December 25, 2006
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Merry Christmas!
Yesterday was an amazing day! My very dear friend Lindsay came and visited for a little bit and I helped her wrap presents. Then we had a big Polish dinner with all of us young novices sitting around the table eating fresh grilled salmon and all sorts of good stuff. Then we had our Talent Show in which I sang some, and others did things like juggling, there was a small jazz band, comedy acts (including some AMAZING impressions by one novice), and even a dramatic reading of Edmund Campion’s “Brag” and a letter from St. Joan of Arc to the Hussites of Bohemia. I had to leave the talent show a little early to get over to the church for choir rehearsal before their 10pm service. It was so great to sing in a choir again, and it was especially awesome singing right by the organ; I really got to belt it out! Phew! Singing like that is exhausting but man is it a great feeling! After that Mass, a couple other novices invited me to go with them to St. Louis, King of France church for their Midnight Mass. I went… and it was the most beautiful Mass I’ve ever been to in my life (the picture above is of their organ). It is a fairly small church, but it was packed to bursting and their little choir was angelic, purely heavenly! Oh when the women voices soared up into the clouds I just wanted to weep! At the end of the Mass we three novices were just giddy and all misty-eyed and I was even shaking! Oh it was pure beauty; I can’t even describe it. It made me fall even more in love with the Catholic Church, and it also makes me look forward with great excitement at the prospect of being a priest one day!
So I didn’t get to sleep until around 2am….. so I woke up at 11:15 today, showered, read the newspaper, and now I am here waiting for our one o’clock brunch. I am so hungry!!! After that we’ll have a small gift exchange and probably watch the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and who knows what else. Then tomorrow morning I head home for a couple of days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope all of you have a very blessed and merry Christmas today!
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Comments (11)
That church = wow.
Merry Christmas! I’m so glad you’re having a great time! Expect late… things… of some kind.
I got to sing for a Christmas Eve mass last night and then I went to Christmas Day mass earlier today, but they’re music was soooo sloooow… My sister and I just looked at each other in agony. Ever try to sing “Angels We Have Heard On High” and slower than half tempo? Oh, and you’ll think my sister is even cooler, because she got me “Superman Returns” for Christmas, and I got her “The Ten Commandments” on DVD. 
I told her she should audition for stuff in the St. Paul/ Minneapolis area…
I want a new cell phone
but i get it tomorrow
I will never forget the huge “Joy to the World” finale at the end of the Christmas at Luther concert my freshman year-that was one of my favorite Christmas moments. That organ is beautiful! I will have to visit sometime so you can show me all of the cool things! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!! Love you and Merry Christmas!!
“More than ever, because the more capable and powerful mankind becomes, the more we think we do’t need God.
Posted 12/25/2006 12:31 PM by Ancient_Scribe”
I agree. Merry Christmas to you too! And I went to midnight mass for Christmas. It was awesome.
I’m happy that you will be a priest. :]
And I had a Polish dinner too! My parents are Polish, is why.
Merry christmas to you too! hope you enjoy your visit to Tipton. Have a great week Jake!
Thanks for the comment. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a nice visit home!
She was, indeed, very very lovely.
I loved the salads with the happy faces a lot too.
So… read any novels your friends wrote lately?
This is great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7TVtAHoZGI How big is *your* Bible? (Merlin made me do it…)
My take on abortion is actually more limited. I am for abortion in extreme cases, including rape, incest, or harm to the mother. I don’t condone it as use as a form of birth control, but as a choice for the mother to make in those extremely distressing circumstances. I feel that all other options should be weighed first before that. Just because the mother isn’t prepared ot be a mother, unless it came through an exigent circumstance such as rape, it shouldn’t be utilized. Unfortunately, saying you condone it under those circumstances which account for a small portion of abortions means you’re in that middle ground, and I’d rather there be more choices than none.
Gay marriage was one I came to a long time ago, before my dad came out of the closet. In my opinion, everyone should be entitled to the same tax breaks and significant moments in their life. I can’t imagine telling someone just because they have different feelings than other people, that they shouldn’t be married. Our differences make us unique. To me, religions can call it whatever they want: civil unions, partnership for life, but the governments decision to make it similar to marriage is what really matters. I also feel that committed gay couples, those who have been together for two years or more, are the ones who suffer because of people like my dad and his flamboyant lifestyle. It’s unfair that one group of people ruins it for everyone else. We have the same type of people in the hetero camp as well. They’re called “players” and to them scoring an evening with any girl is greater than being in a committed relationship with one.
You can quote Bible verses at me all day long on the issue, too, but that doesn’t make me change my mind. There are a lot of rules in the Bible that we’ve ruled out over the years, including that of Leviticus, to adapt to our lifestyles.
People who read the Bible literally scare me. The Bible was written thousands of years ago for people to have a guideline for their lives, and for that it serves it’s purpose well, but with any literature and text, it needs to be open to interpretation to new generations. It needs to be a Living, breathing text we take with us in our daily lives, not some book we flip open to condemn others for their choices and practice being holier than thou. That’s not right. Christianity asks that we help those in need of the word, not look down on them for breaking the laws and commandments edicted by our faith.
Don’t feel you’ve started a storm with me, either. Beliefs should always be discussed openly between friends who are interested.
Did you get the Legacy of the Force books for Christmas?
Hope you have a great week!
I didn’t mean to sound so defensive above when it came to the Bible thing, either. I just know people throw bible verses at those who defend gay rights saying it’s wrong according to God, but I stand by my beliefs. Why would He create people who are persecuted by others their whole life without giving them some positives to hope for? I think that’s what made Rose’s story in V for Vendetta so poignant for me. I just think of a society that tells members because you don’t fit our ideals, our image, our beliefs, your life is forfeit, and never want to see that come to pass. Not in my lifetime. Not in anyones.
I’ve been chastised all of my life for my weight, my unique interests, and only when I realized their was nothing wrong with me, that God made me unique and people who couldn’t see that were just ignorant, have I been truly happy.
For gays I feel that cross is harder to bear, because unlike me who was able to turn to God, they’re being told by several Christian sects and denominations that what they feel is wrong. That they have to change how they feel and be like everyone else. Hetero/Straight. They even have camps to help you become normal, to exorcise this out of you, which just makes my skin crawl.
You can’t change the way you feel when it comes to sexual orientation. When you do, things like my family occur. I’m basically the product of a homosexual man. Their are sects of people who think I’m a blasphemy just as much as homosexuals are.
This Christmas I found out that my father never wanted a son to begin with from a conversation with my mom. Every time I try to over come any amount of pain that he has brought on my life, there’s just another element or piece to a puzzle I’m given that explains a lot more to me. I’ve always wondered why I was his primary target. I’m finally beginning to understand why. I was a daily reminder to him of what he was repressing, the secret he was keeping from others, and so that anguish was taken out on me in little ways, until I had little to no self-esteem and felt I was a worthless human being. I recieved different treatment because of being a male child he didn’t want.
I don’t want any child I might father going through a world that might hate what they become like that. I want to be proud of them, no matter what, like my aunt and uncle and mom have always been to me. One step to make sure that happens is to help change the stigma homosexuals face in the world by making same-sex marriages are an option for future generations to have.
After those long, drawn out posts, here’s something to brighten your day: http://www.spiderfan.org/fans/art/2006/images/rmcardle1.jpg