"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa
If there ever was someone who was truly beast at something, Mother Teresa would come up as the beast of peace and awesomeness. Her quotes give us so much insight, and show us we all have so much to learn. In an effort to bring a little inspiration to your day, enjoy some of my favorites:
Let’s get out there and change the world, people. Like Mother Teresa always said, it starts at home.
We are living in a historic moment which has the potential to legalize gay “marriage” in America. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and am extremely apprehensive about this. Why? Well, legalizing gay “marriage” is something I don’t want to happen. And it’s not because I hate gay people (I don’t), or because I want to prevent them from being happy (I don’t). It’s because I want to protect the holy institution of marriage.
This can be a difficult issue to talk about with people who don’t agree with me, because there are many misunderstandings as to what Catholics believe. I found it interesting that even at my Catholic school, there are many, many people here who do have a basic understanding of what the Catholic Church teaches about this. I was even more sad to see friends and family (some of whom claim to be Catholic) showing their support for gay “marriage” on Facebook today.
Here are some of the most common objections I’ve heard:
Gay parents can raise a child just as well as a straight couple. Kids are better off being raised by gay people than in an orphanage!
You know what? Yes. A child can be raised by anyone. However, a child deserves to know both his mother and father. This whole argument is not about kids anyway. It’s about the institution of marriage.
Gay “marriage” isn’t really that big of a deal, and Catholics should just follow along with society by supporting it. There’s no need to go against society and make things difficult.
Actually, the Catholic Church has taken a clear stance against gay “marriage”. As Catholics, there are 5 non-negotiable issues the Church recognizes as morally wrong. They are: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual “marriage”. As Catholics, these are 5 immoral practices we are compelled and required by our Church to denounce in all circumstances. They are not something we get to choose whether to support or not. God spelled them out for us in the Bible already.
I support the right of people to love whoever they want to love.
Okay. If you want to support marriage “equality” then I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re fighting for all marriage equality right? That includes “marriage” to family members, to animals, to a rock, polygamy, and heck, why not marry your cat?!?!
If this is just about being equal, then where do we draw the line? Will we stop at animals? If we do, we’re clearly denying people (and animals, GASP – doesn’t that count as animal cruelty?) the right to marry who they want. Do we stop at inanimate objects? I mean, what if a guy brought a case to court trying to prove his hairbrush wanted to marry him? A line has to be drawn somewhere.
The point is, gay “marriage” is not about Catholics, kids, or equality. It’s about a holy institution; a union of a man and woman that is simply impossible between two people of the same gender. As a Catholic, I don’t oppose gay “marriage” because I’m a bigot. I oppose it because I have the duty to uphold the commonsense dignity of the human family.
Read more on this topic:
Welcome to On My Bookshelf – my blog series where I bring my bookshelf to your computer! Something I’ve learned at Benedictine is that we should be lifelong learners. That’s why I started this series: to encourage you to be a lifelong learner through reading. Each post is in a question & answer format and will provide a link to the item on Amazon. All OMB posts can be found on the page to the left. Enjoy!
Why did you pick up this book?
Because joy is awesome. Who doesn’t want to be happy? I was interested in reading this new book because it talked about living a fully Christian life – something that sounded religiously intriguing (if that makes sense).
What topic(s) does this book deal with?
Joy: what joy is (hint: joy is not equal to happiness), the theological foundation of joy, and how we can work toward living joyful lives in union with God.
What was your favorite part of this book?
The short and to-the-point second paragraph on page 84.
What style is this book written in?
This book is fairly informally written, but also has deep theological portions.
How readable is this book?
This book is extremely readable: certainly not just another ‘boring’ book about Jesus. It’s an encouraging quick read I need to read a couple more times to fully grasp each concept. I read it in a few sittings, but put it down for a while between them. Real-life stories keep you interested as the author explores the concept of joy.
Where can I get this book?
Click on the link below to purchase this book on Amazon!
Choosing Joy: The Secret of Living a Fully Christian Life
Since I am an Amazon Associate, I will receive a small percentage of your purchase value if you use this link. I would very much appreciate if you did so that I can more easily bring new books to my bookshelf and to your computer. Thank you!
1. The church has been hating on women for too long. Just having Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth is not enough!
2. We should be nuns, you say? Nuns are useless…because providing the entire earth with education, healthcare, and prayers is not as good what priests do!
3. Let’s face it. Women have got to do the same things as men to be equal to them.
4. Who cares about 2,000 years of tradition (or St. Paul for that matter)? We can make our own rules!
5. Excommunication rocks!
Watch this video to see my inspiration…
Don’t worry – I’m not completely off my rocker. Here, my friends, are 5 real reasons (complementing the ones above) why Catholics will actually never “ordain a lady”.
1. The Church loves (not hates) women. They are revered as intricate and beautiful creations of God. How do I know this? Check out these quotes (from Church documents, no less):
From Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women
“Womanhood expresses the “human” as much as manhood does, but in a different and complementary way.”
From Mulieris Dignatatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women) by Pope John Paul II
“The Church gives thanks for each and every woman: for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women dedicated to the many human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for women who watch over the human persons in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human community; for women who work professionally, and who at times are burdened by a great social responsibility; for “perfect” women and for “weak” women – for all women as they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity”
*Notice how it does not list “priest” under different kinds of women
Anyone who claims that the Catholic Church hates women needs to do a little research. Read Genesis. Read encyclicals. All it takes it a look into the Catechism, Bible, or either of the Church documents I linked to to see that women, in fact, are loved and respected by any true Catholic.
2. Nuns rock.
Need I say more? Nuns do so much for us as Catholics, and for the entire world.
We are all called to holiness – the universal vocation. Women in the Church pursue the universal vocation by a more earthly vocation: marriage, consecrated life, or the single life. Something the women in the video might not have understood is that you don’t have to be a priest to be holy. We are all called to be holy in different ways. Women – just like men – are called to be holy, but men and women live out that call in different ways.
3. Being equal does not mean you are the same and do the same things. Does that need any more explaining?
4. If you are Catholic, you have to follow the rules of the Church. Duh? You can’t make up your own rules and still call yourself Catholic (that’s how other religions were formed).
5. If you go totally against Church teaching like these women have, you’re excommunicated. That kind of means you’re not a Catholic anymore. Does that rock? I doubt it!
When I saw that video, I found it hard to believe that this is still an issue to some people. What are your thoughts? Is this really an issue in the Church anymore?
Here’s a good response video as well. Enjoy!
Instead of going into a deep topic today, I thought it would be nice to throw in something fun for you! Check out this website where you can test your Catholic IQ. There are quite a few questions, so give yourself a good amount of time to do it [around an hour]. You’ll see your results at the end for each category of questions, which will then be made into an IQ number. Put your smarty pants on and go test your knowledge of the Catholic faith!
A Drop in the Ocean 