Linkfest

I've got a whole pile of links waiting to be posted, so here you go:

Neat analysis of the first of Titian's famous Noli Me Tangere (above) paintings shows that originally Christ was dressed as a gardener, and his back was turned to Magdalene. Read more here.

It was once looked down upon to have a career. Then it was bad to not have a career and have lots of kids. What are we supposed to think anymore? Virginia Postrel discusses this in the WSJ. Related: Is the male-female wage gap a myth? (via First Things)

We've quoted and discussed much of Kay Hynowitz's work before. Here's a interesting interview from earlier this spring about her controversial new book Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Turned Men into Boys. Related: Read her WSJ excerpt from the book.

Don't blame Ambercrombie if your girls dressing sluttily. The blame starts with the parents who fund them. So argues Pia de Solenni. And while I tend to agree, I don't think they really account enough for the profound influence of advertising and peer pressure. Related: One-third of clothes marketed to young girls are "sexy" according to a Kenyon College Study (via The Atlantic).

Since we've all been a bridesmaid way way way too many times, I wanted to suggest to you ladies this cool new service from bridesmaid company Dessy. Called New Maid you can send in your old bridesmaid dresses, and they will give you a coupon for 30% to 50% off one of their lovely LBDs. Which you really can wear again.

James Matthew Wilson has some thoughts on college administrations counseling students to live chastely.

And, after all that heavy stuff, here's a little fun via the webcomic xkcd:

Let me rest

I am tired. I am tired of waking 2 hours before the sun. I am tired of juggling my morning routine with the bus schedule. I am tired of never seeing the sun. I am tired of only seeing the sun outside my office window. I am tired of having a to do list of absolutely essential things to do that is a mile and a half long and never gets done. And that's just at the office. I am tired of never cooking, but too tired to cook. I am tired of feeling guilty about not liking my job. I am tired of trying to find alternatives. I am tired of burdening my friends with my weariness. I am tired of wanting to go to bed at 8 pm. I am tired of feeling guilt every time I think of a far away friend who I haven't talked to in a month. I am tired of missing my Mom's phone calls and worrying about my sister's work. I am tired of the way my fridge smells and the way I can never keep my room tidy and the huge mound of papers i have to go through on my desk. I am tired of having to take the subway everywhere. And tired of forgetting to buy nails. I am tired of nightmares and tired of butterflies in my stomach and tired of clenching my jaw. I'm tired of having something to do every day. I am tired of taxes. I'm tired of lunch. I am tired of only seeing beautiful things on my computer screen. I am tired of being so scattered. I am tired of not finding joy. I am tired. Lord, give me rest.

Roberto Melli

Waiting

"All of us belong to a crossed species, even our Lady. The foremost handmaid of the Lord wanted some details, some explanation of God's doings. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord." But also: "How shall this be done? I know not man." And the angel's reply was hardly something to answer the human question satisfactorily. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee." But who is the Holy Spirit? "And the Holy to be born of you shall be called the Son of God." These are scarcely explanations that would have elicited a reply of "Oh, I see." No, she did not see."

--Mother Mary Francis, in Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting

The Annunciation (1898), by Henry Ossawa Tanner

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Don't worry readers, I'm not pregnant!

"The problem with having a crush," my wise cousin recently said, "is that no matter what happens, good or bad, it's not the way it was supposed to go."

One temptation for the single lady is to write the script of her own romance. It's so incredibly easy for us to jump three steps ahead in any situation; women naturally anticipate what's next. This is part of the reason that we are successful mothers and wives, but it's also one of the dangers for the dating woman.

Now, this can certainly take a very drastic form in that upon meeting a man for the first time, one can daydream about what a potential future would look like with that person. But expectations can also come in more subtle forms. Often when well-intentioned friends orchestrate a set-up, there are inevitably expectations from both parties, especially if the other person was "talked up" prior to the meeting. I personally prefer to not know if I'm being set up with someone, so that things can organically unfold. Or, one might hope/expect that something could naturally develop from a friendship, but when that doesn't happen, one is left disappointed.

The answer, I think, is to somehow discipline oneself in everyday life and ordinary encounters so that we may, like C.S. Lewis, be "surprised by joy." The most joyful moments in life are those that are unexpected -- they are pure gift. The most joyful friendships cannot be anticipated -- they are sent from God alone. I can only imagine that this will happen with the right man. That even if I know him now, the moment when I recognize him in a new way will be totally unexpected, not one that is plotted or orchestrated. Or if I do not know him yet, he will be woven into my life just as it is.

My heart aches a bit right now in anticipation of my vocation which is not yet fulfilled. But I think that if I will just allow myself to enjoy the little joys, the little unexpected gifts, then I will be more receptive to the joy of a man whose love I could not plan for myself.

Ascension

Well, regardless of whether your diocese celebrates it today or Sunday: today IS the Feast of the Ascension. 40 days after Easter, Christ ascended to Heaven.

Now begins the period of waiting. It is not the expectant waiting of Advent. Nor is it the hard penitential waiting of Lent, or the sad uncertain waiting of Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

This waiting is different. It is confident and joyful. It is uncertain about the future, but eager for God's calling. It is ready to do God's will, but listening for further instructions. It is the waiting of discernment, the waiting of Vocation.

Veni creator Spiritus...

Vocation Vacation

The Lord is really so good.

I think one of the most difficult things for the single woman to do is to "let go" of the reigns of her potential vocation to marriage. At least that is one of the most difficult parts of my every day. Some days it does stink when parents, students, or colleagues openly ask about my love life. I have grown in my ability to differentiate between people who are nosey, people who sincerely care, and people who are somewhere in between, but occasionally there is a little sting to their probing or commentary, even if it's well-intentioned.

Now, my reigns don't come in the form of grandiose acts of desperation. They do, however, take the form of anxiety which is definitely not helped by Facebook newsfeeds or idle time...both only work to create unnecessary drama. As my dear friend once told me, "I've dated so many men in my head, and a lot of heartache could have been spared should I have stayed in reality." What a strong temptation for a single woman.

However, I simply cannot stress enough the power of the Rosary and Our Lady's ability to help me as I take a "vocation vacation." I feel compelled to post on the power of this prayer to center us and to awaken in us the knowledge of how loved we are by Jesus and how invested He is in our lives and in our hearts. The nature of His love which is to fulfill our deepest and daily desires is made so clear in the recitation of the Rosary. There is truly nothing that the Lord would withhold from us if it would make us profoundly happy.

The Lord is really so good.

A Response to "Sorrow"

Edith, so many thoughts were buzzing around my head today after I read your post. Agatha and I would give anything to ease your pain and to lighten your burden. For what it's worth, here are my thoughts tonight:

Your Good Friday has already happened -- the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the incomprehensible. Remember what the last word means -- unable to comprehend, to wrap our minds totally around something.

You are in your Holy Saturday of this experience, and there is no telling when God's grace will finally help you to feel the peace of Easter. But stay in this Holy Saturday -- don't rush the healing, don't rush the time of uncertainty. Tend to your wounds like the women tended the body of Christ. That is your vocation right now -- to nurture yourself and to begin, little by little, to remember what it feels like to be whole. You can't relive whatever happened before Good Friday...you can only be where you are. And God's will for what happened and what is to come WILL be made known to you, as fully or in whatever time is perfect for you to know it. What we know that the women at the tomb did not, is that there IS reason to hope. That itself will make all of the difference in the world, especially on the gray days, the days in which the thought of leaving your bed seems impossible.

All of this being said, it is so understandable that seeing other married or engaged women would hurt you. That will eventually be manageable. What you can do, though, is put down those books, and escape into fiction, pop magazines with little substance, or into a list of the 100 greatest films. Eventually you will want to pick up your books for your dissertation and to get a new, and exciting game plan together. Journal, journal, journal. And as always, Agatha and I are here to help you get your bearings in the meantime.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. -- The Shawshank Redemption

Re-Thinking TOB

In reply to Julian's recent post, I'd like to say a little something. Back a couple months ago, when I was taking my marriage prep classes, I wrote that I was so sick of hearing about the Theology of the Body. And I was. But I'm really not. I got sick of hearing those catch words like 'Self-donation,' and 'complementarity' without any serious reflection of what they mean for us in our lives. They sounded so flowery in our prep classes. And I'm sure the fault was my own. After all, who expects to have a step by step outline of how to implement this very complex and beautiful theology in life? That would be a bit reductionary, I think.

BUT YET - aren't we supposed to do this very thing?? Isn't that what our lives are all about - in any vocation? Everyone automatically thinks of marriage with the Theology of the Body, but the beauty of John Paul II's work is that it is not meant to apply only to married people and sexuality, but it is meant to apply to all people in every vocation. It is that - a theology of our bodies - as male and female. What does it mean that God created us as male and female in His image? What is the theology behind our physicality? Since we are all human - created as male and female, this applies to all. That is what I love about it. And I think my flaw here is that I began to think of it in a very cerebral way, forgetting the complex simplicity of John Paul II's work here to be lived in each and every human life. And Julian so eloquently reminds us of that:

JPII wrote it between 1979 and 1984, when some of the repercussions of the sexual revolution were really beginning to rear their ugly heads. But what kind of meditation do we need now in 2010? We are a few generations past this historical context, and are in need of an address about our sexuality that pertains to a hyper-sexualization of nearly every human activity in culture and daily life as well as an idealizing of human sexuality within the Church itself (or how some of the readers of the TOB are leading us to believe). My fear is that young Catholics are going to be again left disappointed in the theological but also practical use of their sexuality both before and within marriage. I don't really have the answer, other than to say that we could use some young theologians, alongside the "wisdom of our fathers" to seek the Truth today.

I think the answer for Julian is that we need not only a serious study of the TOB, but also a dedication of people living in a culture imbued by this ancient and new wisdom. And with respect to the Fathers of the Church - I could not help but think of our St. Augustine when he writes in the Confessions:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

I believe Augustine's witness touches on the ever perennial questions that John Paul II seeks to refresh in his Theology of the Body. So let's plunge into it with them!

Let's Talk About Sex...in its Historical Context

This past week, Dawn Eden, author of The Thrill of the Chaste, wrote an article for Headline Bistro in which she defends John Paul II's Theology of the Body as something that is not "new" or "radical," but rather exactly what the pontiff said himself -- a meditation on Humane Vitae and 2000 years of the deposit of faith. In my opinion, this is a really critical insight by Miss Eden, one that no doubt other theologians share:

Truth be told, there is something “new” about John Paul II’s teachings on marriage and sexuality, but it is not the newness of radicalism, revolution, drama, or daring. To borrow the words of G.K. Chesterton, the theology of the body is new because it is part of a Catholic faith whose “very antiquity preserves an attitude of novelty.” Its newness is that of ancient truths shining ever bright in the face of a world that is “passing away” (1 John 2:17). And it is very much needed in this age—because we have forgotten the wisdom of our fathers.

As Eden reminds us, if our view of human sexuality weren't there from the beginning, then it is merely something that was recently "discovered," and is therefore up for question as legitimate a claim of faith. Perhaps this is one of JPII's hidden gifts to us -- while we go back to Genesis to find the roots of our sexuality, we can tap into a more recent 2000 year-old meditation in Christ's Church on the use of the gift of sexual intercourse.

Eden's article got me thinking on the importance of examining the TOB not only in light of documents and catechesis on human sexuality prior to JPII's audiences, but the context in which he was writing it. JPII wrote it between 1979 and 1984, when some of the repercussions of the sexual revolution were really beginning to rear their ugly heads. But what kind of meditation do we need now in 2010? We are a few generations past this historical context, and are in need of an address about our sexuality that pertains to a hyper-sexualization of nearly every human activity in culture and daily life as well as an idealizing of human sexuality within the Church itself (or how some of the readers of the TOB are leading us to believe). My fear is that young Catholics are going to be again left disappointed in the theological but also practical use of their sexuality both before and within marriage. I don't really have the answer, other than to say that we could use some young theologians, alongside the "wisdom of our fathers" to seek the Truth today.

Lessons from Mother Teresa

Day after day, hour after hour, He asks the same question: "Will thou refuse to do this for Me?" -- Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light

My spiritual book of the month is the now-famous book of the letters of Mother Teresa which were published in 2007. Though I bought it when it was first made available, I am not really getting around to it until now. I like to think that the Holy Spirit directs me to read certain books that I have on my shelf when I need them the most. (Maybe I'm just justifying the fact that I buy too many to read right away.) For some reason, I picked this off the shelf and am making my way through it and hopefully finishing before the new year begins. So far, three things have stood out to me:

1) I am so struck by the difficulty Mother Teresa faced in starting the Missionaries of Charity. It is incredible how many letters she wrote to get it off the ground with Rome. She was completely faithful to the process and to her superiors, but she refused to quit her pleading. I can see her digging her heels into the ground in Loreto, foregoing despair and holding onto her conviction. It's a beautiful image I have in my mind, and an example to us all. She had every confidence that Jesus would work through the process of obeying authority (a good reminder for me at work!).

2) She describes the imperative from Jesus to start the Missionaries of Charity as a "call within a call." I think this is perhaps the most important contribution to the theology of vocations that we've had in a long time. It's easy to break down the vocations into single, religious, or married, and to leave them at that. But every vocation, whether single, married, or religious, or the vocation to work or to serve...all have little "calls within the larger call." How many times does God shatter the image of our own vocation by introducing something new into it and calling us to something unexpected?

3) Mother Teresa's discussion of cheerfulness is one of the most beautiful that I've read. In fact, when asked why type of woman would be recruited for the M.C., she answered, "Girls from the age of16 and upwards. -- Strong in body and mind with splenty of common sense. -- They must be able to put their hands to any kind of work however repugnant to human nature. They must be of bright, cheerful disposition."

Earlier in the book, she describes what she means by cheerfulness. I think it's written for me!

"When I see someone sad," she would say, "I always think, she is refusing something to Jesus." It was in giving Jesus whatever He asked that she found her deepest and lasting joy; in giving Him joy she found her own joy. "Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous and mortified person who forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please her God in all she does for souls. Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice, continual union with God, fervor and generosity. A person who has this gift of cheerfulness very often reaches a great height of perfection. For God loves a cheerful giver and He takes close to His heart the religious He loves.

What Do You Want?

What better way to spend a morning snowed in than to blog!

This morning I spoke with a very dear friend and his three-year-old daughter. Part of the conversation with her included the following:

M: "You can call me Cinderella."

Julian: "Okay, do you have everything you need? Are you in a pretty dress?"

M: "Yes. It's pretty."

Julian. "Do you have your Prince Charming?"

M: "No, not yet."

Julian: "Yeah, me neither. Hang in there, M! He's coming!"

This snippet of our conversation got me thinking about Edith's post on singleness from a fellow blogger. The post includes a reflection on how before Jesus responds to people or works a miracle, he asks them what it is that they want. In the post, Mary Rose indicates that she wrote a list of the qualities that she desired in a man, and that her husband fulfilled all of them.

It's been suggested to me by friends and a few others that I should bring such a list of the qualities that I desire in a man before the Lord -- after all, it doesn't hurt to be specific in the Lord with the desires on our heart. While I know this has worked for some people in that their significant other has fulfilled all or nearly all of the things they asked for, I don't feel called to make this list before the Lord for two related reasons:

1) I feel that if I make such demands upon the Lord, I am putting limits on His creative power and could fail to recognize someone who has qualities that would in fact complement me. After all, doesn't God know my heart better than I know it?

2) I am still not convinced that there is only one person that God has ordained from all time for me to make a life with. I do heartily believe in Providence, but I believe this guidance of our lives includes the very real importance of our cooperation with God's will and our own willing and choosing of the particulars in our life. We all have an eternal destiny that God knows from all time, but I do not believe He has our paths in the particular all worked out. We get where we need to be, but we get to participate in the forging of the path. If I limit the qualities of the man that will get me to that end, will I miss other opportunities to get to that end? Will I refuse to listen to my heart to fall in love with someone else who might also help me to get to that end? Isn't love a choice?

I'm not sure if this makes any sense at all, other than to say that I've been uneasy in my own life to specify what it is that I desire in a man. Maybe I pray to the Lord to choose for me because I don't trust myself. Maybe I pray that he opens my eyes to a good man and moves my heart to Him because I am afraid of asking for it. Agatha always reminds me that the single life includes being willingly open to the will of the Lord. I see this related to the desire for a man, too. Who knows. In the meantime, I'll continue to put on pretty dresses like Cinderella and go out meeting new people. You never know who might come forward before midnight!

For the Single Lady's Playlist

I was driving to work yesterday and was too tired to articulate my own prayers, so I turned on the Christian radio station. This song came on, and it really expressed my feelings about my single vocation right now. I hope it serves as some inspiration!

Edith's Take on The Bucket List

I feel I must respond to the Bucket List...although mine is quickly approaching "Bucket List for Married Life." I'm not sure that I ever had a set of goals to do before I got married...I definitely agree with Agatha that our time as being single is time to work on us, to work through all the things that might inhibit a total gift of self to another. And I reached a point in my single life (the period I affectionately called 'My Quarter Life Crisis') about two years ago. I had already met Peter, and knew at that time that I wanted to marry a man who was just like him. You see, he too had some things to work through, and would not date me right away, which drove me crazy, because I knew that I wanted someone just like him.

But be that as it may, I decided to take time off from dating simply to begin to see men as images of Christ, and I mean to really see the qualities that make men Christ-like. After all, Christ is a man...and I just figured it was time to see Christ in my fellow men. I think Agatha hit the nail on the head in her post on men and women being friends. Her wise words should echo in the minds of every single woman (and man I guess too, just change the masculine pronouns to feminine ones!): "Take him as he is, love him as he is, and don't be afraid of who you are, and live chastely. Then the friendship will grow into whatever God wants it to be." Easier said than done, sure. But the key to this is to live chastely. What a gift!! To live chastely is to see with eyes of God - and the reward is to see God Himself: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." (Mt. 5: 8).

So, I guess my bucket list would be very similar to my sisters. I definitely want to become fluent in one of the many languages I've begun to study. My goal is to be fluent in French and Arabic. I have so ALWAYS wanted to learn to play the piano, and I too want to become more active in the Church. I feel called to be a lector, and for no particular reason, I've not yet made a move on that. I want to become more courageous, more energetic, more hopeful, and more loving. Most immediately my bucket list includes: 1. Get married 2. Run and finish the 1/2 marathon I am training for 3. Finish my PhD. So far, all of those include Peter too! So, let's see where God takes me and Peter from there!

The Bucket List for the Single Life

In a recent conversation with a married friend and mother of two it was suggested to me to make a "single life Bucket List" of things that I'd like to do while I am single. She wasn't advising me to do this to suggest that once one gets married one's life ends (or begins), but rather to say that there is a real value to the single life, albeit temporary or permanent, and it should be used well. The single life affords real, focused formation, and it should be used in both serious and light-hearted avenues that help us to grow in virtue (and perhaps a spirit of adventure). I've begun to make my own, and I invite you to tell me some of the things that would be on your list!

• Finish studying Italian so that I am fluent
• Go skiing (pathetic that I haven't been - I know!)
• Invest in a good camera and take a photography class or two
• Read, read, read!
• Learn to knit more than scarves. I can't even purl!

I'm sure that Edith and Peter could make a "newlywed bucket list" and then a longer "marriage bucket list." I think it's important to keep ourselves disciplined in formation. Leisure can be productive, right? :)

Happy list-making!

Were Not Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us...

Yesterday I stopped into a church to pray for a bit before I met up with a friend for dinner. I had many things to bring the Lord...so many people to pray for and so many blessings to thank Him for. I also had one thing to bring to God which has literally been stirring in my heart for the past few months or so. I need to, I have to, I must do some sort of pro-life work. My heart has literally been set on fire with the desire to pray for a place or a forum to do this work. I don't know what capacity it will be in, or where it will take me, but I have to. I have actually never had this strong or consistent of a desire for something before in my life. I can't explain much more about it right now, but as I continue to pray about it, I will keep you posted on the doors that the Lord opens for me to serve Him. In the meantime, I'll share a prayer from Thomas Merton that comforts me in times of discernment. My well-worn Catholic Prayer Book from my childhood calls it the "Trust in God's Providence" prayer:

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

And the fact that I think I am following

your will does not mean that I am

actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please

you does in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desire in all

that I am doing.

And I know that if I do this, you

will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always

though I may seem to be lost

and in the shadow of death,

I will not fear, for you are ever with me

and you will never leave me

to face my perils alone.

Misadventures in Dating and the Art of Detachment

My mother always said that I would find love when I wasn't looking for it. I have found this saying to be impractical, as I don't believe many women can easily suspend their desires for companionship and love. I do understand that overly eager pursuit leading down the slippery slope to trying to orchestrate situations or control our destiny is unhealthy and imprudent. But I don't really understand the maxim to stop looking. After all, couldn't one try to actively "stop looking" in an attempt to create a time, place, and space for it to happen? Ah, the wonder of the woman's mind...

Despite my trouble with the saying, I think there is something to what my mother is proposing. After two recent dating escapades, one in which I was repeatedly asked entirely too personal questions and another in which I was told that the pro-choice position is the more educated position on the abortion issue, I've decided to step back from my own life and reevaluate my attitude toward dating and the desire for marriage. These mishaps have refined my palate for the type of man that I desire, but have also served to cultivate a real spiritual detachment.

This is an old practice of many Catholic Christian mystics and spiritual writers. Spiritual detachment involves the recognition of your desires as good and from God, but actively freeing yourself from the images of things that you are holidng onto which restrict your mind from seeing what really is or where or who God really is. I have always held onto an image, and idea, of how my own life is going to go, including when and how a vocation to marriage will unfold. But my idea of my own life may not be the idea for my life that God has designed. Actively detaching myself from my own plan for my life allows me to recognize what is true, good, and beautiful in God's plan. It is a conscious, continual effort in freeing ourselves up for God. Ultimately, it is an exercise in the virtue of humility. It is loving the will of God.

I don't exactly know how this is going to play out or how successful I will be in this effort of spiritual detachment, but I think asking for intercession from holy men and women will aid me in this effort to love the will of God. If my way to God is through marriage, so be it. And if it's another way, I want to be free to answer that call as well. St. Mary Magdalene, who so loved the will of God, pray for us!

New Book on Feminine Vocation

But the hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being achieved in its fullness, the hour in which woman acquires in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is under-going so deep a transformation, women impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid mankind in not falling.

This quote is from Pope Paul VI's address to women at the close of the Vatican Council on December 8, 1965. I saw this quote first at the women's conference I attended in my parish a couple weeks back. To further the promise of this quote, the Vatican is releasing a new book on the vocation of women -- it is a reflection on John Paul II's Mulieris Dignitatem.

The book, entitled Woman and Man, The Totality of the Humanum was originally published in Italian in February 2008. Here's a few words of Benedict XVI about the topic:

Faced with cultural and political trends that seek to eliminate, or at least cloud and confuse, the sexual differences inscribed in human nature, considering them a cultural construct, it is necessary to recall God's design that created the human being masculine and feminine, with a unity and at the same time an original difference and complimentary. Human nature and the cultural dimension are integrated in an ample and complex process that constitutes the formation on one's own identity, where both dimensions, that of the feminine and that of the masculine, correspond to and complete each other," the Holy Father affirmed in that address.

All I could find out is that the English translation is forthcoming!! We got lots to look forward to!!!

A Short Post

I have been thinking all day of something profound to post or some deep, intellectual article to comment on, but all I have the desire to say right now is that I am content in my vocation.

Well, not in the way that you think, seeing as I still feel a bit restless about my single status. I am truly content and grateful for my vocation to be a teacher. It feels so natural to be in front of students everyday, imparting whatever knowledge that I've gained along my short little way so far. Even more than that I love to pose questions and watch them discover Truth together. It is such a privilege to stand where I do, watch what I do, hear what I hear, and see what I see.

The peace I feel about my vocation, even despite the daily struggles and trials, is providing me with a sense of the freedom that God gives us when we follow His will. I am thinking that I will know this peace in my vocation of marriage. It will not be perfect everyday, probably not any day, but if it is truly what I'm called to and I work within it with a lot of heart behind it, I will experience this type of freedom that I experience now. For now, I ask God for peace within this single state, and for the desire to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

Off to grade papers...

Woman Warrior of the Month: St. Monica Part 1

Today we are each writing a post in honor of September's Woman Warrior: St. Monica, whose feast day was August 27th. This woman and sister in Christ is so incredible that she really could be every month's nominee. I could go on and on about her, but I will just tell you a little of why she is so important of a model to me.

We are taught by our Church that the pinnacle of femininity is reached in motherhood, that the "crown of a marriage" lies in children, or the visible fruits of the love between a man and a woman. I tend to stay in the shallow end of the teaching and focus on the procreative part of the feminine vocation and the married vocation...stopping at the conception and birth of children as if that is the fullness the Church is speaking of.

St. Monica's fruit was St. Augustine, but not Augustine as an infant. The fruit of her femininity was the same fruit of her labors of prayer, fasting, and modeling the faith - it was Augustine the man, the scholar, the preacher, the convert, and the saint. St. Monica is the exemplar of receiving the task that God has given you and laboring until you have made it worthy enough to glorify Him. How often do I do a mediocre job on things that are in front of me? How often do I fail to really work at my vocation of singleness? Will I accept a satisfactory job this school year as I prepare to teach young high school women, or will I pray, study, and fast so that their souls are opened to the Lord?

Thank you St. Monica, for your beautiful example.

And as a sidenote, thanks for teaching me that it's okay to love wine...just in moderation.

(Picture found here)

The New Vocation

You may have noticed a few changes on the blog recently. The header now reads: "Three women trying to figure out what it means to be Catholic, lay, and modern all at once." Oh, and there's a new widget in the sidebar: a countdown (in lovely pink and borcade) to Edith's wedding next February.

That's right. We've mentioned it before, but now I guess its time for hearty well wishes, because Edith is getting married, and Julian and I couldn't be more thrilled. We started this blog to discuss the single life, but we've ended up talking less about the single vocation and more about how to live well.

For some people, the single vocation is a permanent thing. For others (for Edith, now) it is temporary. But the call to holiness is universal. What we need to learn is how to live out our specific vocation by every thing we do and every choice we make.

Please join us as we continue to walk this road together, changes and all.