Coucoumellisms

  Thanks to Martin Luther and his 95 theses, Christians were freed (among other things) from the troublesome necessity of doing good works (or paying for indulgences) to gain salvation. By Shakespeare’s time, many texts no longer have Christianity as a central theme; instead, Christianity is moved to the back burner in secular texts and rarely mentioned. In older medieval texts, even epic Pagan stories of kings and thanes like Beowulf have Christian themes running through them and allusions to a Christian God. In Twelfth Night, upon a gentleman’s arrival at the gate, Sir Toby declares, “Let him be the devil an he will, I care not. Give me faith, say I . ” (Shakespeare 1.5.125-126) In other words, leave him alone; release him of any expectations. Leave him free to be what he wants. What manner of person he is, what station in life he has, his rank or class do not matter; they are of little consequence. He could be the devil, Satan himself if he wanted to be, and it would not matter...

 Born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, New York, Walt Whitman is a controversial figure in American Poetry, considered by some to be “America’s Poet” and by others a self-centred windbag. Contrary to poets like T.S. Eliot or Ezra Pound, Walt Whitman does not look for meta-narratives to find meaning in the world. Instead, he finds meaning in what is in front of him. All the mundane things we see and do give just as much meaning to life as the mystical epiphanies we experience. The physical is just as important as the spiritual. Walt Whitman challenges the polarization of both Gnostic religious ideas in a society still influenced by puritanism and the idea of democracy as uniformity of thought and expression within the context of a young republic.  Whitman was born towards the end of the Industrial Revolution, only 36 years after the end of the American Revolution. At 13, he learned to set type in a printer’s officer. At 16, he was spending summers along the coast of...

Since the beginning of the coronavirus shutdown, eating was never banned, only eating out in restaurants. Talking and writing were never banned, only restricted to the bare essentials in public places. Praying was never banned, only praying in groups in public places. Listening to music was never banned, only going to public concerts. Drinking alcohol was never banned, only drinking at public bars. And get this: masses were never banned, only public masses.  As Catholics, we believe that the Holy Mass is the most important prayer. Jesus's sacrifice on the cross is what saved the world and Holy Mass is the continuation of that sacrifice. The continuation, not the repetition, as protestants think, (there is a difference) of that sacrifice. On the night that he instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus said: "Do this in memory of me." That's a direct order, and it's in the Bible. God made himself man and came to earth to save us from sin, but He doesn't ju...

Gin and Tonic Gin & Tonic

Nosotros, las mujeres, somos hechas para amar, para dar, para acoger, para hacerle placer al otro.  Es lo que hacemos cuando amamos a alguien.  Este deseo a darlo todo, hacerle placer al otro, acoger al otro es nuestra fuerza, pero también nuestra debilidad. Es por estos mismos sentimientos que somos facilmente manipuladas. Me acuerdo muy bien como era cuando tenía 21 años.  Quieres estar con un hombre porque te gusta mucho.  Quieres pasar un rato con él. Pero no quieres sexo, no todavía.  Quieres hacerle placer, pero no quieres sexo.  Quieres un poco de afección, pero no quieres sexo.  No quieres rechazarlo, pero no quieres sexo. No quieres enojarte con él por insistir, porque tampoco no quieres ser rechazado por él, y no quieres herir sus sentimientos, porque lo quieres, pero no quieres sexo.  Terminas en aceptar más que lo que te deja cómoda, porque lo quieres, pero no quieres sexo. Antes, la sociedad tenía reglas para proteger a sus hijas ...

We women are made to love, to give, to be welcoming, to want to please.  It's what we do best when we love someone.  But this desire to give all, to please, to welcome in, also makes us easily manipulated by our emotions. I remember very well how it was when I was 21.  You want to be with a man because you really like him.  You want to spend time with him.  But you don't want sex, not yet.  You want to please him, but you don't want sex.  You want affection, but you don't want sex.  You don't want to reject him, but you don't want sex.  You also don't want to get mad at him for insisting, because you don't want to be rejected either, and you don't want to hurt his feelings, because you like him, but you don't want sex.  So you accept a little more than you're really comfortable with, because you like him, but you don't want sex. Society used to have rules in order to protect its young, open-hearted, giving, loving daughters.  Be...

Or "The Best Time I Ever had in a Pub". It was a Tuesday evening in late April or early May.  I normally work evenings past midnight, but that particular week, I got off at 8:00.  My friend Marcia had just recently found a good job, and wanted to celebrate.  So we went to a pub in the Old Saint-Jean; Glen Morgan's Irish Pub. Glen Morgan's - St-Jean-sur-Richelieu No one goes out to a bar on a Tuesday. The Pub was empty, almost, except for a group of military men in one corner.  Since there was no one else, they had commandeered the music, and were playing all kinds of old classic rock songs and laughing and singing along and generally having a grand time. After sitting by ourselves for a little under an hour, and observing them from our corner, Marcia and I decided we wanted to join in on the fun too.  So we went and sat at two available stools at the bar next to them, which immediately prompted welcoming cheers from them.  They bought us drinks ...

Grief comes in waves, like the ocean slapping up on the shore.  It hits you when you don't expect it. I look at the photo where we are together, and sometimes all I feel is a dull ache, and other times, sadness hits me with sudden, overwhelming pain. I am not sure why our friendship is dead, just that it is, and that you seem to want it that way. I know our friendship centered around one particular activity that you have suddenly, without warning, given up, but for me, it was more than just that activity, we talked about so many other things as well. I am still not sure how we went from being "a team that could be the bomb" (your words, not mine) and three short days later, you stopped talking to me.  We used to talk to each other almost every day, even if it was only a few short lines.  We had projects together, we saw each other frequently.  And suddenly, overnight, without warning, you disappeared. It hurts, like someone took a big chunk of my soul an...

My daughter wrote this for an assignment she had for school: “Smile at strangers and you just might change a life”   -Steve Maraboli- I always believed that if you smile at a stranger or to anyone, can lift happiness in them. I’m the type of person that loves to smile at someone just because. It feels good because I’m the one who made them smile even if it was just for a few seconds and it’s a really good feeling. This quote explains exactly that and that’s why I chose it. The part where it says “change a life” means to me that when someone is having a bad day just the slightest smile can make their day or even when they are having a good day it can make their day even better. I personally love to smile to random people because it makes my day better. I knew this quote because my grandma said it. She is Catholic so she thinks a smile was God’s gift to humans. My daughter To some people it’s not a big deal but it is to me, it’s like a friendly sign. Some people d...

At Gabriel's last catechism class, the kids went around to each parent and asked this question:  "Where is Jesus?" I thought about giving the obvious, (yet, perversely overlooked) answer which I think I gave when it was Maryssa's turn, previously; "In the Eucharist."  I decided against it. Jesus can be found in many obvious places, such as prayer, meditation, or nature.  Most of the other parents mentioned these.  I thought about mentioning "in other people, when you really need them most." But I ended up going with prayer as well; "in the stillness of an empty chapel", meaning, in front of the tabernacle, in front of the host, the blessed sacrament, in the silence, alone, in the semi-dark. (I was thinking of this moment .) Thinking about it later, I realized that where I see Jesus the most recently, is with a friend of mine.  I literally see his presence there.  Her husband left her, and their 7 children.  Without going into ...

I was going through my Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church e-mails just now, and I thought I would share a couple of little bits about prayer.  Sometimes, it's good to be reminded of things we already know. Why is prayer sometimes a struggle? The spiritual masters of all times have described growth in faith and in love for God as a spiritual, life-and-death combat. The battlefield is man's interior life. The Christian's weapon is prayer. We can allow ourselves be defeated by our selfishness and lose ourselves over worthless things or we can win God. Often someone who wants to pray must first conquer his lack of will power. Even the Desert Fathers were acquainted with spiritual sluggishness ("acedia"). Reluctance to seek God is a big problem in the spiritual life. The spirit of the times sees no point in praying, and our full calendars leave no room for it. Then there is the battle against the tempter, who will try anything to keep a perso...

Looking for a path to self-betterment?  Try getting married and having kids. I can't imagine a better way to make it to sainthood. Of course, this implies that you are the kind of person who will compromise, be patient and work hard at staying married and raising healthy kids. Because your marriage and your kids will require constant patience, and compromise.  You will consistently be reminded of all your shortcomings, and you will be required to admit to them and work at overcoming them.  Your faults will consistently be brought up, if not directly, then at least indirectly, by the consequences of things done, left undone or done badly.  Every fail will be revisited.  Every shortcoming will haunt you. You will be forced to learn patience in the dead of night after one more sleepless night in a row of sleepless nights.  You will learn to bite your tongue instead of lashing out.  You will learn humility, you will learn that you are not perfect....

I came across this on Facebook just now, and... I kind of felt the need to put a little input into it, just from the perspective of a 41 year old woman. First off, these aren't signs that you are falling in love.  These are signs that you are attracted to him.  Love comes after, and it has nothing to do with these things.  Love is a choice.  You found a guy you were attracted to.  Good.  He turned out to be an awesome guy.  Even better.  You think (mostly) alike on all the important issues, you complement each other, you argue, but you make compromises, and you try to understand where the other is coming from.  You don't need to compromise on the big stuff, because you agree on that.  You can talk to each other about pretty much anything.  You share the important things.  You care about the well-being of each other.  You respect each other.  The more you get to know him, the better you like him.  The more ...

I've been reading Plato's The Republic, among other things, and listening to the priest's homily on today's gospel brought a few of these things together. Christ and the adulteress - 1653 - Nicolas Poussin The scribes and Pharisees bring an adulteress before Jesus, in order to condemn her.  Instead of condemning her, Jesus says, " Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. "  When everyone has left, Jesus asks her " Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? " She replies, " No one, sir. " Then Jesus says, " Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more. " The point of the priest's homily was that Jesus did not come to condemn us, but as a physician come to heal the sick, he comes to save us from our sins.  He comes to make us holy and just people. In his talk on the importance of apologetics , John Njoroge asks the questions: Why is Christianity no...