Stats:
Author: Fr. Kevin A. Codd
# of pages: 271 + about 12 pages of introduction and a map
Original Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
My Copy: Paperback
Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2015
Book Review: To the Field of Stars
Stats:
Author: Fr. Kevin A. Codd
# of pages: 271 + about 12 pages of introduction and a map
Original Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
My Copy: Paperback
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Book Review: Camino de Santiago - Practical Preparation and Background
Stats:
Author: Gerald Kelly
# of pages: 144
Original Publication Date: July 4, 2011
Publisher: Createspace (self-published)
My Copy: Second Edition April 2015
My obsession with El Camino de Santiago de Compostela continues with this fantastic little guidebook by Camino veteran Gerald Kelly. I really enjoyed it. Truly.
It should be noted that this book is self-published and has a few typos and a couple of formatting issues. This is inevitable when dealing with a self-published work (a mark of the sad state of the publishing world in my opinion) but honestly they weren't really problematic. Mr. Kelly opens the book stating that it's self-published, and that efforts have been made to correct any and all errors, so the few typos that persist weren't too irritating. The only issue that truly frustrated me consistently was the way the text ran almost all the way into the crease between pages. This made the text in those areas difficult to read and I found myself bending the spine considerably more than I like to with slim paperbacks. Otherwise, the self-publishing thing wasn't an issue.
I really loved the way the book was set up, so that you didn't need to read it cover-to-cover if you didn't want to. It's a short book to begin with, but I think the way the chapters and sections are worked makes it invaluable as a reference guide. The first (very brief) section introduces you to the Camino - what it is and why people walk it. The second section is all about preparation: what to bring, how to pack, how to prepare, and how to get to Europe if, like me, you don't live on that particular continent.
My favorite part of that section was that instead of making a comprehensive list of everything you need, Mr. Kelly broke it up into three: the essentials, things you can bring if you want to, and what to leave at home. He also doesn't really push specific items or brands, but rather offers the pros and cons of a variety of options and allowing the reader to make an educated decision about what might best work for him or her. I found that to be an intelligent and considerate format and I greatly appreciated it both as a reader and as a prospective pilgrim.
The next part was all about walking the Camino itself. Mr. Kelly wrote about what a typical day on the Camino looked like, and what the hostels are like. He wrote about what to eat and where to buy food, when to drink the wine and when to stick to water. He talked about the potential dangers people face (mostly heatstroke and heart attack) and a variety of ways to deal with blisters. It is a lot of information to digest but it's broken up into bite-sized chunks and generally well-written. He covered a lot of topics but again, all of them fit into pretty small sections and sub-categories and it's easy to bookmark the sections I want to go back to.
After the main section on the day-to-day of the Camino there are shorter sections on other pilgrim routes in Europe, nature and architecture, as well as a chapter on the history of Spain. Some people found this section unnecessary or too long and boring. While I skimmed through most of this section myself, I felt that it is important for non-Europeans to understand Spanish history in order to better understand the nature of Spain today. The history lesson is followed by a Spanish phrase guide as well as some explanation of the differences between Castilian, Galician, and Basque Spanish as well as the variety of regional dialects spoken in Spain. The phrase guide is useful and I liked that instead of trying to teach rudimentary grammar Mr. Kelly simply offered a list of common words and phrases that the pilgrim needs. I personally plan to brush up on my conversational Spanish in the next two years anyway but I like that this phrase guide is available.
I loved that this man walks the Camino every year (or close to it at least) so he actually knows what he's talking about. He's also tried and tested a variety of different walking styles and brought a variety of different equipment with him, and he's also talked to other people about their Caminos and what worked for them. Obviously I won't know what will work best for me until I actually go, but having a variety of opinions to draw upon will likely be quite helpful in two years' time.
I don't have any quotes to share because this book wasn't really the quotable kind. There were parts that made me laugh, but out of context they don't make sense.
Recommended Reading Level: Teen+ but mostly Adult. It's all about packing and walking almost 800km and exchange rates and blisters and I wouldn't give this to somebody under 18 just because unless they were getting ready to walk the Camino for their 18th birthday/high school graduation, they'd be bored to tears.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars. I have to deduct because the typos and formatting issue of the type running right into the crease were annoying. Also, while I did enjoy reading it, it didn't completely captivate me like a 5 star read would. Because it's a guidebook. Can't be helped, sorry.
Who Should Read It: People who plan on walking the Camino anytime in the future, people who plan on backpacking through Europe anytime in the near future, people who like practical guidebooks, people who like books about preparing for a very long walk, people who are considering walking the Camino for the first time.
Further reading to consider:
The author has a website where you can download a guide to a variety of Caminos for free (a donation is suggested but if you want it for free it's available but really, make a donation if you do!) at CaminoGuide.net.
I'm already reading my next book on the Camino, this one written by a Catholic priest. I'm looking forward to a religious perspective on this crazy obsession of mine.
For more of the books I've loved, hated, and reviewed, please check out my Book Reviews tab.
Happy Reading!
Willow
*Note: I am not now nor have ever been an associate or acquaintance of Mr. Gerald Kelly. This is an unpaid, unsolicited review of a book I genuinely liked and wished to share.*
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Book Review: Off the Road
Stats:
Author: Jack Hitt
# of pages: 255
Original Publication Date: 1994
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
My Copy: First Simon & Schuster Paperbacks edition 2005
So I'm currently more than a little obsessed with the whole Camino to Santiago thing (see my post about it HERE) and as such I've taken it upon myself to read as many books on the subject as I can get my hands on (please don't look in my Amazon shopping cart...) I figured I might as well share some of my "research" with you lovely internet-dwellers out there.
Firstly, there are dozens - probably hundreds - of books about the Camino out there. From the Shirley Maclaine experience to the one written by a couple of nonfiction writers to the one written by a priest (which I've started reading!), there's no shortage of travelogues, memoirs, guidebooks and the like on the market. If you want to read an architect's experience of the Camino, or a housewife's experience of the Camino, it's available. My reasons for starting with this particular account of the road to Santiago is because it is this book that loosely inspired the Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez film called, The Way. The author even makes a kind of cameo character appearance as feisty travel writer Jack, from Ireland. This character is much more likeable than the author himself, in my opinion. More on that later.
This book was originally published in 1994, so it's a teensy bit dated and I have a feeling that conditions along the Camino have changed and improved a bit in the last 20 years, especially given the Camino's rise in popularity after the release of Sheen and Estevez's film and the Holy Year in 2010. In any case, the idea of dropping your entire life to go for a very long walk still shines through. Because walking across northern Spain takes you "out of time" in a way, the many years since publication don't really affect the narrative experience.
I didn't care much for the beginning - he talked far too much about architecture and it really didn't feel relevant to beginning his pilgrimage. He also didn't have very positive things to say about religion, let alone Catholicism. Basically, I felt he was incredibly close-minded. He began by talking about authenticity and metaphor and literalism. He seemed to think that pilgrimage is about getting back to the truest sense of the word before religious metaphors got tangled up in politics and journalism and came to mean nothing at all. It honestly felt like a lot of pedantic backpedaling; it was like he was trying to say that he wasn't going on pilgrimage for religious reasons or to "find God," heavens no! He was purely intellectual, strictly going for a very long walk to connect with himself and unplug from CNN and see what his brain did when it wasn't inundated with media and hyper-connectivity. It felt seriously inauthentic.
At first I didn't like the way the narrative of his walking was broken up. It's split into 11 chapters with an introduction and an afterward. Each of the chapters revolves around his experiences in a particular region or portion of the Camino: Saint-Jean Pied de Port, Torres del Rio, Leon, and Arzua to name a few. I was initially displeased because I wanted more detail, more day-to-day grind of walking the road, not the highlights version. Upon reflection, however, it makes sense. He wrote this book for commercial publication and yes, there's plenty of slogging through wheat fields in a lighting storm and blisters and lack of adequate shower facilities, but if there was much more of that the average reader would be bored to tears. He did a good job of giving you enough of the daily grind without bogging you down in it, and there were the usual small epiphanies and roadside gems described.
What I feel he did best was describing his fellow pilgrims. He painted incredibly vivid pictures of the Flemish film crew and Claudy and the donkey, Jesus the gypsy, the Welsh family, the Spanish girls, and the Italian pilgrim who spoke no language well. He illustrated the pack mentality versus "every man for himself" and how that dynamic changed over different parts of the Camino. Hostel workers, priests, Spanish widows, and Basque shepherds all came to life on the pages and both welcomed and challenged the pilgrims. All of these people were real, engaging, and complex. There were a few times when the author was unkind or reduced people to stereotypes, but more often than not he allowed the characters to develop and the reader got to see the other side of them.
My main problem with the entire book was the lack of real epiphany. All through the book I kept waiting for the author to learn something - about himself, about the world, about religion, about God - but it never happened. He even made this lack of "lesson learning" a good thing at the end, in the afterword. He acts like St. James isn't the saint to go to if you're looking for epiphany because St. James was so much simpler than that when depicted as a pilgrim. I disagree. I feel like walking almost 500 miles on pilgrimage has to change you or all you've done is taken a really long walk through northern Spain, practically devoid of meaning. Perhaps I'm naive and still dew-eyed with the belief that God speaks to us when we can listen - on a dirt road in the middle of the Spanish Meseta - but what I felt most for this writer was pity that he was so cynical and almost actively avoiding any kind of experience of epiphany. Maybe my impression is incorrect or somehow inaccurate or even biased because of the author's largely negative view of Catholic Christianity (I'm willing to admit I could be wrong about this) but I sincerely hope that when it comes to my turn to make this journey I have a much more positive experience than he did.
I thought his redemptive moment would be when he entered the cathedral before the statue of St. James. The Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno wrote of that space, "Before this Portico, one must pray in one way or another: one cannot make literature." Here, the author drops to his knees and approaches St. James in gratitude - as is custom for all pilgrims, kings and peasants alike. He seems to be on the verge of the epiphany I waited so long for, but then...
"Even here, minutes away from completing my pilgrimage, an air of fraudulence lingers. I had expected a purity, a clarifying wind of revelation. Instead the tourists unsheathe their cameras and illuminate my already soiled epiphany with the strobe of flashes. This clenched face and furrowed brow now bowing before the statue of James - is this mine, a performance, or both?" (238-239)
ARGHHHHH! SO close and then the cop-out and blaming the tourists for ruining his could-be epiphany. Jackass.
His one moment of redemption, however, came on the last page. He had been in Santiago for a week and had been showered, shaved, and changed into new, clean clothes, and returned to the cathedral for the last time. Instead of being lost in his cynicism, he joined the line of people waiting to kneel at the statue of St. James to pray. So many people have placed their hands beneath the saint's feet that the marble has actually developed the indentation of a perfectly shaped human hand. Now, cleaned up and dressed as a normal person - no longer garbed and clearly marked as a pilgrim, he says, "One cannot make literature here. When my time comes, I put my hand into the stone and pray." Not the religious epiphany or grand conclusion I had hoped for, but it's better than nothing. The closest thing we get to the lesson learned is in the afterword where he says, "In the midst of all that work, wrangling the details of life stripped down to that essence [of bare necessities], some tiny thing appears. It might be a funny line, a moment, a chance encounter, a though that gives you the power to see yourself as you really are, there in that awkward surreal place." He speaks to my dissatisfaction with his conclusions in the afterword, saying that if I want revelations or epiphanies I should read a war journal. Frankly, I think he kind of missed the point.
Some quotes I underlined:
From page 36:
The road itself is... among our oldest tropes. The obvious metaphors click by. The high road and the low, the long and winding, lonesome, royal, open, private, the road to hell, tobacco, crooked, straight and narrow. There is the road stretching into infinity, bordered by lacy mists, favored by sentimental poets. There is the more dignified road of Mr. Frost. There is, every four years, the road to the White House. There is the right road. And then there is the road that concerns me most today, the wrong road.Immediately following on page 37:
Then again, maybe I should calm down.You think?
From page 43:
What the modern pilgrim is exiled from is not a place but velocity. I haven't left the world of the city; I have left the realm of the car. What distinguishes me is not that I am out of town but that I am on foot. My predecessors were outcasts because they left the security of the village. I have left the world of technology and speed.Are you beginning to see what I mean about his obsession with unpacking metaphors and getting back to the truest sense of the meaning of pilgrimage?
From page 182:
Is this pilgrimage a sacred task or is it trumped-up tourism?From page 244:
A thousand years ago, from this belief [in God] but also from crude political calculation, financial desperation, and military necessity, the pilgrimage emerged as a journey to truth. What one finds on the road may not be what god wrought, but it is what man wrought, and, for a time, it was the best we could do.So to summarize a long and winding post, there were things about this book that I liked, and plenty of things about it I had problems with. I found the author's voice pedantic, cynical, and generally obnoxious, but every once-in-a-while he had something interesting to say.
Recommended Reading Level: Adult. Not in an R-rated sense but in the sense that this guy used a lot of big words (unnecessarily, too) that challenged my post-college brain a bit. Also there is talk of sex and drug use and flippant remarks that adolescents may not be able to put into context.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars - I'd like to be able to give this 3 whole stars, but the author's attitude really prohibits it. I didn't find this book difficult to read, but it certainly does not have a place on my "favorite books this year" shelf. It was a good glimpse of what the daily grind on the Camino is like but I don't think I'll be recommending it to people who aren't actively planning to go on pilgrimage. Even then I'll recommend it with heavy caveats.
Who Should Read It: People who actively plan to make pilgrimage to Santiago and are unsure of their religious beliefs. People who like writers from Harper's Magazine and GQ. People who are interested in historical Spanish architecture. People who like travelogues with no particular theme. People who don't look for revelations in their everyday life.
I'm already reading more books about the Camino so hopefully I'll find one or two that are good and will have better recommendations for you.
For more of the books I've loved, hated, and reviewed, look HERE. Or check out the Book Reviews tab at the top of the page.
Happy Reading,
Willow.
*Note: All text used in quotes are from the 2005 Simon&Schuster paperback edition of Off the Road by Jack Hitt and these quotes are copyrighted by him and Simon & Schuster. These quotations are used for review purposes only. I am not now and never have been an agent of Simon & Schuster publishing or any of its imprints or affiliates, nor am I any acquaintance of Mr. Hitt. This is an unpaid, unsolicited review.*
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Walking the Way
This may seem a bit random, but with my birthday tomorrow (25 is terrifying) I've been doing some re-evaluating and made some decisions about what I'd like to do with my life by the time I'm 30. There's the usual suspects like marriage, children, and home ownership, but there's one other thing that's been on my mind in a heavy way for the last few months.
When I was about 12, my dad bought me a book from a used bookstore. He hadn't read it and didn't really know what it was about other than what he read on the back cover but that summary merely told him that his middle school aged daughter would probably like it. At the time I was obsessed with historical fiction (specifically the early English Renaissance/Tudor dynasty but I was also loving ancient Egypt and American Colonial stuff) so he made a good call.
That was 13 years ago and I still have the book. My copy is worn and tattered and close to falling apart but I still have it. It's the story of a teenaged girl and her betrothed (just returned from the Crusades) whose parents arranged for them to join their estates in order to lend stability to their region (there was also an issue of money). In order to help them bond before their marriage, their priest sends them on Pilgrimage from their home in England, across the English Channel, through France to Paris and then west to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Their journey takes them a few months and (because it is set in the year 1300) they face many obstacles including hunger, injury, injustice, and threatened kidnapping. It's an exciting story about imagining people complexly - especially people we think we know or who we've known a long time - and over the course of the story the two main characters eventually come to view their impending marriage as a way for them to unite their communities and do good for the people they will be responsible for. It's a great story even if - as a Catholic - there are moments that are a teensy bit problematic. Some comments are made that are critical of the Catholic Church which make it obvious that the author does not think highly of Her. (I just reread it and these comments don't feel obvious to me, but I may be biased because I love the story so much.)
In any case, I've read this novel probably close to a dozen times in the years that I've possessed it. I just reread it again about 2 months ago and this is where things get a bit weird.
I finished reading it and was in this kind of book hangover (the kind you get after reading something wherein you're still living and breathing the stories and characters) and I started thinking, I wonder if people still make pilgrimage to Santiago. Spain has been on my bucket list for years anyway, maybe when I finally go someday I'll stop in Santiago... And there the train of thought ended for a while.
Until it came back when I was babysitting and saw clearly a scallop shell in their seashell collection. This reminded me of the scallop worn by the pilgrims on the road to Santiago. The thought of someday going to Santiago became an internet search that turned into a dream on my Someday-Maybe list.
There were other little things: scallops for dinner, the feast of St. James the Less (and talk of St. James the Greater) in my Confirmation class, conversations with my mother about the book and how much I still loved it, and so on.
Then. On the drive up the mountain for my sisters' 2nd year Confirmation retreat, I rode with a young man I knew of but didn't know well. We got to talking about our families and family history and it came out that my family ancestry traces back to Spain and that I dream of going there someday. He said Spain is also on his bucket list because of a movie he'd watched recently. The film, he said, was about a man whose son (somewhat estranged) went to Spain and died on his first day there. So the man had to go to Spain to retrieve his son's body and chose to cremate the body. Then he decided to do the walk through Spain that his son had planned, all the way to --
Here I interrupted and asked him ecstatically if the movie is about the man walking the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago. We shared a look of awe at God's timing and bringing us together and we got very excited because yes, this film was all about the Camino, and yes, we both had been daydreaming about someday-maybe going on pilgrimage. We spent the next hour of our drive talking about the film and I told him about my book and this shared dream became a strong bonding point for us.
After the retreat weekend I went home and found the film on Netflix. It's called The Way and stars Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez and I've watched it 3 times since Christian told me about it and I cry every time. The film tells a complicated story about love, loss, redemption, anger, and how sometimes, grief looks like a really long walk. It is secular but shows reverence for the Pilgrimage and the people along it and the Church and isn't sappy at all. I recommend it. I plan on buying the DVD so I can watch it with my mother. The film was actually inspired - in part - by a book by a man who walked the Way, called Off the Road. I'm currently reading it. While I think the author is a pretentious jackass, the book is pretty good so far.
All of this transpired about 2 months ago and since then I've done lots of research. I've been reading lots and lots of travel sites and doing lots of math and I've been praying about it a great deal.
I think I'm going to Spain in 2 years.
I've calculated that it will cost me (at a very rough estimate) about $7,200 to get there, complete my pilgrimage, and get home. Airfare is going to be the most costly part of this adventure and there is also the issue of having at least 1 month's worth of rent and things covered ahead of time because walking the Way (all 500 miles of it) takes about 5 weeks. I'm budgeting 6 because I'll want to spend a couple of days in France getting used to the time difference and then I'll need a few days once home to take care of tidying my house and sleeping and generally recovering.
All in all, I'm going to have to save about $300-$320 each month if I'm going to head to Spain in May of 2017. That's my goal: 2 years. Two years to save the money, work out the logistics, dream, plan, and train. Yes, train. My intended path goes from St. Jean-Pied-de-Port in France through northern Spain to Santiago in Galicia. That's just shy of 500 miles. To do that in 35 days (with rest days, of course) I will need to practice walking up to 25 miles each day while carrying a 15 pound backpack. It's a lot more likely that I'll be doing 15-20 miles each day but I'd like to get comfortable walking up to 25 miles a day. I imagine the next two years will be good for my health, as well.
So that's my dream as I turn 25: spend the next 2 years saving and preparing so that within days of my 27th birthday I will be on a plane to Spain (more likely to France then a bus and a train to the Franco-Spanish border but you get the idea). I've made out 24 little envelopes which I intend to fill with cash earned babysitting, house sitting, dog walking, and parts of my paychecks and each will be put into a jar. I've used the image below to decorate the jar as a bit of motivation. 24 months, almost $7,500, and 500 miles.
I think maybe part of not being afraid of getting older involves taking a very, very long walk.
Happy birthday to me!
See you in Santiago,
*Author's Note: All the images in this post - with the exception of the purple one - are from Wikimedia Commons and are either in the public domain or used under the GNU Free Documentation License. The original authors have been credited as requested and the Wikimedia source page has been linked to. I have no legal claim to them and make no money from them.*
When I was about 12, my dad bought me a book from a used bookstore. He hadn't read it and didn't really know what it was about other than what he read on the back cover but that summary merely told him that his middle school aged daughter would probably like it. At the time I was obsessed with historical fiction (specifically the early English Renaissance/Tudor dynasty but I was also loving ancient Egypt and American Colonial stuff) so he made a good call.
That was 13 years ago and I still have the book. My copy is worn and tattered and close to falling apart but I still have it. It's the story of a teenaged girl and her betrothed (just returned from the Crusades) whose parents arranged for them to join their estates in order to lend stability to their region (there was also an issue of money). In order to help them bond before their marriage, their priest sends them on Pilgrimage from their home in England, across the English Channel, through France to Paris and then west to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Their journey takes them a few months and (because it is set in the year 1300) they face many obstacles including hunger, injury, injustice, and threatened kidnapping. It's an exciting story about imagining people complexly - especially people we think we know or who we've known a long time - and over the course of the story the two main characters eventually come to view their impending marriage as a way for them to unite their communities and do good for the people they will be responsible for. It's a great story even if - as a Catholic - there are moments that are a teensy bit problematic. Some comments are made that are critical of the Catholic Church which make it obvious that the author does not think highly of Her. (I just reread it and these comments don't feel obvious to me, but I may be biased because I love the story so much.)
I finished reading it and was in this kind of book hangover (the kind you get after reading something wherein you're still living and breathing the stories and characters) and I started thinking, I wonder if people still make pilgrimage to Santiago. Spain has been on my bucket list for years anyway, maybe when I finally go someday I'll stop in Santiago... And there the train of thought ended for a while.
Until it came back when I was babysitting and saw clearly a scallop shell in their seashell collection. This reminded me of the scallop worn by the pilgrims on the road to Santiago. The thought of someday going to Santiago became an internet search that turned into a dream on my Someday-Maybe list.
 |
| 1896, Author Unknown, Public Domain Image {{PD - 1923}} |
There were other little things: scallops for dinner, the feast of St. James the Less (and talk of St. James the Greater) in my Confirmation class, conversations with my mother about the book and how much I still loved it, and so on.
Then. On the drive up the mountain for my sisters' 2nd year Confirmation retreat, I rode with a young man I knew of but didn't know well. We got to talking about our families and family history and it came out that my family ancestry traces back to Spain and that I dream of going there someday. He said Spain is also on his bucket list because of a movie he'd watched recently. The film, he said, was about a man whose son (somewhat estranged) went to Spain and died on his first day there. So the man had to go to Spain to retrieve his son's body and chose to cremate the body. Then he decided to do the walk through Spain that his son had planned, all the way to --
Here I interrupted and asked him ecstatically if the movie is about the man walking the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago. We shared a look of awe at God's timing and bringing us together and we got very excited because yes, this film was all about the Camino, and yes, we both had been daydreaming about someday-maybe going on pilgrimage. We spent the next hour of our drive talking about the film and I told him about my book and this shared dream became a strong bonding point for us.
After the retreat weekend I went home and found the film on Netflix. It's called The Way and stars Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez and I've watched it 3 times since Christian told me about it and I cry every time. The film tells a complicated story about love, loss, redemption, anger, and how sometimes, grief looks like a really long walk. It is secular but shows reverence for the Pilgrimage and the people along it and the Church and isn't sappy at all. I recommend it. I plan on buying the DVD so I can watch it with my mother. The film was actually inspired - in part - by a book by a man who walked the Way, called Off the Road. I'm currently reading it. While I think the author is a pretentious jackass, the book is pretty good so far.
All of this transpired about 2 months ago and since then I've done lots of research. I've been reading lots and lots of travel sites and doing lots of math and I've been praying about it a great deal.
I think I'm going to Spain in 2 years.
 |
| Church of Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. By Vasco Roxo. |
I've calculated that it will cost me (at a very rough estimate) about $7,200 to get there, complete my pilgrimage, and get home. Airfare is going to be the most costly part of this adventure and there is also the issue of having at least 1 month's worth of rent and things covered ahead of time because walking the Way (all 500 miles of it) takes about 5 weeks. I'm budgeting 6 because I'll want to spend a couple of days in France getting used to the time difference and then I'll need a few days once home to take care of tidying my house and sleeping and generally recovering.
All in all, I'm going to have to save about $300-$320 each month if I'm going to head to Spain in May of 2017. That's my goal: 2 years. Two years to save the money, work out the logistics, dream, plan, and train. Yes, train. My intended path goes from St. Jean-Pied-de-Port in France through northern Spain to Santiago in Galicia. That's just shy of 500 miles. To do that in 35 days (with rest days, of course) I will need to practice walking up to 25 miles each day while carrying a 15 pound backpack. It's a lot more likely that I'll be doing 15-20 miles each day but I'd like to get comfortable walking up to 25 miles a day. I imagine the next two years will be good for my health, as well.
So that's my dream as I turn 25: spend the next 2 years saving and preparing so that within days of my 27th birthday I will be on a plane to Spain (more likely to France then a bus and a train to the Franco-Spanish border but you get the idea). I've made out 24 little envelopes which I intend to fill with cash earned babysitting, house sitting, dog walking, and parts of my paychecks and each will be put into a jar. I've used the image below to decorate the jar as a bit of motivation. 24 months, almost $7,500, and 500 miles.
I think maybe part of not being afraid of getting older involves taking a very, very long walk.
Some European pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela
by Oula Lehtinen (cropped by me)
Source
by Oula Lehtinen (cropped by me)
Source
Happy birthday to me!
See you in Santiago,
*Author's Note: All the images in this post - with the exception of the purple one - are from Wikimedia Commons and are either in the public domain or used under the GNU Free Documentation License. The original authors have been credited as requested and the Wikimedia source page has been linked to. I have no legal claim to them and make no money from them.*
Friday, May 8, 2015
The Star-Struck Nobody (or, That One Time I Went to a Blogging Conference)
I think I may be among the last to write this up, but I've had to take a lot of time thinking about it and processing and (as usual) second-guessing myself.
A few weekends ago I did something daring and adventurous. It didn't involve sky diving or bull riding or mountain climbing or a crazy puzzle-solving chase around the world in 80 hours type thing. It involved me getting into my car and driving to Northridge, CA to meet 27 other Catholic women bloggers for a weekend of fellowship, networking, and learning.
I'm sure this post is going to be a little out of order because I'm still processing my reaction to all the amazing stuff that happened. It's an awful lot to make sense of! Also, this post is rather long. Sorry.
A few weekends ago I did something daring and adventurous. It didn't involve sky diving or bull riding or mountain climbing or a crazy puzzle-solving chase around the world in 80 hours type thing. It involved me getting into my car and driving to Northridge, CA to meet 27 other Catholic women bloggers for a weekend of fellowship, networking, and learning.
I'm sure this post is going to be a little out of order because I'm still processing my reaction to all the amazing stuff that happened. It's an awful lot to make sense of! Also, this post is rather long. Sorry.
Photo credit: Jiza at Olive & Cypress
Friday, March 6, 2015
Pinteresting, Vol. 15
Happy Friday and welcome to Pinteresting! The part of the
show where I roundup my favorite pins from this week and share them
with the world. I pin recipes, decorating ideas, religious stuff,
teaching thoughts, funny stuff from Tumblr, kids' activities, crafting
ideas, knitting/crochet patterns, and cute cat pictures.
1)
Fabric sharpies give plain white pillowcases a whole new look. I love how customizable this is: you could copy out a love letter, the lyrics from your favorite song, a single line written over and over and over... I imagine you could even trace or freehand a design and use colored fabric sharpies to make your pillows truly one of a kind.
2)
So my hair is getting to be quite long these days (I know, I never ever post selfies, so you have to take my word for it) and I've been playing with different hairstyles. My hair is actually getting to be too long for my usual messy bun so I've been looking at different kinds of braids in preparation for the summer. This particular 'do is a bit advanced but I plan to practice on my kid sister and eventually get her to do it on me until I can do it myself. Until then I'm rocking milkmaid braids.
3)
I've shared subversive cross stitch designs and patterns here before because they just tickle me. This one is fun and cute and definitely has the unexpected ending. (Unfortunately the link doesn't go to the webpage for the pattern - sorry!)
4)
I became vaguely familiar with the tradition of veiling statues and religious images on the 5th Sunday of Lent or for all of Lent last year, but I never knew why (other than as a mark of the solemnity and somber attitude of Passiontide/Triduum).
5)
And that's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
1)
Fabric sharpies give plain white pillowcases a whole new look. I love how customizable this is: you could copy out a love letter, the lyrics from your favorite song, a single line written over and over and over... I imagine you could even trace or freehand a design and use colored fabric sharpies to make your pillows truly one of a kind.
2)
So my hair is getting to be quite long these days (I know, I never ever post selfies, so you have to take my word for it) and I've been playing with different hairstyles. My hair is actually getting to be too long for my usual messy bun so I've been looking at different kinds of braids in preparation for the summer. This particular 'do is a bit advanced but I plan to practice on my kid sister and eventually get her to do it on me until I can do it myself. Until then I'm rocking milkmaid braids.
3)
I've shared subversive cross stitch designs and patterns here before because they just tickle me. This one is fun and cute and definitely has the unexpected ending. (Unfortunately the link doesn't go to the webpage for the pattern - sorry!)
4)
I became vaguely familiar with the tradition of veiling statues and religious images on the 5th Sunday of Lent or for all of Lent last year, but I never knew why (other than as a mark of the solemnity and somber attitude of Passiontide/Triduum).
5)
Haley over at Carrots for Michaelmas is my spirit animal or something because she's into all things British like me. While I'm not necessarily up on what's going on in the world of Downton Abbey, I definitely continue to love the costuming. In this post, Haley takes pieces from her wardrobe and puts them into outfits that have that Edwardian/post-Victorian vibe.
This just makes me laugh because it's so darn accurate. My cat ignores me for a large part of his day or doesn't want me to be holding him, but he sits at my feet under my desk, curls up on files I'm working with, and when we get home he insists on invading my space and wedging himself in my lap while I'm knitting. What a stinker...
And that's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
love,
Willow
**Author's
Note: None of the images in this post are my property. I have borrowed
them from Pinterest and made my best effort to ensure that the Pinterest
pages linked to link to an original source. If you see your work here
and want it taken down please see my About page and contact me. Thank
you for not suing.**
Friday, February 20, 2015
Pinteresting, Vol. 14
Happy Friday and welcome to Pinteresting! The part of the
show where I roundup my favorite pins from this week and share them
with the world. I pin recipes, decorating ideas, religious stuff,
teaching thoughts, funny stuff from Tumblr, kids' activities, crafting
ideas, knitting/crochet patterns, and cute cat pictures.
This salad looks divine. It's got tons of super-stuff in it, like the spinach and cranberries and avocado and almonds. I'm kind of inspired to eat more super salads these days because I had the most amazing salad at my friend Therese's house weekend-before-last during a knitting afternoon. This recipe makes a salad enough to feed 4 so obviously the amounts will need tweaking to make for one, but it looks like a good place to start.
2)
I've loved the rosary for a long time, and I've experienced many of these listed benefits firsthand (particularly that restful sleep thing!). I've actually spoken to one of my doctors and he's recommended the rosary for even his non-Catholic patients simply because it helps with anxiety - controlling one's breathing, having something physical and mental to focus on to prevent ruminating thoughts, etc. If you've been thinking about starting to say the rosary, I can't think of a better time than Lent.
Embroidered Handwriting Decor
Shelves above the bed
And that's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins.
If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to
say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no
going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards,
find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
1)
This salad looks divine. It's got tons of super-stuff in it, like the spinach and cranberries and avocado and almonds. I'm kind of inspired to eat more super salads these days because I had the most amazing salad at my friend Therese's house weekend-before-last during a knitting afternoon. This recipe makes a salad enough to feed 4 so obviously the amounts will need tweaking to make for one, but it looks like a good place to start.
2)
I've loved the rosary for a long time, and I've experienced many of these listed benefits firsthand (particularly that restful sleep thing!). I've actually spoken to one of my doctors and he's recommended the rosary for even his non-Catholic patients simply because it helps with anxiety - controlling one's breathing, having something physical and mental to focus on to prevent ruminating thoughts, etc. If you've been thinking about starting to say the rosary, I can't think of a better time than Lent.
3)
I've pinned similar ideas before but they were all a little... complicated. I like this because I have boxes that I've saved (because I save strange things like boxes) and this looks like a great use of one or two of them. I've been setting up a kind of mini-office station at the dining room table with a phone box (a small cabinet intended to hold a phone - no joke) but I really need a place to keep track of pens, markers, stamps and such. It would be really easy to just go and buy a small desk organizer but let's DIY something!
4)
We all have a few lyrics and quotes that we carry around with us, words that stick to our insides and follow us around. I can already imagine several of my favorite quotes or lyrics captured on muslin or linen and trimmed with lace, hanging around my house or tucked on my bookcases. I really love how it's someone's handwriting; I imagine you could even have someone write a message in their own handwriting and stitch over it or something...
5)
This little desk looks like my dream work space. It's small but has enough horizontal space to allow a little spreading and it has a bunch of drawers and spots for stuff. I doubt I would use it as a vanity but I would love a desk that doesn't have the massively tall overhanging shelves of my current setup. I just love a desk with cubby-holes and small, secret spaces.
6)
Ever since I re-re-read The Perfectly Imperfect Home, I've become slightly obsessed with making small but meaningful changes in my house. My bedroom is next on the list and I want to put something, anything on my walls. They've been bare and beige for far too long. Not sure if I'll do shelves (SoCal is earthquake country), but some twinkle lights, pictures or posters or pretty things to make my room a little less chaotic and more like a person lives in it instead of a hurricane.
love,
Willow
**Author's
Note: None of the images in this post are my property. I have borrowed
them from Pinterest and made my best effort to ensure that the Pinterest
pages linked to link to an original source. If you see your work here
and want it taken down please see my About page and contact me. Thank
you for not suing.**
Friday, February 6, 2015
Pinteresting, Vol. 13
Happy Friday and welcome to Pinteresting! The part of the
show where I roundup my favorite pins from this week and share them
with the world. I pin recipes, decorating ideas, religious stuff,
teaching thoughts, funny stuff from Tumblr, kids' activities, crafting
ideas, knitting/crochet patterns, and cute cat pictures.
1)
The pin links to a really lovely and thoughtful post written by Kendra of Catholic All Year (honestly, all of her posts are thoughtful and lovely) about older siblings and younger siblings. I really like how she illustrates what her family does and how it works for them. It might not work for every family but she talks about different strategies for giving older kids responsibilities that are empowering without overwhelming them. Seriously, go read it.
2)
This recipe combines two of my great loves: avocados and chicken. It features instructions on heating and cooking but I feel like once you get the amounts of the ingredients you can get really creative and go from there. Yum!
3)
My little sister J asked me several weeks ago during Confirmation class why Catholics have a corpus on the cross (she said Jesus' body but corpus is more accurate, don't you think?). I gave her roughly this explanation and we discussed it as a class. I like having things like this on hand, though, for a quick reference if my brain ever decides to take leave of me.
5)
Theresa at Ordinary Lovely has been running a lovely series on family-friendly soups for the last week or so and it's been really neat! I'm not a huge soup-lover, but I like chili for sure and she even gives a meat-free version of this! Lent is less than 2 weeks away so I'm seriously thinking about making this to have for a Friday option.
And that's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
1)
The pin links to a really lovely and thoughtful post written by Kendra of Catholic All Year (honestly, all of her posts are thoughtful and lovely) about older siblings and younger siblings. I really like how she illustrates what her family does and how it works for them. It might not work for every family but she talks about different strategies for giving older kids responsibilities that are empowering without overwhelming them. Seriously, go read it.
2)
3)
Mary over at Better Than Eden wrote this really great meal planning post and the title says it all: Boring Girl's Guide to Family Meal Planning. Does that have my name written all over it, or what? She breaks it down so it makes sense and it's inspired me to actually buckle down and figure out a way to make meal planning work for my life. If I'm successful, I may even post about it! (If not, we'll pretend it never happened and continue fumbling through the feeding myself process.)
4)
My little sister J asked me several weeks ago during Confirmation class why Catholics have a corpus on the cross (she said Jesus' body but corpus is more accurate, don't you think?). I gave her roughly this explanation and we discussed it as a class. I like having things like this on hand, though, for a quick reference if my brain ever decides to take leave of me.
5)
And that's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
love,
Willow
**Author's
Note: None of the images in this post are my property. I have borrowed
them from Pinterest and made my best effort to ensure that the Pinterest
pages linked to link to an original source. If you see your work here
and want it taken down please see my About page and contact me. Thank
you for not suing.**
Friday, November 21, 2014
Pinteresting, Vol. 8
Happy Friday and welcome to Pinteresting! The part of the
show where I roundup my favorite pins from this week and share them
with the world. I pin recipes, decorating ideas, religious stuff,
teaching thoughts, funny stuff from Tumblr, kids' activities, crafting
ideas, knitting/crochet patterns, and cute cat pictures.
1)
One of my favorite bloggers is Haley Stewart at Carrots for Michaelmas and she wrote this guest post over at Kitchen Stewardship all about Advent and how observing Advent can actually help us prevent holiday burnout. The idea is that spending the weeks leading up to Christmas in a quieter state of mind makes the actual season of Christmas (traditionally, from Dec. 25 - Jan. 6) much more enjoyable. Now, I love Christmas, I love the whole season, and I'm not usually sick of Christmas carols until sometime in February, but I also really love the slow-down of Advent. The time of prayer and anticipation, of holding out the real celebrations until it's actually, you know... Christmas.
Which leads me to: HOLY MOSES PEOPLE THERE ARE ONLY 5 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! I am SO EXCITED.
2)
I have been looking for something just like this for quite some time. These little cookies are store-bought pie crusts cut out to size, spread with jam (she used apple butter - yum!) and a cookie cutter used to cute out the little hole in the tops. They're so cute and look absolutely delicious - perfect for a more interesting cookie exchange party, if that's your holiday occasion du jour.
3)
I'm not a huge fan of couple's tattoos. I love tattoos, of course, but matchy-matchy couple's tats? Not so much. Enter these inky arms inspired by Pixar's Up. Oh my cuteness! Not a bad way to go, if you absolutely have to have a couple's tattoo.
4)
It won't let me make the graphic bigger without making it so huge that it's bigger than the entire post, so I apologize. To see it at a decent size, click the link below the image. But if you think back to an earlier Pinteresting post (HERE), I showed you a cool idea for cinnamon dough ornaments. But the cool thing about salt dough is that you can paint it. My niece and nephew are spending the entire week of Thanksgiving with us (Friday to Friday - whoa) so this may be on the list of scheduled activities for us to do to keep them busy. Plus, it'll give them a cute souvenir to take home to their mom.
5)
Mary at Better than Eden has some great insights, and she shows them off in this post. I've always loved the story of Jesus cleansing the temple with a whip and going a little crazy, but Mary puts it into such beautiful perspective. Go read it.
6)
This hack is super neat because it's not destructive. Also, the command hooks are all but completely concealed by the bows. I imagine you could use this for a lot of different occasions, and in a lot of different places. I've pinned a few things that have free downloads for banner lettering, and I might make a few banners for the holidays to hang between my two downstairs bookcases over the TV (or where the TV won't be in a few weeks!). I'll be using this hack for sure, because I'm still a renter.
That's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
1)
One of my favorite bloggers is Haley Stewart at Carrots for Michaelmas and she wrote this guest post over at Kitchen Stewardship all about Advent and how observing Advent can actually help us prevent holiday burnout. The idea is that spending the weeks leading up to Christmas in a quieter state of mind makes the actual season of Christmas (traditionally, from Dec. 25 - Jan. 6) much more enjoyable. Now, I love Christmas, I love the whole season, and I'm not usually sick of Christmas carols until sometime in February, but I also really love the slow-down of Advent. The time of prayer and anticipation, of holding out the real celebrations until it's actually, you know... Christmas.
Which leads me to: HOLY MOSES PEOPLE THERE ARE ONLY 5 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! I am SO EXCITED.
2)
I have been looking for something just like this for quite some time. These little cookies are store-bought pie crusts cut out to size, spread with jam (she used apple butter - yum!) and a cookie cutter used to cute out the little hole in the tops. They're so cute and look absolutely delicious - perfect for a more interesting cookie exchange party, if that's your holiday occasion du jour.
3)
I'm not a huge fan of couple's tattoos. I love tattoos, of course, but matchy-matchy couple's tats? Not so much. Enter these inky arms inspired by Pixar's Up. Oh my cuteness! Not a bad way to go, if you absolutely have to have a couple's tattoo.
4)
5)
Mary at Better than Eden has some great insights, and she shows them off in this post. I've always loved the story of Jesus cleansing the temple with a whip and going a little crazy, but Mary puts it into such beautiful perspective. Go read it.
6)
This hack is super neat because it's not destructive. Also, the command hooks are all but completely concealed by the bows. I imagine you could use this for a lot of different occasions, and in a lot of different places. I've pinned a few things that have free downloads for banner lettering, and I might make a few banners for the holidays to hang between my two downstairs bookcases over the TV (or where the TV won't be in a few weeks!). I'll be using this hack for sure, because I'm still a renter.
That's it for this week's edition of Pinteresting! I always enjoy curating my favorite, most recent pins. If you're not currently on Pinterest, make sure you take a moment to say goodbye to your loved ones before you log on, because there's no going back! You can follow me on Pinterest (any or all of my boards, find your cup of tea) HERE. Happy weekend!
love,
Willow
**Author's
Note: None of the images in this post are my property. I have borrowed
them from Pinterest and made my best effort to ensure that the Pinterest
pages linked to link to an original source. If you see your work here
and want it taken down please see my About page and contact me. Thank
you for not suing.**
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Corpus Christi: The Body of Christ
 | |||
| from TimeandDate.com, accessed 06/05/2013 |
Corpus Christi!!! Corpus Christi is a Latin phrase used in reference to the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. We celebrate this feast day on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday and it is not a holy day of obligation (except when it is celebrated on a Sunday, which, in the US, it usually is). This is one of those holidays that I wasn't really aware of until I began paying attention to our liturgical calendar when I started teaching Catechism.
The Feast of Corpus Christi began with a beautiful story. A young nun, Juliana, had great love for the Blessed Sacrament - the Eucharist - and longed for a celebration of it outside of Lent. (Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, is the celebration of the Institution of the Eucharist at Christ's Last Supper.) She had a recurring dream/vision for almost 20 years of a beautiful white full moon, with one dark, black spot on it. Jesus later revealed to her that the full moon represented the Church calendar, and the black spot was the missing solemnity of His presence in the Eucharist. She went to her priest who went to a bishop and it took a lot of time (and for dear St. Juliana, a great deal of ridicule and suffering) but eventually it was included in the liturgical calendar as a feast day.
Many countries celebrate this feast day with processions, wherein a priest will bear the monstrance at the head of the crowd around a city or parish church. Our own parish celebrated with a procession on Sunday and a surprising number of people stayed to participate.
What I love about Corpus Christi is that it celebrates on of my favorite aspects of Catholicism: transubstantiation. I know that's a big word, but it's a BIG deal. As Catholics we believe that, by some miracle of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ is actually, physically present in the form of bread and wine when we celebrate the Eucharist at mass every single Sunday. His essence is miraculously transferred into these hosts - they host his presence - which we then consume. To encounter God so intimately every Sunday is such a rich blessing.
At our parish we are especially blessed to have a Perpetual Adoration Chapel right next to our church. Inside, a monstrance holding a consecrated host - the Eucharist itself, Jesus' real presence - is displayed for adoration and prayer. It's a wonderful place to visit and pray and spend time with Jesus in His presence.
Wishing you all a blessed week - tune in later for a roundup of some saints!
Love,
Willow
___________________________________________________________________________________
Research:
1. NewAdvent, Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Feast of Corpus Christi accessed 06/05/2013
2. Wikipedia article on Corpus Christi, accessed 06/05/2013
3. TimeandDate article on Corpus Christi, accessed 06/05/2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Book Review and Introductory Post: The Catholic Home
When I first started paying attention to the liturgical year (around the time I started teaching Catechism, so September of 2012), it was because I realized that there was a wealth of Catholic feasts and traditions that I didn't know about. As a child, we only did the major holy days: All Saint's Day, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter and Christmas. Of course we observed Lent and Advent, but things like Michaelmas and Pentecost and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception were celebrated only by pre-Vatican II Catholics - the ones who still wore chapel veils and attended mass in Latin. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, trust me. I have developed a deep love of the doily-wearers and the beauty of Latin. I'm talking about me as a high school student who had no desire to be Confirmed. More on that later.) But in preparation for my new role as a Catechist, I sought advice and information from the great thinkers of our day: Bloggers. I cruised the Internet looking for Catholic blogs, and found a treasure-trove. But the one that really got me going was Carrots for Michaelmas, and I discovered it from this post which I re-blogged here. Anyway, Carrots was a gateway blog for me. I kept reading and reading and Googling things and going into Wikipedia and Catholic.org black holes for hours digging up information.
Eventually all of my searching led me to Amazon where I wanted a book that offered the basics on practicing Catholic traditions in the home. I knew how to do an Advent wreath, but I knew from my Internet reading that there was so much more. I finally stumbled upon this lovely little book, and ordered 3 copies - for my mother, myself, and the host mom of my Catechism class. While it is by no means completely comprehensive (and not nearly long or detailed enough), this little book offers a great beginner's guide. It offers not only the historical context of many Catholic celebrations, but it explains a variety of ways to celebrate them. That was a big selling point to me. Not just what our traditions are, but how we can bring them into our modern lives on a daily basis. It also has info on ways to celebrate the various sacraments as a family.
I also really like that it includes recipe ideas for what to eat and how to decorate. There's so much going on in this book, I love it. I've only had it for about 2 months and my copy is pretty well loved.
There are a few things I wish this book included, like more information on how to dress a home altar on different saints' days or how to observe some more obscure holy days (like Corpus Christi or the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), but it serves as an excellent base. The appendices are also very helpful, including places to go seeking other information.
Other places I went:
Better Than Eden
Fish Eaters
Catholic Online (I especially like their A-Z Saints & Angels)
2013 Liturgical Calendar (*Note: This is a 43 page .pdf but totally worth the download and printout.)
So basically, there is tons of information available on Catholic home traditions and ways to celebrate feasts and holy days. Really, though, it's about realizing and acting upon the realization that our feast days are more than their commercial counterparts.
This post is acting as a spring board for a few new features on this blog.
- This Week in Liturgy, where I will keep you updated on what kinds of feasts/holy days/liturgical seasons we're celebrating
- This Week in Saints, where I will *TRY my hardest* to update weekly with saints' days and feasts of saints. This feature is primarily for my Confirmation students, who need to pick a saint, but I love researching and sharing about the heroes of our faith, so I'm generally really excited about it.
- The Little Blue Box. This feature is also primarily for my students. When they have questions (related to our faith or not) that are not immediately relevant to class discussion, rather than let them forget a probably-interesting question, I have them write it on a slip of paper and submit it to my Blue Box (I'll share a picture of it later). These can be anonymous or not, but I do my best to answer them at some point during the year. The ones I don't get to (or the ones I feel should be shared with all of you), get posted here.
That's all for now - post on Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) on Sunday.
love,
Willow
 |
| From Barnes&Noble.com |
I also really like that it includes recipe ideas for what to eat and how to decorate. There's so much going on in this book, I love it. I've only had it for about 2 months and my copy is pretty well loved.
There are a few things I wish this book included, like more information on how to dress a home altar on different saints' days or how to observe some more obscure holy days (like Corpus Christi or the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), but it serves as an excellent base. The appendices are also very helpful, including places to go seeking other information.
Other places I went:
Better Than Eden
Fish Eaters
Catholic Online (I especially like their A-Z Saints & Angels)
2013 Liturgical Calendar (*Note: This is a 43 page .pdf but totally worth the download and printout.)
So basically, there is tons of information available on Catholic home traditions and ways to celebrate feasts and holy days. Really, though, it's about realizing and acting upon the realization that our feast days are more than their commercial counterparts.
This post is acting as a spring board for a few new features on this blog.
- This Week in Liturgy, where I will keep you updated on what kinds of feasts/holy days/liturgical seasons we're celebrating
- This Week in Saints, where I will *TRY my hardest* to update weekly with saints' days and feasts of saints. This feature is primarily for my Confirmation students, who need to pick a saint, but I love researching and sharing about the heroes of our faith, so I'm generally really excited about it.
- The Little Blue Box. This feature is also primarily for my students. When they have questions (related to our faith or not) that are not immediately relevant to class discussion, rather than let them forget a probably-interesting question, I have them write it on a slip of paper and submit it to my Blue Box (I'll share a picture of it later). These can be anonymous or not, but I do my best to answer them at some point during the year. The ones I don't get to (or the ones I feel should be shared with all of you), get posted here.
That's all for now - post on Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) on Sunday.
love,
Willow
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)