Summertime Modesty in Church

It's summertime, ladies, and we women and girls have the luxury of choosing from a plethora of fashion options to enhance and highlight our natural beauty!

However, let's be mindful that all things bright and beautiful come from God, and that true beauty comes from within -- in Rome and Vatican City, tourists are turned away from some churches because of sleeveless, short, or revealing clothing.  But, here in the 'States, there seems to be a lesser regard for the sanctity of holy space and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

I mean, seriously -- do my husband and sons really need to see a girl's bare shoulders, her bra straps, and bare thighs in the pew right in front of them, when they're trying to look up and focus toward the Eucharist on the altar?

Ladies, if we women want our men -- your husband, your sons, your brothers -- to be chaste according to their station in life, we need to not lead them into temptation.  If you're clever and have good taste, you can look ravishing without being revealing.

(Plus, honestly girls, half that stuff actually only looks good on Heidi Klum anyway.)

Highlight your feminine mystique without giving it away!

Happy Summer!

Feast of the Visitation (Part 1 of 2)

Today is the feast of the Visitation!  It’s one of my all-time favorite feast days, for so very many reasons:

“During those days, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah ....” (Luke 1:39)

In haste.  Mary traveled in haste.  Had she briefly planned the trip, quickly assembling what was needed, then making an organized yet hasty departure?  Or had she been more impulsive, simply grabbing her shawl and departing in haste the moment she heard the news of her cousin, Elizabeth’s, situation?  Was it cold the day she left?  Did the wind lash at her hair as she stepped outside, reminding her that in her haste she'd forgotten her cloak or a warmer veil?  Did she even have one?  Did she hurry on anyway?

How many times have we gone to aid someone else “in haste”?  How many times have we immediately put aside our own comfort or convenience to serve others so readily?

Remember, at this point, Mary already was pregnant with the Infant Christ Child.

Being pregnant, just how much “haste” could Mary muster?  Did she have an easy pregnancy, because she was sinless and He was God?  Or did she suffer the usual discomforts of creating a brand new human being?  Even if her pregnancy was flawless, Mary surely still swelled in size the way pregnant women do.  She still had to carry around physically the extra weight of her ever-growing holy burden each day, perhaps even bumping into things or requiring a larger tunic with the seam let out because of her unaccustomed size.

She still had to find a comfortable position in which to lie on her side so she could sleep at night.

In “hill country.”  Hill country?  That doesn't sound easy.  Certainly not paved.  Are you familiar with the terrain around Jerusalem?  The city sits on a limestone platueau amidst steep valleys.  Surrounded by mountainous hills.  Mountains, really.  At least four ruggedly impassable mountains.   Sharp and wide ravines.  To the east lies the Judean desert, which in 10 miles descends 4,000 feet to the Dead Sea.  Between the mountains, ravines, and surrounding deserts, Jerusalem at this time only could be approached safely from the north.  It was considered easily defensible, not easily reached.

Mountains.  Ravines.  Deserts.  Hill country.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m pregnant, anything more than a speed bump constitutes an arduous climb.  How did Mary climb?  On foot?  By donkey?  Was she alone?  Accompanied?  Did the weather cooperate?  Or was she hampered by blistering sun?  Driving wind?  Pelting rain?  Cold nights?

The more I think of these things, the more “Mary went as quickly as she could” doesn’t sound so simple as it seems.

The Wizard of Oz told the Tin Man that the true measure of a heart is not how much you love others, but how much others love you.  How very much Elizabeth must have been loved by Mary!  How much Mary must have loved her elder cousin to venture out several days throughout this terrain to reach her!  Mary completely gave herself over to the journey, not just the physical journey of getting there, but the interior journey of selflessness, of service to others.

“….she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” (Luke 1:40)

Mary not only went for a “visit” to see how Elizabeth was doing, and thereby become “company” for Elizabeth to host.  The Blessed Virgin stayed for three months, more than likely humbly making herself useful around Elizabeth and Zechariah’s home, sweeping, cleaning, cooking, laundering, tidying, mending, sewing, tending a garden, gathering wood, feeding the animals.  Mary would have bent readily to these tasks, not only because of her own inherent selflessness, but perhaps especially inspired to empathy by Elizabeth’s advanced age, yet similar expectant condition.

Remember – Elizabeth was old.  Quite old.  Far past typical child-bearing age.  How marvelous it must have been for her to have her young cousin, Mary, there at her side, not only helping her in physical tasks, but also to cheer and encourage Elizabeth in her own burden of pregnancy.

Just how difficult was it for Elizabeth to carry the future John the Baptist with grace and ease?

This is the other side of the Visitation story – Elizabeth’s story.

(To Be Continued Soon In Part 2 of 2)

READ THIS:   The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, www.tanbooks.com

Mom's a Superhero!

Recently, my husband's colleague shared a most charming moment in her story as a mother -- her son told her that a mother's apron was her superhero's cape!  Her apron!  Who knew!?

My husband, My Hero, God bless him, has never failed to buoy me up in my own role as the mother of his children.

"Ugh!"  I'll groan some days. "I didn't get anything done today!"

He'll look puzzled. "Yes, you did. You raised our children."

Some days, we can get so bogged down in what we perceive to be the necessary, yet utterly mundane, responsibilities of the day:

We must finish the laundry.
We must do school.
We must make dinner.
We must run errands.
We must clean the bathrooms.

And while these things are indeed important to efficiently run a bustling household, we sometimes can get frustrated with the seeming lack of real importance in these actions.  I mean, honestly, is anyone going to come into my house and nominate me for an Oscar because I have a sparkling commode?

"Maria!" they will say, with a breathless admiring gasp.  "Your toilets really shine!"

"Well, I'd like to thank the Academy...."

Um.  No.

But, it's in moments like these, when I'm stepping over littered toys, dragging a screaming toddler who's glued to my left calf, as I take out a trashcan full of diapers from having swabbed 1,479 rear ends that day, that my dear husband will turn on the computer and play Jamie O'Neal's "Somebody's Hero":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_uMQTw7v2g

For me.  Wow.  How very humbling.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta famously said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  And Brother Lawrence said, "Our sanctification depends not on changing our works, but on doing that for Jesus's sake which commonly we do for our own."

(I've got that one right next to my kitchen sink, by the crucifix!)

It's on days like that and moments like these that I need to remember that not all of us are called to be stars on the world stage.  In fact, very few of us are.  In fact, most of us are mere groundlings ([ground-lings] noun  ....4. a member of a theater audience who sits in one of the cheaper seats).

A groundling.  I know I sure am.

But then, I also know Who made us.  God made us.  Why did God make us?  God made us to know, love, and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

Even the groundlings.

So don't "should" on yourself about all the seemingly mundane things you "must" do around your domain.

I should finish the laundry.
I should do school.
I should make dinner.
I should run errands.
I should clean the bathrooms.

Honestly!  Stop should-ing on yourself!  Instead, look upon these tasks as opportunities in service to Him.  And be open to accomplishing whatever He has in mind for you today, whether it's cleaning toilets or something else completely out of proverbial left field, that was not on your List Of Things To Do Today.

This morning, instead of accomplishing another row of math equations and washing the breakfast dishes, I played dollhouse with my five year old.  I couldn't remember the last time I had done that.  Isn't that sad?

And I was her hero for it!  For the rest of the day, she wanted to nest her tiny hand in mine or plant little fairy kisses on my cheek.

The laundry, the dishes, the vacuuming, and even dinner, all can wait.  Go be some little person's hero, whether your little person is two or twenty-two.  Cuddle them or call them.

Because when your offspring finally accepts that Academy Award, the first human being s/he will thank is you!