Catholic Moments

Fast on Friday

April 16, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 27 Comments

1: The secret is out

Well, I just about let the cat out of the bag yesterday on Twitter, so I guess, though it’s early, I might as well share it with my closest friends on the Internet: we’re expecting Baby #3. He or she is due in early December, so we’re very much in the toilet-hugging, looking-for-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel stage of things.

Our five-year-old is ecstatic. She’s also convinced that Hershey’s Kiss is a viable name option. Our two-year-old will be ecstatic once she has a baby to carry. (No, we won’t let her carry the baby…intentionally. But something tells me we’ll have to have our eyes peeled for that little fan of all things baby.)

Prayers appreciated. Hugs welcome. Ginger ale not optional (it seems to be the secret ingredient to my mornings).

2: Recent reading

Last night I finished Mary Mother of the Son, Volume III: Miracles, Devotion, and Motherhood, by Mark Shea. Wow! It completes his Mother of the Son trilogy and I am so thrilled that we’ll be giving this set away as part of the May giveaway at CatholicMom.com, courtesy of Aquinas and More.

Everyone should read these books. They are among the few books I’ve read about Mary that are focused only on the facts, not on trying to win you over or convince you to love Mary with bells on your shoes.

Mark Shea has long been a favorite writer of mine, though this is the first of his books that I’ve read. As far as I’m concerned, he earns his place by Patrick Madrid and Scott Hahn as a Catholic writer for his work in these books.

I’ll be sharing a more in-depth review in May, but let me just say, real fast, that these are FABULOUS books.

3: The “s” word

It started as a humorous little post on Twitter and Facebook.

My mom just told me one of my first words was…sh*t. Does this explain my lifelong battle with saying it when I’m frustrated?

The reason I bring it up here is that I think a few of you need to know that you’re not alone in your struggle with language. (And, really, this isn’t the worst offender — not by a looooooonnnng shot — in my line-up.)

A few moms replied to me on Facebook and expressed relief that other moms used this word.

There was something in that that made me so…sad. I hope, y’all, that I don’t seem that holy or inaccessible or, well, inhuman. Language use is a special struggle of mine. In fact, it seems to be like a bit of a virus for me; when I’m around people with language I don’t necessarily want to emulate, I have to consciously restrict myself from falling right back into the habit of “f” this and “d” that and “oh ‘s.’”

I’m not proud of this struggle, and I don’t share it here to say that it’s OK. I share it because we can gain strength together, and though there are worse things, I find that so many of my sinful thoughts — the things that lead me into real trouble — start when my language heads down the toilet or into the gutter.

4: Speaking of language…

In fact, this week’s Mary Moment, on the Catholic Moments show, talks about how Mary remains a help to me in my language struggles.

5: Potty training

We’re serious. We’re committed. And…we’re not losing our mind (speaking for myself and the two-year-old only).

6: New on my playlist

My sister-in-law’s parish is hosting Lorraine Hess next week, and I’m thrilled to be able to attend the concert. I downloaded her album and am loving it.

7: Mississippi, here we come

For the weekend, we’re going to a part of Mississippi that, from my understanding, does not have internet. (Well, that’s not completely true: they have dial-up.) Though I spend large portions of my weekends offline when I’m at home, I’m out of town right now and things are all out-of-whack with my routine. I think an offline weekend, spent with some of my favorite girls and a pile of reading, will be therapeutic.

So, that said, I’ll see you Monday! Have a great weekend!

Go to Conversion Diary for the full collection of Quick Takes posts.

Filed Under: Quick Takes Tagged With: Baby #3, Catholic Moments, family, language, podcasts, pregnancy, Quick Takes, reading, Virgin Mary

The Friday Seven

March 26, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

1: Total Consecration

For anyone interested, the next cycle of preparation Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary starts today. This is inspired by St. Louis de Montfort’s classic True Devotion to Mary. You’ll find all the prayers and readings — for print or for audio download — at this awesome website. I purchased a $5 book with the prayers and readings in it (because otherwise, it will be all too easy for me to fail).

If you don’t make this cycle, there’s another one starting April 28, and quite a few others through the year. They’re set up so that the 33-day preparation time precedes a consecration day that is on a Marian feast or commemoration. (But, really, I’m botching that explanation. Go read the full scoop for yourself.)

As I told someone who emailed me recently, what do you have to lose?

2: Yakkin’ It Up

If you have any inclination, I’m talking about St. Joseph in “Mary in the Kitchen” on the latest Catholic Foodie, sharing a quote about Mary and rainbows in my “Mary Moment” on this week’s Catholic Moments, and admitting to my slacker mom tendencies (with a laugh) with Arwen and Lisa on the Faith & Family podcast this week.

3: Rosary Workout

The weather was getting nicer (I woke up to snow this morning…piles of it, along with bad roads), and I can feel myself longing to get outside. I dusted off my journal and thought wistfully of my Rosary Workout plans from the fall.

Though I love gadgets, I don’t have an e-reader. The e-book format of Rosary Workout just didn’t work for me, though the principles behind it did. (I raved, as you will recall.)

And then I heard that THE ROSARY WORKOUT IS A BOOK NOW. (Be warned: there is much rejoicing and yelling in glee right now.)

So…what are you waiting for? My copy is on its way to me, and I’m sure there will be more happy sounds from me.

4: An Unexpected Fast

Yesterday, my husband asked if he could take our Verizon MiFi with him for work. He was going to be on-site and it would make his work easier.

And so, yesterday, I had an unexpected internet fast. I could still tweet from my phone, and I had a few updates that went there, but it was a different day than it would have been otherwise.

Had I planned it, there would have been a different tone to it. Had my husband not requested to take the MiFi, I might have procrastinated. I couldn’t be online during the hours when I am most likely to, whether to respond to email or finish up a parish project or various things online.

Needless to say, the laundry is folded and put away. What I didn’t expect was my calm this morning.

I’m going to have to try this again.

5: Internet Connections for the Rural Folk

I have reasons to need a high-speed internet connection. We have had various Verizon products for a few years, starting with their air card and, most recently purchasing their MiFi.

In a word: ICK.

I know, rationally, that my connection speeds are faster than they were in the days of dial-up (which weren’t that long ago for us). But when I find myself at my mother-in-law’s, using her “light” cable connection, I can’t help but grumble to myself about how slllloooowwww and unreliable our speeds are. Right now, before 7 AM, things are fast as they’ll. But in a few hours, it will clog…and on the weekend? Well, good luck.

Any suggestions? Am I dreaming that there’s a better solution than the one we already have?

6: Holy Thursday

We’re getting our feet washed again on Thursday. Though it’s one of my favorite Masses of the year, I know there will be much swallowing of pride and much reflection on the stinkiness of my feet and much sniffling at the tenderness of the washing. I can feel the tears welling in my eyes at the thought of it.

Good thing my toddler will be with me for comic relief.

7: Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

I’ve been trudging along in the Catechism, and I realize that this is going to take me years. (That’s OK. Nothing like a good hearty read, right?) This morning, as I was cozied up to it, I found this prayer and had to pause to write it down. It’s attributed to Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, and it was included in paragraph 260. Here it is:

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring and wholly given over to your creative action.

Our sponsor for the Friday Quick Takes fun is Jen at Conversion Diary. Stop by and see her post and the round-up of other Quick Takes.

Filed Under: Quick Takes Tagged With: Books, Catholic Foodie, Catholic Moments, Faith, Faith & Family Live, home life, podcasts, prayer, Quick Takes, Total Consecration, Virgin Mary

Semi-silence

February 12, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard Leave a Comment

Sometimes, I just need silence.

Sometimes, I need to change my scenery and change what I hear.

I’ve been reflecting lately that silence and light are really intertwined for me. This is probably going to lead to a long and rambling essay somewhere…but not yet.

This weekend, in the midst of a very LOUD set of experiences, I’m going to have some bloggy silence.

I might write and post a review of The Gargoyle Code, which I read yesterday, but I probably won’t have much else. I’ll be ready to share why after the weekend (along with some Lenten reflections), but now, in the midst of the experience, I need to be present.

In the meantime, you’ll find me elsewhere:

on this week’s Catholic Moments with a Mary Moment,
chatting it up on this week’s Faith & Family Live Cast, and
at CatholicMom.com sharing a gem of a book, which I’ve mentioned before in past Mary Moments, My Ideal: Jesus, Son of Mary.

image source

Filed Under: blogging, podcasts, writing Tagged With: blogging, Books, Catholic Moments, CatholicMom.com, Faith & Family Live, podcasts, silence, Virgin Mary, writing

A Bits and Pieces Mary Monday

December 7, 2009 By Sarah Reinhard 19 Comments

It’s hard for me to have a favorite apparition of Mary – as I went from marveling at the “basic Mary” (Mother of God, I suppose) when I first became Catholic, to hearing the different titles and stories associated with different areas, I found myself finding something special – something to relate with – in each one.

I don’t remember when I first learned about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Maybe it was when I became pregnant with my oldest daughter that it clicked that this image of Mary is pregnant. Maybe it was when our parish became home to one of a handful of images that had been touched to the original tilma of Juan Diego that I realized how this depiction of Mary seemed to look at me, to reach out to me, to embrace my fears and struggles.

Guadalupe shirt BlackWhite In honor of her feast day on Saturday, Becky, of the great new Cafe Press shop The Whole Wide Room, has offered to give away one of her Our Lady of Guadalupe shirts. This is a shirt that’s been on my wish list since I first saw it (and I think, working in a parish office, that I could wear it to work, don’t you?). You get to pick the color of the sleeves, the size, the shipping address.

You have until Saturday night to leave a comment here, and then we’ll pick a random winner.

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Share your favorite Marian apparition and/or title in the comments, while you’re there in the combox. I’m working on my writing schedules for next year, and I’d love to write about something YOU are interested in learning more about.

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I’d be remiss not to mention last week’s Catholic Moments podcast, where I share about Mary’s title “Cause of Our Joy” and Lisa shares great information about the great-looking new movie The 13th Day, which is about the Marian apparitions in Fatima, Portugal.

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This week is a heavily Marian week…tomorrow is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I’m reflecting on that over at Today’s Catholic Woman and at CatholicMom.com. They’re very different approaches to the title, and I hope they will help you, especially if, like me, you find yourself floundering a bit with this concept and title.

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With that, I encourage you to leave a comment to win one of Becky’s lovely shirts and enjoy this week of Mary!

Filed Under: Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Mary Moment Segments, podcasts, writing Tagged With: Catholic Moments, CatholicMom.com, contests, giveaways, Motherhood, podcasts, Today's Catholic Woman, Virgin Mary, writing

Thankful for Mary

November 29, 2009 By Sarah Reinhard 4 Comments

The Thankful Train is still chugging away in my neighborhood, in part because I was too sick on Thanksgiving — or on the day after — to cook.

I’m thankful, today, for the turkey that tasted delightful, along with all the sides served on my pretty green china, and for a day, quiet and full, in which to clean all the dishes and cupboards touched by what my mother-in-law calls “mouse dirt.” (In the last 36 hours, my Nutcracker Prince has protected me from TEN of the little buggers, and my helpful MIL shared a stomach-wrenching statistic earlier today: where there’s one caught, there are ten in the nest. *scream*)

I’m thankful for Advent, and I’m thankful for doing better at not hating Christmas.

I’m thankful for Mary. Yes, I really am. And you can hear all about it in this week’s (or, rather, last week‘s) Mary Moment.

I’m thankful for a few minutes — Sunday or no — to blog.

And, most of all, I’m thankful for this day six years ago, the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent that year, when I walked down an aisle in a white dress, holding my dad’s arm and watching my strong, tall Prince Charming’s face, both of us worried about flower girls who hadn’t made it (turns out they were fine, just fine, though devastated at missing their spotlight). (And I’m thankful for the post I wrote last year, which I just stumbled upon, started sniffling as I reread it, and think I will print out for him…)

Filed Under: Mary Moment Segments, podcasts, Thankful Things, writing Tagged With: Advent, Catholic Moments, CatholicMom.com, Christmas, family, gratitude, podcasts, Virgin Mary, writing

Hodge Podge

November 21, 2009 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

Today’s a big game day if you’re a Buckeyes fan. We play The Team Up North.
OSB VS MIW
And you know what? I’m really out of it this year, not really caring about football. I’m struggling to keep up with my life, balancing a few balls in the air, and failing to remember when it’s Saturday and I need to have my game day face on.

When I listened to the interview this week on Catholic Moments, I realized that there’s a name for what I’m suffering, and it’s adultitis. I’m going to have to learn more about that, I think (and it sounds as though the learning will be a fun adventure). In that episode, my Mary Moment is a reflection on the wedding at Cana as I explore a bit about Mary’s title Mother of Divine Providence. (You can read more about that title at my column a few weeks ago at Today’s Catholic Woman.)

So I’m battling being a bad fan and adultitis, but, in the midst of that knowledge (there’s always next year for being a better fan, right?), I have been talking pet challenges and Thanksgiving traditions (or lack of) with a few of my heroes good friends on the Faith & Family Live Cast. That was such a great way to start my day. We all had a cuppa and I hung up feeling as I always do when I’m around the ladies who make the Faith & Family Live community such an oasis for me: refreshed, renewed, ready.

And my latest column is up over at CatholicMom.com: Salon Reflections. This is a sort of tribute to my mother-in-law, inspired by some comments I overheard at the beauty salon.

Now I must go and attend to my day. Here’s hoping your game day (if that’s what this Saturday is to you) and your weekend are full of blessings.

Filed Under: Mary Moment Segments, podcasts, writing Tagged With: adultitis, Catholic Moments, CatholicMom.com, Faith & Family Live, football, podcasts, Virgin Mary, writing

Mary Linking

November 12, 2009 By Sarah Reinhard 1 Comment

mary50 My four-year-old finds beauty in everything. Maybe that’s just one of the many reasons I’m inspired by her all the time. Maybe she’s the reason I write so much about Mary. She was born on a pretty important Marian feast, after all. (On the other hand, maybe she was born on a major Marian feast to get my attention. Or…well, I’ll spare you. I could do this theorizing all day.)

This week, I find myself, once again, using the example of my four-year-old to relate to Mary, this time under her title Our Lady of Liesse. (Never fear; though I examine my continually evolving relationship with this old farmhouse we live in, I don’t mention stinging insects. Much.)

I also examine Mary’s influence on my prayer life this week in my Mary Moment segment of Catholic Moments. If you’re expecting to hear how great I am at prayer, how much success I experience, and/or tips to be more like me, then stay away. There is none of that. I’m all about struggling and asking for help this week. Maybe the quote I share will inspire you to ask for Mary’s help too.

Now, with that, I’m off to other Thursday ventures. (I guess, if I was feeling clever, I could count those as two small successes, but I’m not feeling very clever this morning.)