Because this time of our life is inherently selfish. The only person you're responsible for... is you. You're not really accountable to anyone else; You're not bound to a person, place, even country. You could go anywhere, at any time, for any reason, if you have the means to do it. Yikes.

Well maybe ONCE in a while

Just once in a while...

Tonight is the vigil mass of Pentecost- a feast that I never understood so well as I do now and certainly never celebrated as well as I plan on doing. Tonight, mirroring what is happening in Rome, we have a mass at the basilica with members of all of the ecclesial movements who have responded to the breath of the Holy Spirit in joining them. I will be singing with the Communion & Liberation schola, and though I'm in no way an "official" member of CL, I love it a lot and am really glad to spend this feast with them.

Tomorrow, Sr. Wave and I are having a Pentecost party. haha. It's gonna be great fun.

In that same breath, we pray for Sr. Spice's grandmother, who passed away this week to join her husband who died only a short time ago.

The Spirit moves where He wills... You give and take away.