The Week Begins

OK - so I signed up for Weight Watchers and according to the site I get 26 points a week plus 35 for splurging.

Now this will be a challenge for me because it will require me to actually THINK about what I am eating, whereas Nutri-System shipped me food and I just grabbed it, made salad and added fruit and yogurt.

But as I told my super-clerk, Jodi, it is time for this middle-aged fat woman to lose the rest of her weight AND become a mature member of society when it comes to food.

Maybe it is the 'mature' part that scares me. I have had to become mature in so many areas of my life - my alcoholism, my Catholicism, my work ethic - and there is, sitting inside me, a screaming meemee of a child that wants to simply run amok and dance all the time, eat chocolate without restraint and otherwise be a goofball.

However, that behavior is not attractive when one is 53 or older. I know because I see it all the time on the Hive and I see it at work. Heck, I see it on the news and it seems to be the foundation of what is really wrong with the world. Someone once said that the greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he does not exist. I think one of the second biggest lies we have believed is that 'license' is 'freedom'.

Tonight I got to go visit with Deacon Jose, a childhood friend who is scheduled for ordination to the priesthood in December of this year. He is hoping to be ordained on December 12, as that is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was wonderful visiting with him and his parents. I got to see the alb that Mom and I bought him as our gift as well as the chalice and Paten his parents bought him. He also showed me something really interesting - the corporal that he purchased is from the Greek Tradition and has sown into it a relic. This allows him to use any surface to offer Holy Mass. Because our altars have relics, it is good form to offer Mass on a surface that can be a true altar. However, that is not always possible. With this special cloth, any surface can become an altar.

At least that is how I understand it.

I have not heard anything yet about Baby Chase. I know he is very ill and last I was told the family is looking to making him as comfortable and pain free as possible as he prepares for the next stage of his life - eternal life in heaven with Our Lord. Again, I cannot thank you all enough for the wonderful prayers and good thoughts you have kept for Chase and the family. You are such wonderful people. I appreciate you all.

Today we welcomed 6 people at the Rite of Acceptance and Welcome at St Joe's. I am always brought to tears during this Rite because I am so blessed to be a part of the journeys these young Candidates and Catechumates are on. When one takes the time to look at the state of the world, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit guided the magisterium to re-establish the need for the RCIA process. We, The Church, are under attack just as we were in the first 3 centuries of our existence. It is fitting that we educate those who wish to enter into full communion with the same thoroughness we once did; they will need the reason to go with their faith. Faith and Reason must go together or neither will stand the test of time.

So, onward and upward. May this week find you all safe, happy and filled with love for The Creator. May your Guardian Angels keep you from evil and May the road rise to meet you as you walk.