Contact me:
Post with 1 note
Fourth Sunday in Lent
It has been an interesting lent, I have stuck to my resolution to not use my smartphone and have been using the MotoRazr Circa 2006 - and this has already proven to be quite the mortification.Back to confession yesterday morning - went to a parish at random and had to wait in line for about an hour - was worth the wait…
Ended up at a Novus Ordo near IKEA today and just wanted to share some observations that we noticed - more and more I am reminded about how good we had it at a N.O. back in KC:
And After ALL of this…. I am not angry - I’m not sure why. Am I getting numb to the liturgical abuses - maybe.
Perhaps I was just granted the grace to meet Jesus and the Eucharist today, and none of the external stuff that usually distracts me and bothers me at Novus ordo were going to affect me.
My wife and 4 beautiful kids all went to Mass together and that is what really mattered - I hope it continues for as long as possible.
I leave you with this photo I took in the back of the church after Mass - Jesus crucified as Priest:
Post with 1 note
After a Haircut, Confession and Mass (in the Extraordinary Form) - I feel like a brand new Man….
I’m ready to take on this lent and resist temptation - lets pray this fervor never subsides….
First Sunday of Lent
I apologize that it has been so long since I’ve posted - I have had a somewhat of a spiritual dry time, but I hope to turn that all around today with a good confession and Mass in the Extraordinary form.
I have given up my smartphone for lent and this is proving to be a bit more challenging than originally thought. Not having email pushed to you is nice but its strange remembering to “check” it. No directions, no games, no apps, no distractions to get out of a conversation with someone you don’t want to talk to. I hope the lord knows I love him.
I wanted to share with you some bits and pieces that I can recall from my dream last night / this morning:
In this dream my wife and I were in a consignment shop, browsing around, as I was walking around an elderly lady was approaching the payment counter to pay for her vacuum repair / or to get a new used one, I can’t recall which. When she found out the total was $157 she was holding back the tears. Staring to sob she was telling them she couldn’t pay that kind of money. In my dream I remember starting to sob with her and it came to me that it was lent and that paying for her vacuum repair would be a form of alms-giving. After I paid for it she sobbed even more but tears of joy.
She was such a cute little old lady - I hope I am presented with a similar - perhaps not exact - opportunity to help someone in need.
Lastly I would like to reach out to you to pray for my uncle who could use some extra prayer for him and his children right about now.
All photos taken from my personal collection - hosted on Flickr - Click the Photo for the set / larger version
Post with 2 notes
Is it wrong to be excited to give up something for lent?
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, things have been busy, focusing on other “Real Life” issues - darn those things….
Anyway - I think I know what I am going to be giving up for Lent - my Smartphone….
I have been somewhat of a cell phone addict since about the age of 16 - always wanting something latest and greatest, and I am always found punching away at that lovely Motorola Photon 4G.
I have found on ebay an old phone - one with no camera, no GPS, no internet, and it may or may not have text messaging capabilities.
Here in lies the crux of my question…..
This phone was once my favorite phone… it was once THE phone to have.
So in me there is a bit of excitement and nostalgia going back to it….
Is it wrong to be so excited to give something up for lent?
Post with 4 notes
Prayer, Fasting, Abstaining…. Mortification
Everyday when I drive home I listen to the Catholic Radio ( 950 / 930 AM ). In Kansas City we did not have Relevant Radio, but we did have EWTN Radio (1090 AM). I really enjoy listening to Catholic radio and even had Sirius for unintrrupted EWTN and also The Catholic Channel. I was a regular caller in on “The Catholic Guy” program - I even won a Popener.. but I digress
Usually on my drive home I get to listen to the replay of “Go Ask your Father”, a call in program where anyone can ask a priest just about anything (I enjoy all the priests but Fr. Rich Simon has really grown on me). Tonight a caller called an and stated that if we wanted to really see the end of Abortion in this country we need to add fasting to our prayer. Shes was very upset that she didn’t hear fasting preached and wanted to get the word out that by fasting is the way scripture says we should add to our prayer.
This started the wheels in my brain turning, when we first started attending the Extraordinary Form with the FSSP and ICRSS in Kansas City they would constantly preach about mortification. Depriving ourselves of our desires for us to grow in holiness. Some of the recommended mortification methods that were suggested were: when you kneel to pray, kneel on your hands. cut back on simple little pleasures, waking up extra early to say prayers, and of course fasting and abstaining. At the time I stopped putting cream and sugar in my coffee, drinking it straight black (another suggestion from them) and it was very difficult for me at first but then it became quite enjoyable. Now I can not drink coffee with cream and sugar, as it tastes quite odd and out of place to me.
So what is the point of this post you may ask? Well dear reader it is this: Today is Friday, will you join me in abstaining from Meat today - and every Friday - as a little mortification for your prayer intentions. I am fully aware that this is no longer required per Canon Law when you replace it with another small act of penance through the day (an extra rosary, time with the Blessed Sacrament, etc.)
With these slow, deliberate acts for our Lord, may we humble ourselves for the conversion of sinners.
St. Jose Maria Escriva + Ora Pro Nobis
