Guess Who is Studying for First Confession?

Upon seeing an "Obama/Biden" sign in their new friends' yard:

Little Girl: They have a sign for Barack Obama!  (pause)  That's okay...they have Free Will.

Today's "You Know You're Catholic When" Moment

...brought to you by The Crescat.

[image source]

Are You Hard-Core?

I've seen this list before, but it's always fun to revisit. Esther and Jackie both posted it, and now I'm joining in with my own added comments in red.

You Know You're a Hard-Core Catholic When...

1. - you've accidentally genuflected at a place other than church ex. the movie theatre, school auditorium (My whole family has done this. Last time we went to a movie, Big Girl started genuflecting, then loudly announced that she almost did so and laughed.)


2. -you're sick of being asked why priests can't be married


3. -you have a "favorite" religious order


4. -you say the meal prayer no matter where you are (We've gotten into the habit of doing this, too, though Little Girl says that she notices that some people stare at us. I tried to comfort her that it's okay - maybe they're thinking that they should do that, too.)


5. -you have a nativity set at your house during Christmas, and have also played with it. (The girls actually have a special set that they play with all through Advent.)


6. -you've accidentally made the sign of the cross when leaving regular buildings


7. -you know that advent is the beginning of the new church year. (Who doesn't?)


8. -You know at least five people named Mary


9. -You can name off all the Joyful, Glorious, Sorrowful, and Luminous mysteries. (Yup, kids, too.)


10. -one or more of your friends entered the seminary or the convent


11. -you have 20+ cousins. (Close, though my mom's family isn't Catholic. I've got 14 first cousins.)


12. -your mom is currently pregnant (Um...no.)


13. -you and your spouse practice NFP


14. -you believe in Purgatory and know it's important to pray for the souls who are currently in Purgatory (Yes! And it bugs me when we don't include them in our intentions on Sundays, too.)


15. -you live chastity and are saving yourself for your future spouse. (I'm chaste now ... does that count? And I might add 15a: You know that you can be married and chaste at the same time.)


16. -you're able to sit still for a full hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament (I'm getting there...)


17. -you are discerning the religious life


18. -you often end disputes with, "Let's look it up in the Catechism."


19. -you and your friends have shown up at Adoration at 4:00 in the morning


20. -when watching star wars and hear "may the force be with you" you respond with "and also with you" (Oh, gosh, when I first read this, I was so glad I wasn't the only one! It's an uncontrollable urge sometimes! Even the girls have to resist!)


21. -your mom always says "4 kids, Catholic"


22. -you have participated in sword fights using Palms on Passion Sunday


23. -you and friend friends ever played "Mass" instead of House, or Cops and Bad Guys (I didn't, but my girls have once in a while.)


24. -You have your own designated seat at Mass (We do tend to sit in the same place, and we confuse people if we change seats. Oh, and this week, we were happy that we couldn't sit there - First Communion families did!)


25. -they know you at every Catholic bookstore in the area, and ask you where you’ve been if you haven’t stopped by in a while. (We've got a store at our parish, and if we don't all go after Mass for a while, Miss Kay wonders where we've been. Aside from the Maronite parish across town having a parish store, that's it. Does that count?)


26. -you're named after a saint, not a family member.


27. -you get excited about going to Mass


28. -you arrive at Mass half an hour early to get a good seat and talk to Jesus


29. -your mom always makes sure to celebrate your feast day


30. -altar serving was the cool thing to do


31. -you point at your friends in line for confession calling them sinners and everyone laughs as you get to the end of line


32. -Your teachers grade you down when you write papers about moral issues and papers involving God


33. -You never eat before church, and brunch afterwards is always the best!


34. -Your first serious conversation you have with a potential girl/boyfriend involves your conversion story


35. -You lie awake at night wondering why the St. Michael Prayer was removed from the end of Mass


36. -The word "vocation" to you does not simply mean "job" (Yup - major topic of discussion with the girls, you know.)


37. -People tend you look in your direction in class whenever anything involving religion comes up


38. -You have a Rosary or Saint Christopher pin in your car (I've often got Rosaries in the car - always in my purse - but I've got Miraculous Medals in our cars, and Sacred Heart tags on all our keys. Oh! And a new Lady of Guadalupe air freshner that smells like roses! If we're in an accident, no one will mistaken us for Baptists.)


39. -One of your Crucifixes has five years worth of dried out palms stuck behind it. (Mine are in a vase - but this year's are behind the Crucifix.)


40. -You have more than one Rosary hanging from your bed. (I woke up today with one in the bed with me! LOL! I keep one on the nightstand.)


41. -You have contemplated being in a religious order at least once.


42. -you say "God bless you" anytime anyone sneezes, out of habit (Yup, did it at the library yesterday. First two times, the kid didn't really say anything, finally said, "Thank you," on the third sneeze.)


43. -you have had multiple meetings with the priest at your own will


44. -You had competitions with your friends on Ash Wednesday to see who could keep their ashes on the longest


45. -You still write "Your Kingdom Come!" or "JMJ" at the top of your page/letter/report/test


46. -You know that some Catholics don't eat meat on Wednesdays or Fridays, even not during Lent. (Are we supposed to not eat it Wednesdays, too? I'm good for Fridays. Someone help me figure out how to bring Ziti to soccer on Friday night, please.)


47. -you get really excited over a holy day of obligation (YES!!!! Today is the Ascension!!!!!)


48. -if you are tired of people referring to the birth of Jesus the immaculate conception (ARGH!)


49. -you've ever been told my your mom, "Offer it up", and then felt very obliged to do so (Not really. In this case, I am the mom saying it.)


50. -when discussing possible names for your future children with friends or your future spouse, you start ruling out names that aren't virtues, saints, or biblical


51. -You plan what to wear based on the liturgical color of the day (*giggle* Sometimes...)


52. -you were disappointed when you couldn't find a catholic version of trivia pursuit


53. -You know that "prostrate" is not a place where men develop cancer


54. -Instead of change, you find a Rosary under your couch cushions. (Yup. Either that, or beads for making Rosaries.)


55. -you have at one point had to stop a younger sibling from playing in the holy water font.
    
    
    
    
    

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Christmas is Here Now!

My girls are definitely Catholic children. If you had asked them how their Christmas season was going for them during Advent, they would have flatly told you that Christmas hadn't started - it is Advent, you know. If you ask them now about what they think of the radio, they will tell you that they are puzzled about why Sirius Radio - which had been playing Christmas music for more than a month - has suddenly stopped playing it now that Christmas is actually here!

I promised that I'd put on some Christmas tunes for them via our CD collection.

I'm actually quite glad that they are understanding it. Christmas isn't just one day. We can celebrate until Candlemas (the day of Christ's presentation)! 40 days of Christmas! Whoo hoo!

Being Catholic is so cool. :)

[image source with explanation]

You Know You're Catholic When ...

... you're at a pizza place and see this from across the room and at an acute angle ...



... and at first glance, you wonder why they have an icon tapestry on the wall.

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How Do You See the World?

The other night The Soccer Dad was putting out the trash when he called out to us from the front yard.

"Wow! Check out the moon!"

It was just breath-taking! Full and round and golden in color...it was just becoming fully visible over the treetops. [Try as I might, I was unable to take a picture of it. I really ought to see if my father is still willing to give up his old (and currently not-being-used) 35mm camera.]

Both girls ran outside to look at the moon, and Little Girl exclaimed, "It looks just like the Eucharist!!!"

I've noticed that my daughters have this very Catholic worldview, and it comes through strongly with Little Girl, especially. One night, I'd been drinking a glass of wine. Little Girl snuggled in close, gave me a kiss, and murmered happily, "Mmmmm...your breath smells like Jesus!"

[moon photo source]

[Marian photo source]

It's Probably John 6 or the Loaves and Fishes Story

"Mommy," Little Girl asked this morning, "what is your favorite story in this book?"

"What book is that, sweetie?"

"Classics in Children's Liturgy. Um...I mean Classics in Children's Literature."

You Know You're Catholic When... (UPDATED)

UPDATE: I posted a picture of Hubby's sculptures below. Plankton is hard to see, but he's in front of SpongeBob, who is sitting on the play-dough container.

Hubby and the girls were making play-dough Sponge Bob characters. They'd run out of people to make except for Sandy Squirrel, and Hubby said he didn't remember if her tail was in or out of the space suit. So, since breakfast was nearly ready anyway, and I needed the table cleared off, we snapped a picture or two of the clay crew (posted below) and the girls went in the living room to do research. In other words, they turned on Sponge Bob Squarepants.

During one of the episodes they squeezed in before breakfast, the announcer said, "We will have a special collection for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."



What Hubby heard was, "We will have a special intention for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."