Married...with collars

I didn't think I'd get to this topic as soon as this. But having taken my latest theology class, and having done some very deep thinking regarding God, the persons of the Trinity, Christ and his redemptive action on our behalf, and the purpose of the Church in the work of Christ, I have been prompted to continue my pondering on WHY women are denied ordination in the Roman Catholic Church.

What really perplexes me is the dilemma of who receives the sacrament of Holy Orders and, paradoxically, who we call "religious." So, according to my understanding, monks, brothers, and (obviously) nuns are not ordained; that is, they do not receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Yes, they do take vows-- as do all married persons. Therefore, our vocations could be viewed on a similar "level." Going on from this point, deacons DO receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, and these MEN are frequently married. Are they being called to a greater level of service in the Church than the non-ordained religious? Or married people?

As good Catholics, we promote the "religious life". I have the perception that this is somehow a more "noble" calling than our ordinary lives. But we're not celebrating these with a special sacrament. So, in this respect, are their vocations "less" than the married state, which IS celebrated with a sacrament? And, really, what's up with married deacons? TWO sacraments of vocation for them?

Somehow, all of this does not seem to make logical sense. Not that all Church "policy" does. Still, some consistency in what we say and what we do would be nice.

Totally Non-Controversial

By reading everyone's blogs tonight, it would appear that most people are at that wonderful time known as "end of the semester." Some of them are REALLY busy and stressed, and hence, no time for frivolous things like blogging. Others are finished and apparently giddy with that reality (you should be able to easily distinguish who falls into which category). Personally, I have one more class tomorrow. I need to do some reading for it, and complete a notecard on that reading. I have finished my take-home final and "small" research assignment. As always, I'm left wondering if I did an adequate job or if I've totally blown my grade.

However, for the most part, it's time to turn my attention to everything else I've been neglecting over the last 12 weeks. Now I can start "getting ready" for Christmas. I can read "junk" for a couple of weeks. I can think about Gina's wedding and try to help her out with that. I can even watch a few movies now and then. But most importantly, I can actually pay attention to my family. Hope they remember me.

New Subject

This post will probably enrage all my ORTHODOX Catholic friends nearly as much as my prior posts. However, I'm going on to an entirely new topic and question.

I've been considering the sacraments. Again, spending time talking with Dan on the issue of Confirmation spurred some of this reflection. My thoughts have to deal with the communal nature of our sacraments. In Baptism, we welcome the individual into our Christian community, so it's helpful for this to be a public celebration with the community present. In Eucharist, we recieve Christ and celebrate this activity in a public liturgy, again, in the midst of our community. Obviously, Confirmation further initiates the candidates into the community. Marriage and Holy Orders seem pretty public and communal also. In the new rites for Anointing of the Sick, community participation is also encouraged.

You can see where I'm going with this, right? Should Reconciliation be encouraged under (what's it called?) Form 3? Should this sacrament have a more communal nature also? I'm not talking about everyone shouting out their sins, but why is this the only sacrament not celebrated in community?

Okay, have at it.

Life Happens

Wow. I feel like I've lived a lifetime in the last 12 days. First, Bryan's major surgery, then Jeph's hospitalization, Gina getting accepted into dental school, and a couple of babies being born. Not to mention all the regular stuff like classes, homework, and occassionally showing up at work.

Talk about getting perspective.

Pity those couple of parents who called with "issues" during this time.

Giddyup

Not to beat a dead horse, but if Jesus had been a woman, would he have said "mommy" instead of "Abba?"

Football and Ninja Turtles

I've been spending a lot of time in hospitals lately. First my husband had a kidney removed (everything went great and he's doing better than had been anticipated), now my 7-yr. old son is in the hospital with a slight case of pneumonia, caused by a cold and his cystic fibrosis. He, too, is doing very well. Maybe TOO well...

Jeph was pretty apprehensive on his first day in the hospital. He had previously only visited the place. Now he had to have "procedures" done, and the worst thing was getting the IV and being connected to a machine at all times. To help with the adjustment process, I stayed with him the first night, and figured I'd probably have to be with him every night, or find someone else to stay.

On day two, the tide turned. Some players from the Minnesota Vikings came up to his floor for a visit. They were presenting a check from Fed Ex (sorry Bryan) on behalf of Daunte Culpepper who had been selected as "player of the week" and was given $5000 to donate to the charity of his choice. A hospital staff person from the Child/Family Life services came to Jeph's room and asked if he wanted to be in a picture with some of the Vikings. Jeph said sure, so we unplugged his IV pump and rolled it out to the hall where the event was taking place. However, not unexpectedly, Jeph had a defective IV pump which couldn't run off the battery power, so almost immediately upon reaching our destination, it started to beep at 2 second intervals. Talk about drawing attention. Everyone notices this pathetic little boy with the IV, and the noisy machine. But of course they don't want to exclude the poor sick kid from the picture, so they tolerate the noise, take a few shots, and we go back to his room.

We're settling in to play a little chutes and ladders, talking about how cool it was that he got to be in this picture, when someone pops their head in to ask if it's okay if the players stop by Jeph's room for a visit. Sure, why not?

Soon, five immense young men are crowding around his bed. Of course, they recall that he's the kid "who made our picture-taking so exciting" with the beeping IV. They had him a t-shirt, a Vikings pennant (autographed), and a football, which they also autograph in his room. Very cool.

But here's where it gets a bit surreal. Understand that I am NOT a football fan to any degree. Probably the word that I most use in connection with football is "disdain." So, I'm thrilled these guys are doing their little charity thing at the hospital, but I have no idea what I can say to them.

All of a sudden, one of the players notices Jeph's plush Ninja Turtle toy (courtesey of Kendrick). "Is that Michelangelo?" he asks, in absolute delight, a smile spreading over his face as he picks it up and adjust the mask over its eyes.

Jeph says, "Yeah." and another player says, "Isn't he the one with numchucks?" and Jephy says "Yeah." and another player chimes in with "He was always my favorite." and soon we're all talking about the various turtles and their exploits, and passing around the Michelangelo toy.
And I realize, these guys are like my two older sons. Probably close to their ages too. And I related to them in a whole different way. Suddenly, they weren't celebrity athletes doing a good deed. They were cool young men visiting my son in the hospital. And they were real and genuine and they cared about stuff too.

As for Jeph and his hospital experience... At the end of the day, just as I was planning to leave and feeling a bit guilty about it, he says to me, "Mom, this was the most fun day of my life."

No one has spent a night at the hospital with him since.