Blessed days

Malcolm celebrated his First Holy Communion last weekend (just one week after his cousin!) and it was a wonderful day. We were happy that Grandma could be here for the weekend (Oscar calls her "Gammaw"), along with Papi,  Lita, and the Dallas cousins.  Malcolm looked very handsome in his new suit!  He seemed pretty happy with his special day.

Malcolm at 26 months

Malcolm is doing great at 26 months. He continues to be a very self-possessed little boy, wanting to do everything by himself and be involved in everything. He is very attentive to his older brother (who he still calls "brudda" - don't think we've ever come close to "Michael" yet) and always wants to wake him up, play with him, and chase him around. He does also like to provoke him, either by snatching away something of Michael's or jumping on his tricycle and racing off with a very mischievous look in his eyes. We are trying to teach appropriate behavior and I don't want to jump in the middle of every interaction, but I do try to stop any hitting, screaming, and stealing of toys. Malcolm very contritely says, "Ah sorry brudda" when he is told to apologize, which Michael doesn't always accept. But Michael does always politely respond "You're welcome, Malcolm," when Malcolm thanks him for something ("Tuh duh, brudda"). Actually, their interaction makes us smile and laugh a lot - they are starting to have a lot of little conversations. Michael will direct Malcolm to play something or ask him a question and Malcolm will say "Oh!" in a very knowing tone, or "Uh-*huh*." I love it.

Happy boy

Malcolm recently had his own run-in with a furniture edge that he had pulled the edge guard off of ... sigh.  This time we got off with just a late-night visit to the urgent care center, not the ER, and he fortunately did not need stitches, but now he and Michael have mirror-image scars across their eyebrows.  In the medical arena, we also recently discovered that Malcolm has a tree nut and peanut allergy :(  He snuck a cashew at a party last month and we had no idea what was going on at first because we didn't see him actually eat it, but he went through the textbook symptoms over the next couple of hours - throwing up the nut, starting to sneeze violently, and breaking out in awful hives all over his body.  I didn't recognize what was happening for too long but when Mike saw the hives erupting around his eyes he quickly recognized it was an allergic reaction and we got him some pediatric Benadryl right away.  Fortunately his reaction was "mild" because there wasn't any difficulty breathing (no anaphylaxis).  But when we took him to the allergy doctor a few weeks later and did a skin test on his back, it confirmed an allergy to tree nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, etc.) and peanuts.  It is possible he would grow out of it someday (although less likely with tree nuts than if he just had a peanut allergy), but it is also possible it could be a more severe reaction next time.  So now he has an EpiPen prescription and we are going to have to keep a close eye on what he eats from now on.  It's not to a point where he'd be someone who can't have nuts anywhere in the vicinity -- otherwise he'd be in trouble with his brother eating PBJs pretty much every day -- but we will have to learn to be more vigilant.

Let's not do this again

Malcolm has good weeks and bad weeks at church.  When we say it's time to go, he says, "Oh, chuh!  Shhh."  So he gets it, but as our Curious George books say, sometimes it is easy for little monkeys to forget.  Once a few weeks ago he barely made it to the "I confess" before freaking out -- screeching all the way back to the vestibule.  Last week and this week he was great -- constant movement up and down on the pew and kneeler and back and forth between Mom and Dad -- but he stayed quiet overall.  We are very affirming of these days!  He touches his head for the sign of the cross and clasps his hands when we say grace.  He can say a good approximation of "Jesus" too.  It's very encouraging :)

With Aunt T

Riding in the shopping cart like it was a Segway

Happy Easter!

Mass this morning at St. Thomas was wonderfully joyful, even though Malcolm had to go (again) to "time out" outside with Mike for throwing a tantrum that started even before church did!  And the boys were typically full of motion throughout.  But Ryan helped out a lot, Michael did very well overall (and I even caught him trying to sing the Agnus Dei - how great!), and the music and atmosphere were beautiful and celebratory.  We said hi to our friends after Mass and heard that their travails with their toddler including him trying to take off his clothes in church.  I guess that is the season we are all in :)  We had a nice brunch with Ryan at a neighborhood restaurant and then hung out watching basketball at the house for a little while.  It's thunderstorming now, and I don't have any work to do, which means it is a perfect time to enjoy a Sunday afternoon nap.  Happy Easter to our families! 

Common theme links

Another numbered post, with a few links I have come across in the last few days:

1. Liturgy.  Here are some reflections on the Easter Triduum from Pope Benedict today.  One of the things I appreciate most about the Holy Father is how incredibly accessible his writing and speeches are.  It is in contrast to Pope John Paul II, who I admit I occasionally struggled with because of the denser nature of a lot of his writing, including his original Love and Responsibility (though it's not just him - high-level philosophy is always challenging for me).  Pope Benedict has an amazing gift for making his words understandable, illuminating, and relevant.  Every time I read his reflections on theology I learn something new.  He concludes his main reflections today with this exhortation, which I will try to keep in mind: "On reliving the Holy Triduum, let us dispose ourselves to receive also in our lives the will of God, conscious that in the will of God, though it seems hard, in contrast to our intentions, is found our true good, the path of life."

2. Vocations. Saw this interesting article yesterday about Catholics and the practice of law as a vocation.  The writer, who went to ND Law School, says he found his way into law school without ever really thinking about whether it was his vocational calling to practice law.  Given the crushing weight of debt many students incur and the lack of enjoyment many have practicing law, and the pressure that comes from being trapped in the second because of the first, many people might be better off thinking more seriously about law school in the first instance.  In addition, the "billable hour" that rules at large law firms in particular has a way of creeping into your whole life, where you start to measure your worth by the number of .25 or .1 hour increments that can be billed to clients.  The author argues it crowds out spiritual life. 

Leaving a large law firm has helped me break out of the "billable hour" mindset (although I do still think about it pretty constantly at work, since I'm not in-house or in public service) but the practice of law is still not, and wasn't from the begining, about "vocation" for me.  I enjoy my corporate practice ("the law"), though I keep my interest in bigger picture/theory ("The Law") up through Federalist Society and St. Thomas More Society events and reading on Catholic traditions in natural law.  I don't think the profession is harmful to my faith, but the article made some good points for reflection.

3. Family Life.  Very interesting discussion on NFP the other day on the Catholic moms' blog I read, taking off on a recent study that apparently found only 3% of married Catholics practice NFP.  Now, I understand the study had a lot of limitations and that number comes with a lot of caveats - it may not include people currently pregnant who have practiced it, people who don't practice anything at all, or people who are post-partum or trying to conceive, with or without NFP - plus I'm not clear whether that percentage is higher among Mass-attending Catholics.  Regardless, it's dismally low, the percentage of Catholics using ABC is dismally high, and the discussion about it brought up some very interesting points.  The most interesting one to me is how many people just flat out never realized what the Church teaches in this area.  I'm usually skeptical of the effect of "raising awareness" campaigns, but it seems like this is one area where raising awareness, along with compassionate education and careful teaching, might actually be quite effective over the long term.  Kind of overwhelming odds given the 45-year head start (and pervasive success) of secular mores in this case, but not insurmountable.

The King's Good Servant, But God's First

Today is the feast day of St. Thomas More, canonized in 1935 by Pius XI. In 2000, John Paul II made him patron of statesman and politicians (including lawyers). Kim is proud member of the St. Thomas More Society of Dallas, which is celebrating his feast day with a special mass at the Cathedral downtown.

Sir Thomas makes an interesting study in Catholic sainthood; He was, by all contemporary accounts, a true Renaissance man, learned in every manner of the law and theology. He was a reluctant statesman, an honorable jurist, and loving husband and father.

His steadfast refusal to publicly affirm Henry VIII's decision to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn, eventually led to his arrest and execution.

St. Thomas More's modern popularity can partly be attributed to the film A Man For All Seasons, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1966. Below is a scene that encapsulates the man who stood against his King and country, to the point of martyrdom:

40 Days

Matthew 4:1-11 (RSV)

1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.
3And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
4But he answered, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
5Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, `He will give his angels charge of you,'
and `On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
9and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
10Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.'"
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Sacraments and Sunday school

Last weekend I was honored to become the godmother to my friend's little girl, Caetlin. It's the first time I've ever been asked to be a godmother! Patricia was having both her daughters baptized and her marriage convalidated and how could I not say yes to being part of that whole day? :) I take this responsibility quite seriously. Also, I'm so happy I was able to make the actual ceremony in Atlanta and get to visit with the whole family over the day. Everything went great. This family has some great friends! (All of whom seemed to have little kids running around everywhere.) I got Caetlin a small book called "Little Acts of Grace" that talks about small devotionals kids and families can do day-to-day to make their faith part of their lives. I should probably take some of the suggestions myself.

Speaking of three-year-olds and faith, I recently volunteered to be a Sunday school teacher for three-year-olds at our parish. As an aside, it wasn't an easy process to volunteer in this day and age -- despite having done three criminal background and reference checks for the D.C., Florida and Texas bars in the last couple of years, I and every other volunteer still had to have a background and reference check by the diocese as a volunteer working with kids, and watch a video about child abuse :/ -- wish all that weren't perceived, wrongly I think, to be necessary.

I've been having such a tough time feeling connected at this parish that I think volunteering might help things out. It would also give me a window into the catechism program here so we can evaluate later down the road if we really feel comfortable here canonically and liturgically or if we would do better to follow our leanings and join another parish in Dallas as Michael gets older. (We are talking to priests about this as well in this ongoing discernment -- would be a very hard decision that I really don't want to make, but staying seems hard sometimes too.) In any event, I haven't taught since my senior year of high school when I taught with my mom, but I remember it being a lot of fun. I am so looking forward to teaching the little kids! We will start with Adam and Eve, talk about Noah and the ark, Miriam and Moses, David and Goliath, and other Bible stories :) It should be so much fun. I'm going to talk to my co-teacher in the next couple of days, and I just got the class list in the mail today too. Can't wait to meet little Gillian, Mia, Nicholas, Gianna, Chloe and others. Little kids are great :)

Atlanta

Last Thursday I had to go to Atlanta for a business trip (firmwide practice group meeting for the group I work with) for three nights. I was worried about how Michael would do with me disappearing for three days. When I asked at the La Leche League meeting, the leaders asked if I could just take him with me. I thought that was pretty unlikely ... but then I checked fares, and they were reasonable, and I asked Amanda if she'd be willing to come along and take care of the baby there, and she said yes. So, the three of us went on my business trip! I'm so glad it worked out -- kept me from having to pump around the clock for three days, and also kept Mike from being traumatized overnight back here. Michael has adjusted pretty well to me being at work so far, but I think if I disappeared for that long it would be a little rough.

The meeting was at the W Midtown in Atlanta. I've stayed at that hotel before on business trips to New York, and it is so postmodern and trendy, every elevator ride feels like you're at a club. There are black platform beds and modern couches, with trendy lighting fixtures, and dim lights all around. All in all, kind of a weird hotel and definitely not my style. It's perfectly nice, just ... not my style. Unfortunately I think it threw Michael off also. He is now a pretty veteran traveler who adjusts pretty well to different cities, but he did not sleep well AT ALL the whole weekend. He and Amanda did great for the most part -- there was a park in walking distance, a food court and some walkable areas around the hotel, and Amanda got to see a few friends -- but he hardly napped for her, and he woke up every two hours for me at night. He was just so stubborn, he wouldn't calm down to sleep like normal. I think something must have just felt different about the environment, even with Amanda's helpful sleep sounds machine. My co-workers who met Michael thought he was great, though, especially because he slept the whole plane ride home -- ha.

The meeting was not well organized overall, but some of the presentations were interesting and I tried to make the most of saying hello to co-workers I talk to and work with all the time but rarely get to see in person -- I do a lot of work for our other U.S. offices. It was great to meet the guys from Madrid and practice my Spanish too (they actually think my accent is good, in contrast to my Ecuadorian in-laws who make fun of my Castilian Spanish). They invited me to bring Mike there and call them, and they will show us around. I haven't been to Spain since my study abroad there (I won't even mention how many years ago now), and I would LOVE to go back. So I'll definitely have to take them up on that.

The best part of this business trip was getting to see Patricia, who I'd actually only ever gotten to meet in person one time before, at a closing in New York two years ago (!), but who has become a great friend since then. I finally got to meet her husband, her little baby girl and her toddler who is adorable and is going to be my future goddaughter :) We went to church on Saturday night at Christ the King cathedral and I enjoyed the beautiful music there (sadly, continues to be a contrast to our own parish). In all, I am extremely grateful to Amanda for coming with me so I could bring Michael and have a good business trip without worrying about him.

QOTD

A warning against false hope:

The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support. In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)—a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.     ~ Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est

Baptism

Michael's Baptism

Michael was baptized this past Saturday, January 17, 2009, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Richardson, TX. My brother Ryan and Kim's sister Amanda were his godparents. The ceremony went very well- Michael was a little hungry at the beginning, but once he got a little snack he behaved extremely well the rest of the time. Fr. Louis, the associate pastor at St. Joseph's, celebrated the rite, and baptized three other children, of varying ages, along with Michael. Luckily, there was enough room around the baptismal font for everyone to get photos.

It was a beautiful weekend in Dallas, with highs in the low 60s, something my family and friends from Chicago appreciated tremendously. (It was -15° when they left there on Thursday.) Many thanks to all who came to celebrate Michael's baptism and who helped prepare us for the day. Michael behaved extremely well for all his guests in attendance, and it was wonderful to get to share all the progress he has made in two short months since he was born.

We have added some photos to the gallery linked above,  but there is more to come.

We thank God for giving Michael to us and allowing him to come into his Church and under His care.

How we spent Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  Christmas Eve was great here -- we had a nice afternoon outing to the mall in Lewisville, a new destination for us, so I could get my hair cut for the first time since March.  Chris's girlfriend Stefani's younger sister works at a salon there, so I thought it would be nice to try going over there.  She was great and I love the haircut!  Stefani happened to be there at the same time, and we visited some and she got to hold the baby when Mike came back from strolling around the mall with him.  We had lunch in the food court and I fed the baby while we were there -- hey, everyone else is eating in the food court, why can't babies? :)  As I read from one mom's post on a breastfeeding resource website, people are more apt to notice a screaming baby than a quiet nursing one, anyway, all things being equal.  It worked out well for being my first time doing that in public -- nursing top helped a lot.  Then in the evening we watched the Hawaii Bowl and were pumped to see Jimmy Clausen return to early season form as the Irish demolished Hawaii.  At 10 we left to go to midnight mass at St. Thomas Aquinas in east Dallas.  It was the only mass around here actually at midnight, and they had a wonderful choir for a carol service at 11 prior to mass.  We sat way off to the side so I could feed Michael during the carol service (no narthex or cry room there) and then he slept peacefully through church, which was great.

Christmas morning we thought we would do presents early, but this is how we spent the whole morning with our hungry baby (are you sensing a common theme to our days here??):

[caption id="attachment_494" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="All I want for Christmas is milk"][/caption]

So Mike opened all his presents first, and then I opened mine one-handed.  Our families and friends were very generous to us (and the baby!) and we are very thankful!  We talked to both families on Skype during the day when Michael was awake, had a Christmas movie marathon throughout the day (Charlie Brown Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, and Christmas in July, although I napped through some of the second one and Mike was cooking during Elf), and had a nice dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and green beans that Mike did a great job preparing.  Merry Christmas!

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading 1
Gn 3:9-15, 20

9 But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"

10 And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

12 The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,"Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all cattle,
and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel."

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.



Reading II
Eph 1:3-6, 11-12

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

5 He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

6 to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

11 In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will,

12 we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.



Gospel
Lk 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.

30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34 And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"

35 And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God.

36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing will be impossible."

38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Spending time at church

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I went to the new parishioners' welcome lunch as a way to start meeting some new people at the parish.  I managed to successfully make some pasta salad for the potluck (hey...small steps!) and it was a nice lunch.  I particularly enjoyed the tamales someone had brought.  It was really astonishing how many different nationalities were represented in the small room of about 10 round tables - there were new families from Nigeria, Cameroon, Mexico, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and even Tennessee (duck).  Heh.  A few couples from Texas.  Most had young children with them.  The extended family from Pakistan (via New York) was really nice, and I was struck - there are not many Christians who make it out of that country!  Much less make it to Richardson, Texas.  So, pretty neat.  We all had to introduce ourselves and say why we were at that parish.  Most people said it was because they really found it to be a great place, or they already knew Monsignor and liked him, etc.  I felt like it was a bit of a cop-out to say we were there because we thought becoming a part of our territorial parish was important . . . but that's the truth, so there you go.

(I will admit we drove to our old parish last weekend for All Souls Day though -- Mike didn't want to risk happy music on a somber day.  Thus, we were able to have appropriate hymns and we even got a nice homily on purgatory to boot.)

This morning, since no baby had arrived yet and they aren't doing another baptism class until January, we got up early to make it to this month's scheduled baptism class, which is required for anyone who wants to request baptism for their children.  Unfortunately, it wasn't all that useful of a class.  I appreciated that the couple who taught the first half were very solid in their faith and seem to be all into Active Christian Parenting principles; they wanted to impress how important a commitment baptism was, and they had some good family traditions to suggest.  However, we weren't there for a full Active Christian Parenting class, so that seemed truncated, and it's not like Mike and I have to be convinced of the importance of the sacrament.  (I kind of resisted the assumption that everyone in the room had strayed from their faith and was only coming back to church now that they wanted baptism -- along with the assumption that no one had ever really thought about what raising Christian children really meant beyond showing up for baptism one day.  Obviously this may be true for many people, so a good message to get across -- but as I was wondering, can't we "test out" of this several-hours-long class if we already know that stuff??)

The second part of the class was ostensibly about the history of the sacrament, but it wasn't that thorough or focused -- and in fact we questioned whether a few historical points mentioned were entirely accurate.  They certainly weren't all relevant.  So we were left wondering, what exactly was the point?  It wasn't a tightly focused crash course on the theology or history of the sacrament, it wasn't exactly a parenting class, and it wasn't just about what actually happens at baptisms at this parish -- it was kind of a mash of all three.  But it was required, and we all know how that goes.  Oh well.  In the end, I was just happy because after the class I got to hold an adorable little ten-week-old girl -- who seemed happy to stand up on my protruding stomach :) -- and we met her parents, who were very nice.

I think we may go to 5 o'clock Mass tonight since the game doesn't start until after that, and in case anything happens overnight.  (Although the way things have gone, I might as well expect a nice quiet night and day tomorrow too, with a few more days yet of work!)

Post Mortem

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Baby 20 Weeks"][/caption]

- Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate ever elected.

- He scored a 100% record from NARAL Pro-Choice America.

- He has repeatedly promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act when he becomes president, which would eliminate all current legal restrictions on abortions in the United States, including states limiting the number of abortion providers and age of consent laws for teenagers.

- Joe Biden has a 75% rating with NARAL Pro-Choice America, but the only blight on his record is voting for the Partial Birth Abortion Ban in 2003.

- Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that Roe v. Wade should be upheld.

- Joe Biden's support of Roe v. Wade, and abortion rights in general, is in direct opposition to Catholic teaching and tradition. He has consistently mis-stated Church teaching and history to rationalize his support of Roe v. Wade.

- 3 Supreme Court Justices are very close to retiring in the next four years. With the current Democratic majority in the Senate, any person chosen by President Obama would easily be confirmed by them and appointed to fill those vacancies.

- President Obama voted against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and has publicly stated he would have voted against Justice Clarence Thomas, the only African-American on the Supreme Court at this moment.

- Between 1973 and 1990, 28 million babies where aborted by their mothers. All of those potential citizens would have been eligible to vote in the election.

- Since 1973, it is estimated that 49,915,603 million babies have been aborted in the United States alone.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.2020:

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/elections/statements/obama.html

http://www.nrlc.org/Factsheets/FS03_AbortionintheUS.pdf

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121901817146948231.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

Busy day

Yesterday was a really full day, which left me pretty exhausted by the end of it, but it was fun overall!  We slept in in the morning (since we know those days are numbered).  Then we headed out to do early voting, just in case I'm indisposed on actual Election Day.  I must say, it is nice to be back in a red state.  Ohio was an interesting place to be as a swing state.  Then I lived in the People's Republic of Montgomery County, Maryland, for a few years, where I pretty much got funny looks from the poll workers when I would ask for a Republican primary ballot (and would listen to endless anti-Bush chatter in the poll lines from people in line around me :).  Bethesda is pretty much like DC - about 85% Democrat - so I had my share of years with my vote not counting at all.  But Texas is pretty solid red country (even if Dallas County has a fair mix of Democrats, which is fine with me) so I'm glad to contribute to re-electing Pete Sessions (a strong pro-life candidate) and helping win Texas for McCain-Palin.

After voting, Mike and I went shopping for a few lunch items and we hosted Fr. Louis, the associate pastor at our parish, for lunch.  It was so nice to meet him and we enjoyed some turkey sandwiches while learning more about Nigeria (where he's from) and discussing a bit of theology.  Fr. Louis is one of seven children, and it sounds like his parents were pretty strict about education for all of them, since they are spread out internationally and seem to have a variety of classical degrees.  Fr. Louis speaks English pretty fluently and also German - sounds like he likes reading Pope Benedict in the original, from some things he was quoting.  Father blessed our house also, which we are grateful for.  So we are all protected spiritually here :)

After lunch, we headed to Uptown to watch the Georgia-LSU and Texas-Oklahoma State games with a few of my co-workers and their friends, which was definitely fun, and then we went to the ND gamewatch to enjoy a total shutdown of the Huskies.  As one commentator said, Clausen picked a good day to look like a sophomore, because even at half efficiency, the Irish still dominated the game completely.  Go Irish!  An OSU loss capped the evening.  And then I had to fall asleep, since all these high-impact aerobics going on in my stomach are just a bit exhausting.  Mike thinks the baby is getting closer to figuring out where the trapdoor release button is located in there.  Ha.

You have to start somewhere

Last week I mustered my resolve and did something I haven't done before - decided to try and see if I could make a small change to how things are done musically at our parish.  (In the past, I (or Mike and I) have either gone to another parish or just accepted things more quietly.)  I wrote to the music director at our parish and asked if/how the beautiful organ at the parish is used.  I asked if anyone has ever asked him about starting a schola or more traditional choir group to learn chant and integrate that somewhat into the Mass, as I have been exposed to that more in the last two years than in the rest of my life to that point.*  I expressed sincere interest in learning more of this music, if he was willing to teach it, as I've been picking up what I can from the parishes I have attended in the last few years but it's still not completely familiar since it's still relatively new to me.

I also mentioned, in charity, that the Vatican has directed all bishops and parishes not to use the word "Yahweh" in music or liturgy any more, in observance of long-standing ecclesial tradition.  (We sang "Yahweh, I know you are near" a few weeks ago.)

I think I took the right tone (I tried really hard) because the reply I got from the music director was very nice.  He said they do use the organ sometimes, and he has had the choir learn at least one Latin song for an ordination Mass, so he does have some knowledge of these types of music.  However, he said I am the first person in his 13 years at the parish to express any interest in chant or more traditional music (!) so he does not have any current plans to introduce this.  He said he is afraid that he does not use many songs that I would prefer, but he would still like to meet me and talk about things further.  (He also wasn't aware of the proscription against using "Yahweh," but he would observe it now.)

This was better than I expected - no defensiveness or outright dismissal!  So I've been thinking about how to approach our discussion that I agreed to set up with him.  I think I am going to just emphasize that the songs he uses are certainly familiar to me, as it's what I grew up with - I know all the words and verses too, and like many of them!  I've just gotten exposed to more of the Church's rich musical tradition in the last few years, and appreciate some of the older hymns that I also think it's good to know most of the words and verses to.  Maybe we could introduce just one of these every Mass?  Additionally, for choir-only pieces at communion, why not have the choir learn some polyphony or interesting arrangements of classic hymns, instead of the same modern stuff?   (I will try to phrase this politely - I think a lot of it is wimpy and musically trite, but that's not great to say!)  His main goal in Mass is to have the congregation participate fully.  I think that's fine, but I can point out that traditional hymns are sometimes even easier to get the congregation to sing because they are musically straightforward (though not uninteresting), often with stronger lyrics.  In any event, it's worth a try.  And then if anyone else ever comes forward and asks for this type of music, he can't say no one else has ever asked!  I do think there may be a change in the future, as the text of the Mass changes with the new translations in a couple of years.  But in the meantime, I feel like I have to say something.  And we will be getting involved in other groups at the parish so that we can become more a part of the community we are a part of now, even if the liturgy itself is less than edifying sometimes.

*One random thing I realized yesterday at Mass was that the first time I ever heard the words "dona nobis pacem" and sang them was in my eighth-grade public school choir.  (!!!)  The next time probably wasn't until I moved to Maryland and started attending Holy Cross.  Even at ND, I'm pretty sure the traditional Agnus Dei was rarely heard (although I know it is more commonly now).

Show stoppers

The music situation at our parish has not improved at all since Mike wrote about it a few weeks ago.  (Well, why would it?)  If anything, it is becoming even harder to bear.  I usually love singing at Mass, but I can't bring myself to sing most of this stuff at all, much less with any enthusiasm.  Last week there was a choir-only song at communion, with the first line "This iiiiiiis, the moment of graaaaaace," which sounded for all the world like a Broadway number.  Standard sweeping piano intro, soft start, rousing chorus, etc.  A pure performance piece. In fact, when I googled it later, it sounded quite a lot like Jekyll and Hyde's "This is the moment."  (Or Spamalot's "The song that goes like this" - heh.)  I like Broadway just fine.  I don't find it particularly liturgical, though.

This week, in addition to the standard Gloria and Sanctus that involve multiple gratuitous repetitions of, for instance, "blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is heeee" and "hosanna (ho-sa-ha-na), hosanna (ho-sa-ha-na), hosanna," we had the regular children's liturgy song for children to process out.  ("Children, listen to the word of God!" - complete with "Children's!" (tm) type happy piano music.)  We also had two hymns that were so awful liturgically that today I was still shaking my head.  The first was called "As a fire is meant for burning," text by Ruth Duck, arrangement by Marty Haugen.  Misleadingly, the tune was actually a traditional one, but the lyrics involved such choice lines as how we go out into the world "not to preach our creeds or customs, but to build a bridge of care."  Gee, I thought the Catholic Church actually cared quite a bit about our creed.  Right?  We do recite it every week.  And "bridge of care"??  The hymn also contained a feel-good reference to being "seekers" and creating oneness "'mid earth's peoples, many hued."  You could not come up with a better collection of hippie-type platitudes if you were trying hard to parody it.  A bit of research determined that Ruth Duck is exactly who you might come up with if you were trying to create a parody of a hippie-type "womyn's" liturgist.  Duck, who very unfortunately actually has an M.A. from Notre Dame, is an ordained UCC minister (hence the no-creed stuff - fits right in with the UCC, which is great, but not the Catholic Church!) who lives with her "partner" (at least he's a guy) in a liberal Chicago suburb, has written a book about revising the names of the persons of the Trinity to not be so male, and has made part of her approach to hymns to be to "revise old hymns that would provide an alternative to traditions showing God as exclusively male."  I could not roll my eyes any more than I am right now.  Her music is used in many denominations, which is great for her, but her theology is clearly not Catholic.  I have no idea how this has worked its way into Catholic hymnody.

The second awful hymn yesterday, liturgically speaking, was called, "Let us be bread."  This starts off with "Let us be bread . . . life for the world / Let us be wine, love freely poured."  Okay.  Well, while we are part of the Body of Christ, I'm pretty sure we aren't the bread or wine ourselves.  I'm pretty sure that's just Christ.  But move on to the first verse: we switch from at least singing in our own persons, to singing in the person of Christ (which we're really not supposed to do), "I am the bread of life, broken for all / Eat now and hunger no more."  Back to chorus.  Another verse: "See how my people have nothing to eat / Give them the bread that is you."  Again, this is a confusion of persons - I'm not even sure if this verse is supposed to be spoken as if Christ was saying to us, or what - ?  What is this stuff?  Whatever it is, the focus is certainly on us, much more than on the actual Body and Blood of Christ that we are supposed to be focusing on during the Eucharist.  The writer of this hymn actually is Catholic, and unfortunately also has a degree from Notre Dame in music and theology.  The focus is just unfortunate - I have to assume it's the same poor catechesis so many of us have had in the last forty years.

Here's the thing - music during Mass is not supposed to be about drawing attention to the choir.  It's not supposed to draw automatic applause every week.  It's not supposed to be about telling ourselves how great we all are.  And it's not supposed to rely on sappy platitudes (contained in treacly musical numbers) that are completely devoid of any theological substance.  It's supposed to integrate into the liturgy as part of the prayer and worship, and it's supposed to help us orient ourselves interiorly and exteriorly towards a more reflective, reverent posture in the Mass.  I like participating in singing, but not at the expense of abandoning good music and good theology.

In any event, rolling my eyes throughout Mass is not a good posture to be assuming.  I know that.  So last week I decided to try and do something about it.  Even if it eventually comes to nothing, at least I'll have tried!  More on this in another post.

The New Parish

We are blessed to have a Catholic parish 1/4 mile from our house. It is a very vibrant and diverse community. Catholics from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Vietnam, the Philippines are part of the normal life of the parish. As our family grows, it will most likely be a wonderful place to raise our children.

That being said, we have been completely underwhelmed during mass so far. We were extremely blessed at Holy Cross in Maryland to have a music director and a priest who collaborated to provide parishioners with the very best the Church has to offer in terms of music and ritual. Christ the King in Dallas also had a talented music director and a church that properly oriented parishioners interiorly and exteriorly in the celebration of the mass.

The mass at St. Joseph's is filled with every cliche invented since the advent of the vernacular mass: friendly, ad-libbing celebrants, inclusive language, folk guitar accompaniments, chirpy mass setttings, children's liturgy (with accompanying Sesame Street hymn), bad jokes, a preponderance of extraordinary ministers, an underwhelming altar presentation, and clapping.

The blame starts at the top and works its way down. The church actually has a beautifully constructed organ that is sparingly used. The choir is fully staffed, but is stuck singing hymns written and published by Oregon Catholic press. There is a beautiful, eastern-style crucifix hanging behind the altar, but it is surrounded by empty space. There are plenty of altar servers, but they are barely used during the mass.

Unless the pastor (who has been there since 1995) or the music director leave, I don't see much hope for the future. We will continue to pray that they utilize more of the rich tradition of the Church and stop trying to serve us McDonald's every week.