To Christians With Same Sex Attractions

One of my old crushes was doing a radio interview today. Melissa Etheridge has a new album out, all covers of 50's and early 60's tunes, and older blues tunes. I had forgotten entirely about that. Obviously, the radio interview didn't cause me to start going all crazy or anything, but it reminded me of another time... Then I remembered other crushes like that. I was almost afraid that remembering would bring it back, which it didn't, but that reminded me of the torment that so often goes with that kind of temptation. You're always afraid it will be triggered, and that you will feel terrible while you sit there with whatever positive chemicals God made for romance flooding your system at the same time. it is very confusing. And awful. I can understand why people would want to just give up.
I wanted to give up. But I didn't. And now I'm talking about the whole thing in the past tense, as I have been for a long time.

A post someone made in a facebook group I am in:
"The Book of Romans chapters 5 through 8 are very powerful. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede and guide you through the scripture readings. For the scripture is Spiritual and communicates with our Spirit."
When I was walking through it I read those a lot. I didn't think it was helping that much,only a little. but i think it kept feeding me and i kept on growing.

Abraham waited decades for his answer to prayer, and I remember thinking I didn't want to have to do that, but I told myself it didn't matter, my life and my being was God's and if for some reason he would make me wait that long i would do so. I bet Abraham wanted to spend his youth running and playing and wrestling with his kid. He didn't get that, but he did still get the kid.
It was definitely not that longfor me.It was years but not decades. Also I have found since that more healing is needed of the wounds that made it possible for me to be tempted that way. I am still healing, but I have still been walking free, as in, without any same sex attractions and in my case also having opposite sex attractions, for along time despite those wounds. Don't get discouraged by seeing a new pile of wounds you never realized you had that need healing. It doesn't absolutely guarantee a delay in your answer. However, having the wounds exposed may still be part of God's work in freeing you...

Its like a metaphor Corrie ten Boom used to use: she showed a cross-stitch she was doing and showed the back side, which looked a mess. she said "Life is like a weaving between my god and me. He sees the upper,"  she showed the front of the cross stitch" "and I, the underside." then she showed the back/bottom again, which looked like a tangle mess of crazy threads going this way and that way.
Everybody has that problem, it just comes in many forms. Some people its crippling disease, for some people its a temptation for some kind of sin, some people it is poverty, or crazy relatives. For some people, its a war torn and starving country! Or combination of these things. Never let the enemy make you feel isolated, like this temptation makes you different from others who don't experience it. all of us are different, but all of is are the same. just keep walking, knowing who He said you are, and stick to that.

Don't give up. It is not who you are. We all do get to decide who we want to be and what direction we want our life and thinking to go. And God never makes carry anything alone, He's there and there are others even if you just don't see it right now.
Godspeed.
Btw, Just to make sure there is no confusion, I did not use any "reparative therapy" and I definitely do not endorse that.
~Mother Star

Keep on walking in the light that you have. As the sun rises, more will be seen. But stay on the road you must travel until you reach your destination, whether the journey be short, or lengthy.

Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves

Matthw 10:16 "[ A Hard Road before Them ] “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."

John 7:24 " Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Galations 5:17-24 NASB "17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."


There is so much talk about "judgment" in church, and some legit complaints do get lost in the mix with the ridiculous ones. The authentic problems with "judgment" in church are as dangerous to her as the false claims of it are.

I used to go to a church that pretty much became a cult. A guy who claimed to be an apostle (Chuck Clayton, in case you ever find yourself tempted by same snakes), and believed every church was supposed to be "submitted" to an apostle came to our church and the pastor agreed to "submit" to him and his group.

In the end, if you wanted to hold the mike, give a testimony about the pastor and how anointed he was and how he had all the gifts of all the the five-fold ministry, apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers.
In the end, the normally very sweet and extra gentle and quite shy pastor's wife was up on the platform yelling at us like a drill instructor, and everyone knew it wasn't her, at all. She was saying how its not an option when she and her husband start a ministry to be involved or not, and how you can't be going off and doing all these different things of your own, you need to get in line with what god is doing and that would come through them, basically. We all knew it wasn't her, but most people thought it was God speaking through her.
It definitely wasn't.
The "apostle" who introduced this teaching kept offering to lay his hands on people and "impart" his spiritual stuff to them and everybody was running for it. I did too, like an idiot. I have since renounced all that.

The thing is, I was a goth, and when I came there for that message of hers after a long absence living in another state, I was totally looking goth. I was "dressed to the nines" that day. People gave me a wide berth, like obviously walking way out around me to avoid getting close at all and to prevent any contact. Even when I went there before and had down dressed a lot, they would not lay hands on me but would hold their hands away, though stretched out to me for prayer but they wouldn't touch me. They'd walk along the line laying hands and "prophesying" to each person but would hold their hands out to me but not make contact because of how I looked, lest they should "catch" the devil from me. It was mean, actually. Why? because he was wearing an expensive suit and I was well, counter-culture. See my point?
There is, unfortunately, a dangerous current of unhealthy judgment in the church, probably not just directed at goths and tattooed folks, and is directly contrary to John 7:24 "judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment". It is in fact real, and it does cause big problems. People running *to* a possessed person in a nice suit who spouts angry remarks about liberalism and etc, and asking him to impart his deceptive and controlling spirit to them, and fleeing from me for wearing black clothes and an unusual hairdo/make-up job because they think strangeness = devil worship. Many people of "a different breed" if you will, not just goths, have left the church and god, because they think its all about looking a certain way, conforming to a particular  outward standard they don't find appealing, and becoming to whatever you see/people-pleasing. Basically, that it is all about everything they can't stand.
You had church people truly afraid of me, but running to a person who was full of the devil asking him to impart the spirit he had to them. It brought a lot of destruction to their lives too, a LOT, besides wounding me way more than I even realized/faced at the time.

Besides, if certain attire were required of Christians, we would all have to wear togas or something. The early church didn't wear any leisure suits or dresses like what we have. Their music was way different too. Sometimes they didn't have any instruments whatsoever because it reminded them of pagan festivals...

thanks to whoever shared this photo in "*the gothic christains*" group on facebook, and to adam4d,whoever that is, for making it.
BOTTOM LINE: The fruit of the spirit mixed with *thoroughly* sound teaching is what matters, not political rhetoric and clothes. Chuck Clayton was on our side about homosexuality and abortion but he still wasn't from God. There are more deceptions out there than just those. Lets all be careful in these times, as it will likely only get worse. Even the elect will be tempted and it gets more extreme as it gets closer to the end. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves  "Harmless" means unmixed, pure,innocent. I don't think that means unmixed with clothes or outward things, I think it is a heart issue. Mixing rage, spite, name-calling, glorifying death and torture and violence happening to certain people (Arabs/Palestinians in this case), pride, and other carnal manifestations, perhaps even obscenity, with a Biblical standing on marriage and procreation or whatever else IS mixing, and is by no means harmless. Or wise (Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls."). I'm not referencing Trump here when I make this list, in case he really is doing all that, (idk if he still is, because I ignore the news media; I don't have a tv or want one) but I'm referencing "apostle" Chuck Clayton here. Btw. if you see these signs anywhere, I don't care where, beware.
Cultural and sub-cultural things that pertain to celebrations/customs, clothes, stories, art and etc aren't necessarily mixing, per se. Not that it never happens but it isn't automatically "mixing" in and of itself; it depends what the custom/item/etc. is, and the reasons people are doing it. Not understanding this damages mission work and evangelism anywhere outside of a certain kind of Westerners. Plus it opens the door to serious deceptions, within said group of Westerners, by liars who "look the part". Lets be careful and separate sheep and goats, ok?
Godspeed.
~Mother Star

Study of Native American Cultures and Beliefs and Being a Christian

I've been reading "The White Man's Gospel" by an Anashinabe (aka
Chippewa, Ojibwa, or Ojibwe) Christian minister.
When making the case that Christianity is really not "The White Man's gospel" or "The White Mans's religion" he points out the comparisons between the Isrealites/Jews and Native Americans. He said Jews were divided into twelve tribes, and when Jesus walked the earth as a man, he was a Jew and lived in the Jews native land, a place that was occupied by a conquering external power. They lived with Rome's laws and some of their own laws, and were surrounded by a mix of Rome's religion and their own... he made some other observations of life in 2nd Temple period Israel. It's very much like what Native Americans deal with today. They feel the same pain and much the same way about the situation though (I personally note that there were Zealots and Herodians, and in betweens, in Jesus' time. Different Jewish people had different ways of dealing with the situation, and they didn't necessarily agree or get along about it, and there was internal political struggles of sorts, and that's the way reservations are, especially Pine Ridge as I understand it....) He gets people to connect Christianity with its Jewish roots, and to relate the ways of the Jews with their own traditional ways where applicable and it is a way that breaks down some of the hostility and barriers.
He also notes something that I myself have noticed:
Salvation came through the Jews, but as far as the giving of the law and basic morals and rules to live by, as well as practices that instill and support those things, MANY - and perhaps even most or all, idk yet - tribes do indeed have a lot in common with ancient Jews. I've been noticing that myself and it is good to hear another Christian confirm that so I know it isn't my imagination or the enemy trying to deceive me...
He says he has been to many tribes and spoken with many medicine men about the Bible, especially the OT. A great many have said, after hearing about or studying the OT, that if somebody put down the history of their core beliefs down, and their stories of how it has developed and was given to them, it would be very much like the OT.
Israel even sometimes got deceived into mixing demonic and animistic practices with the worship of God, as the Bible records in some of the major and minor prophets, and it upset God greatly - as I'm sure the Cherokee and Lakotah and etc do when they do this as well. I think that is pretty much what has happened in many Indian religions, and it seems that this brother thinks so too.
He notices as I do, underneath the animistic and demonic practices (Satan can't create anything, he can only mess up what is), the commands and workings of God that were originally probably given to them by God, who they call "The great spirit" or something close to that. They do not, however, have the indwelling of the Holy spirit or claim to, nor do they profess the same kind of connection to "Ya" that we do. As far as I know, Judaism doesn't profess the same degree of connection and familiarity with God that Christ offers us either, though there might be and I just don't know about it. I have noticed some Lakotah calling Ha Shem the Great-Grandfather, though, but not anything like "Abba."
So when I post or write about the rites and stuff of the Lakotah or any other tribe, that is the stuff I am looking up and trying to bring out. There are things in there that I find helpful and maybe someone else will too. I am aware that there are other forces that are not good that work in these religions, who have brought in a lot of their stuff in that is not worth studying. I do find that if I study hard and dig, I will find stuff like that woven into about everything, sadly. But when people give the gist of it, the core, they primarily talk about the Great Mystery (aka, Ha Shem, I am pretty sure) and the things that they say will primarily be VERY uplifting and good. Its like hearing stuff from the bible explained in a really different way, with nature examples and perhaps hunting/hiking stories involved... If you try and go too deep though, you will hear about the other spirits who are not the Great Mystery, they are totally separate but are equally revered, and all the crap that they have added and continue to add (Mostly in the form of rules and complicated steps that people have to take, and must do just right in order to be right. Sounds familiar, huh? Its the devil) All of that stuff is useless, and does not have the same kind of beauty, or the same respect for women that attracted me to it all in the first place.
What got me into this stuff in the first place is, I was trying to find out what life was like for men in non-patriarchal societies. I just wanted to know. I ended up finding all this other great stuff and wound up extremely passionate about Native American issues and my own native heritage. It's been a journey, and I pray all the time that I will not get sucked into anything awful.
I hope that through sharing some bits of the discoveries along the road I can help somebody else. I keep putting scriptures with it, and if I can't find any scriptures that fit it without serious editing, it is a nice big, red flag for me. Thanks for any prayers going up about it.

Godspeed
~Mother Star

What I Have Learned About Mary

What I have learned about Mary.

Mary was, of course, Jesus' mom. One of the worst things that can happen to someone is to lose their kids and in her case, she didn't just lose him, she saw him crucified. That's a horrible way to die. She really went through a lot in her walk with God and in her obedience to God's call to be Jesus' mom.

Therefore,  I can believe the doctrine that Mary was assumed into heaven like Elijah and Enoch. Having him grow inside her would have created quite a bond, plus going through seeing the crucifixion. Neither Elijah nor Enoch could have suffered quite like her, or had opportunity to be that close to the Lord and develop so unique a relationship with the Lord as Mary. Therefore, once I think about it, I would actually find it harder to believe that she wasn't Assumed into heaven than that she was. There is no grave, anymore than there is a record of her rapture. Its something one has to just pray about and decide what they believe. Either way, its taken on faith. Once I considered it, it takes more faith for me to continue to  believe she wasn't. The only thing challenging about it for me is that it is a totally new concept to me.

As to the perpetual virginity, I didn't accept that for a long time because for a Jewish woman, that would have been like God giving somebody some radical "special grace" never to pray again! Sex in marriage is a Miztvah, in Judaism. Its like a sacrament is to Catholics and Lutherans and Orthodox and all the other liturgical churches... Its connected to holiness and is a part of participating in the life of faith - if one is married. Then my friend Mike who is an ordained Protestant minister and was studying the Orthodox church told me about a book called the Evangelion. Its written by James, the (step) Brother of Jesus. The book had used to be bound with it, and the Orthodox church still holds it sacred, although its not canonized as actual scripture as far as I know. Its Sacred in that it gives important historical insights and context and eyewitness testimony of things like the virgin birth and such. "Sola Scriptura" - scripture alone, was a Luther thing. The older churches all have something called sacred tradition and other things that they use to interpret the bible, and count them as Sacred along with the Bible, since it's kind of hard to understand scripture correctly without it. James wrote that Mary was indeed a virgin when Jesus was conceived and born, and also for the rest of her life. James' mom had died. His dad was very old, and did not feel he should remarry since he was so old, especially not someone as young as Mary. He married her because it became very clear that God wanted him to, long story short.
The reason Jesus had to get somebody else, specifically John, to look after his mom after he went to the cross was because she had no other kids. He was her only son, her only child. He had step-siblings though. “Thy mother and thy brethren are looking for you” it was Mary and His step siblings. James probably wrote all that to give eyewitness testimony that Jesus was indeed born of a virgin and such like. None of the gospels are eye-witness accounts of that particular part. James said that Jesus was virgin-born, and that Mary stayed a virgin all her life. Mike says James hinted that his dad couldn't actually do anything to change that... Joseph was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping with her because God himself had lived inside her. That plus he was very old.
James' writings about family life with Jesus were typically bound with the Bible, I guess. In his research, Mike says he learned that Catholicism tossed James' accounts of Jesus upbringing and his family stuff when the King James Bible was made. There was a compromise between Catholics and Protestants on the KJV Bible since King James wanted to make a Bible everyone would accept in order to unify his country. Protestants wanted the Evangelion of James removed because it supported doctrine that they did not maintain. Mike never found anything challenging its authorship, just “We don't want it in there because it supports doctrine that we don't have.” Mike didn't believe in the perpetual virginity either, until he read that book. So now I do actually believe in it too.
Mike has since started a ministry that includes Orthodox, Messianic Jews, Catholics, and Protestant Christians and gets everybody working together to reach out. He says some pentecostal ministers he knows try and explain their discomfort saying, “The perpetual virginity isn't in the Bible.” Mike's like, “They basically used to be. They were removed in order to prevent anything support those doctrines. Its not that the doctrines were made-up with no support or apostolic testimony. People changed the doctrines, then removed the texts that supported the beliefs that they didn't accept.” I'm annoyed actually, because for example, atheists on facebook made an anti-Christian cartoon, showing a fundamentalist tearing into aspects of Darwin's theory that aren't rock-solid-proven, then they are asked if Jesus was born of a virgin and if so how do they know. They said, smiling, "Yes, absolutely, because somebody is said to have written something to confirm it, that we don't have."  The truth is, we did have it and some people (Orthodox churches) still do. it was thrown out of the Catholic church because of denominationalism, basically. The Vatican and King James and the Protestant leaders were trying to stop rioting and war between Christians. Its totally embarrassing and shameful, but that's basically how it unfolded as far as I can so far tell. :( Now, without the apostolic account that the doctrine is based on, catholic teaching on the subject has Joseph, of an unknown age, living in celibacy with his wife in order to support God's call on her life to stay pure forever in honor of Jesus having been carried in her body.
I can see bits of the truth in there, like Joseph was wigged out because God had lived in her womb, and he felt he might be defiling, possibly, if he consummated the marriage. But in the absence of the foundation, the story has gotten a bit warped. They removed it to compromise with Protestants though. Of course you'll not likely hear that from catholic catechists, but that's what happened as far as I know now.
My thought is, Joseph married Mary out of submission to the will of God, not on his own will. He was old and extremely nervous about being with her after she carried God in her body. He submitted to God to be Mary and Jesus' protector and provider, and thus supported Mary's calling to be Jesus' mother. If God wished for her to stay a virgin forever, He picked the right guy for that, too. The East and West remain divided partly because of those minute differences in their doctrines, but I don't think they're incompatible. Joseph submitted to God to marry Mary, it was God's will not his. The call of God on Mary's life plus possibly Joseph's great age, brought it about that she was a virgin all her life, like the Lord intended. Mike says she was in a religious vocation at the temple, much like  what we call a nun, but for some reason it was decided that she should marry, and when the will of God was sought as to who it should be, it became obvious that God wanted Joseph for the job. If there were vows involved in that vocation she had previously been in, she never had to break them... Long story short, I see the two doctrines as very compatible. The Orthodox church has a document of apostolic authorship to back its story, the Catholic church doesn't. So I am inclined to side with the East if an argument arises but really, I don't see them as being incompatible.
It was James' testimony, relayed to me through my friend, that made me believe in the perpetual virginity. 

That leaves the Immaculate conception. I don't have anything to support it, really. The Immaculate conception is not the belief that Mary never committed any sins, but that she was born without original sin in order to make a pure vessel to carry Jesus in. I guess I can see the thinking behind it, so it doesn't bother me like it used to would have, but obviously I don't have anything to support that. Belief is a choice here, and I don't think it takes more faith to believe it, but less, like Jesus would be contaminated if it weren't for Mary's Immaculate conception. Mary could be born without original sin form a mom who had it, but God himself couldn't. IT doesn't increase my faith to believe that. Its not that I need to exercise my faith to believe it is possible. I chose, based on the fact that God seemed to be calling me to the Catholic church, to try embracing this doctrine. It has not done anything to help my faith, really. If anything it weakens it. So I am putting this one back on the shelf and saying, "Maybe. But I don't think so." I won't completely rule it out, but I don't think it was necessary, and if anything, the opposite may have been, but again I am not completely sure of that either.

So, I have still come a long way from my previous position on the Marian dogmas, and for awhile I embraced all four, and at the moment I won't rule the fourth out, but I am not really on board with it that much.

~Mother Star

My Most Powerful Good Friday Ever

Well, Dickens said it well when he said, "It was the best of times it was the worst of times."
On Good Friday this year, I was under the impression that my dad did not want to speak to me anymore. Therefore, when I thought about Jesus' agony in the garden, knowing he was soon to become sin for us and accept our punishment and out judgment from the Father, I could relate. It was an amazingly painful situation, but through meditating on how well Jesus understood my pain, it made this the most powerful Good Friday of my life.

I really enjoyed the Paschal Triduum. In the Protestant Church, we had to cram the whole thing into an Easter Sunday Service. It was awesome every time. Being raised Pentecostal, I was used to prayers for everyone who needed it on almost any Sunday. I noticed that more people actually got healed when prayed for on Easter Sunday. It is a powerful time and has always been, at least for me.

It didn't work quite that way in the Catholic church, it was still very special and restorative. One of my old friends who has gotten out of fellowship and into a lot of weird or heretical teachings came to my confirmation. It was nice that he went to church, for once.

The staff advisor of the PRIDE chapter at my community college was there on Good Friday. His husband (in the states eyes, but obviously not in God's) and the kids they have both adopted were not there, though. He was there alone, for some reason. He  kissed he cross and walked out singing, "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom," and left before they served communion.
He sang solos at the Saturday Vigil, and was in the choir for the special music. Again, the man he is involved with and the kids they are raising together were not there.
I pray for God to draw him, and to bring healing to his life, to the other man's life, and to do a profound work in those children's life.

I was invited to my Methodist Friend's Good Friday service. They sang a hymn about how Sunday's palms are Wednesday's ashes. Both churches sang a black spiritual called "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" Both churches read a lot of the same verses and said similar or same prayers. I was allowed to take communion there even though I am not Methodist, while at St Patrick's it was the last time that I couldn't. Communion is a powerful experience for me, even when I was Protestant. I had been really missing that while going through RCIA.


All this time I was thinking I had no blood-family anymore, except my mom. I later learned there was a problem with the phones that was really strange and I am glad my dad did not actually turn away from me in real life.
I sent my dad an email on Good Friday Evening, from an email address he did not have in case he had blocked me. A few days later I got a text message that said, "I LOVE YOU!" from him. I called and we figured out what had happened, bit not how it had happened. Somehow, his number in my phone got edited and one digit changed, and he wasn't getting my messages. It was someone else's phone that was set, at the subscriber's request, not to accept my calls.
 Jesus was also restored to His father. My dad told me emphatically that he would never, ever, do such a thing, he would never decide he did not want to be in my life. I hope that this is true. I know it is true of the Father I reached for when I thought that my earthly dad had turned away from me. It was a crazy mix-up of communication devices there an it caused a lot of pain, but it also helped make this the most wonderful Good Friday service ever.

Adventures in RCIA: An Updated Discussion on Mariology

On the Virgin birth, obviously I have always believed it and always will.
As to the perpetual virginity, the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe got me wondering and I went from disbelieving to wondering. Later, a friend who is studying the Orthodox church read a book by St.  James, who was Jesus' step-brother. In this book, James says Mary was indeed a virgin all her life because of his father's advanced age. He hinted that Joseph couldn't actually do anything about that, basically.
This differs from the Catholic teaching that she remained a virgin all her life due to a call to do so from God, but it does give an explanation for the perpetual virginity of a married Jewish woman. Being called by God to stay in that marriage, and after Joseph's death to be celibate and give herself to ministry, doesn't clash with anything she would likely have believed, as far as I know.
I therefore can assent to the perpetual virginity of Mary, in light of this further information.

As far as her ascension, she would not be the only person besides Jesus to do this. Enoch went that way and so did Elijah. All of the oldest churches believe this, including the Copts. I don't have legitimate reason not to. Therefore, I do.

Regarding the Immaculate conception, I am still unsure. It doesn't make any more sense to me than it did before. The only improvement I have in this area is that I can believe all the other ones. I do not believe that thinking this will send someone to hell. I have my doubts, serious doubts, but still,.. I think belief is a choice. I am going to pray about it, and consider if God would have a problem with my choosing to believe it until further evidence is offered that she wasn't. It may help me, in some ways, as far as theneed for a female role-model, and with this revised understanding of perpetual virginity, I would not have an obstacle to that anymore, especially since right now I am single.
I expect I will proceed as if she was, and just go from there, and if God wants me to not believe that, then He will be able to tell me. Right now, I feel called to the Catholic church and sense in my spirit that God is going to straighten out the reservations I have about gender roles. I hope so.
So, at this time I do, with some minimal reservation, accept the Catholic teaching on Mary.


Godspeed.

~Mother Star.

Adventures in RCIA: My First Lenten Season

Well, I think we're about half-way through Lent.
Yesterday was Friday and I ate meat. I forgot until it was too late.
I think last week I did not, but I can't remember. I have been able to abstain from chocolate and sweets.
I have a Valentine's heart full of chocolates and an organic fair trade dark chocolate bar sitting on a stand near my bed, and I have not touched them.

There are certain things I really wanted to stop doing through this season of repentance, and at first I was doing ok, but lately I have not been doing as well. I have "Gotten back up" to some extent, but not to the degree I would like. I have not yet been to confession.

What I have succeeded in dong is praying more and worshiping more. I have been working my way through the Book of Sirach, whereas for a while I had not been doing much scripture reading. I think this increase in scripture reading is going to give me the wherewithal to get the victory I am really hoping for in certain areas of my life.

Homosexuality - Living Out Christian Convictions In A Productive Way.

Have you guys hear about that doctor in MI who refused to treat a baby because she was being raised by "married" lesbians?

I assume she would accept the children of un-wed moms and cohabiting opposite sex couples (there are sooo many now, it would be hard to stay in business otherwise, I think), so why choose this sin on the part of the caregivers to refuse to take care of the baby over? If you think this is what standing up for your beliefs is, ask yourself if you refuse service to cohabiting couples or people who likely use drugs or drink heavily on a regular basis, or own a business that does things you don't believe in like sell porn or booze or whatever. If the answer is no, then you are not really standing for your beliefs but genuinely discriminating.
I recognize a need in the church for balanced teaching on how to respond to situations like this, and how to know if you really are compromising your faith or not when confronted with such people in a work or business environment, because so many Christians just don't know what to do and the enemy takes advantage by tempting them to do counter-productive stuff like this. Sometimes, people dothe wrong thing because they really do not know what to do.

Medical care for a child conceived in rape doesn't mean you condone rape. Medical care for a child raised by unmarried parents is not condoning cohabiting or fornication.
Medical care for a child raised by practicing homosexuals is not condoning homosexual behavior or giving your stamp of approval to same-sex marriage. Rather,  it just makes it harder for people who think they are homosexuals to find the truth, because those who carry the truth are not in any close personal contact with them.
Treat those who commit this sin different from how you treat other sexual sins, and your statement that you do not really discriminate or hate, and do not believe they are truly even different, starts to look silly. This behavior really does a lot to promote the gay agenda, and severely hurts the cause of Christ.
Now, refusing to participate in a same-sex wedding is refusing to actually participate in the sin, but refusing to work with the baby who is going to be raised in that environment? If it is not a refusal to participate in a sin, then refusing to serve someone in your business on grounds of the way they live outside of your business is indeed discrimination. Refusing to serve lunch in your restaurant to people caught in that particular stronghold? That is not helpful at all!

The point where it becomes necessary to refuse in order to live out your views is when you must participate. Involvement in a same-sex wedding is participating, obviously.
Serving lunch to a person in a same-sex relationship is not participating. Taking care of a baby is taking care of a baby, it is not participating. Helping

The gay-agenda has built its crocodile tears and emotional appeals on behavior like that, not on mere disagreement. This particularly true of appeals for laws that persecute and discriminate against Christians. More of the same will only make things worse. Balance. God created everything to function in balance. If we aren't in balance we are easy prey for the devil to tempt and to use.

Godspeed

~Mother Star.

Adventures in RCIA - More on the Eucharist

As I mentioned in my first post in this series, this is one of the biggest pulls for me, to the Catholic church.
Eucharist is a Greek word that means, "thanksgiving." It refers to Holy Communion.

There are a few description that Catholics use to explain the Eucharist that work very well for insiders, but will make little sense to someone who is not already Catholic.
"The Real Presence of Christ" for example. This refers to "trans-substantiation," the belief that the second person of the Trinity is present in the bread and wine. When the bread is blessed, we believe that Jesus'presence comes into the bread and wine, sort of like a vessel carrying his spiritual presence. We do not think that a chemical test would start showing human flesh and blood rather than grains and fermented fruit, though.
God is everywhere, of course, but yet if you have had any kind of encounter with God at all, you understand how God can seem to be more in some places than others at times. We believe that, spiritually Jesus is present with us in the Eucharist in a special way.
We believe this is referred to in John -6:24-69. If Jesus had been speaking metaphorically, wouldn't he have said so, for the sake of the disciples who he so loved who were offended and walked away? In RCIA last week, it was explained that this has always been a hard teaching for people, and this scripture was given to demonstrate both how upsetting it was for Jesus' first followers and how important it is to him. He came to die by torture for those people. He had just fed them all with a miracle because he cared about them (v. 5-24), if he was speaking metaphorically, don't you think he would have explained himself to those who he cared about? Having people walk away from you because they do not like what you are saying is one thing, but letting them go like that to damnation (it says they "walked no more with him") over a misunderstanding is something else.
I note that in this text, it says they told him he was crazy when he said that he was God and was before Abraham and that some in the crowd intended to kill him.
I do not find actual scriptural support for the notion that communion is supposed to be just a symbol. He said on two occasions that "This is my body, this is  my blood." Paul taught that we should examine ourselves before communion, and that it is life-threateningly dangerous to take communion when not right with God (1 Corinthians 11:27-32), because when we do that we become guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
I think this is because the early church was before the Catholic/Protestant division, before Constantine and long before Luther. They did not have any offense at any group within the body that they sought very hard to distance themselves from, and did not have anyone telling them it was only a symbol. They were in agreement about what they were doing, so it would have been that powerful.
If you visit a Catholic church, either do not go down for communion, or go down with your arms crossed over your chest, sort of like the traditional coffin laying position. The communion servers will give you a blessing instead of communion, because you are out of agreement in what is going an and since everyone is in such agreement about the actual habitation of the spirit of Christ resting on that host (the bread and wine); it is not safe for you to eat it. "According to your faith be it done to you." If you commune in a Protestant church, you are not in danger of dying. Nobody invited Jesus to use that bread and wine that way, it is only a symbol. go ahead and eat it, if you agree to revere what it symbolizes.
I would probably take communion in a Protestant church again, I can receive it as a symbol to recollect things by. However, I was told in RCIA that "memorial" in Judaism,like the Passover, is not just sitting around recalling something. It is reliving. It is almost like repeating but not exactly. Its not just thinking about something, it goes much farther.
The RCIA lady who taught the class last week said Eucharist was what drew her to this Church as well, and when she finished RCIA and took communion the first time, she was full on just that.
You are supposed to fast an hour before receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic church,so she was ravenous when she went up, but she was full for hours after taking it. It is only one bite worth, maybe less, of unleavened bread, but she was full the rest of the day and felt the presence of God very strongly.  I believe this happened for her because her belief was so strong. She said she actually snatched it out of the priest's hand, which was not proper decorum at all, because she was so excited about it. He forgave her and overlooked it, though.
I hope I don't do anything drastic like that...
Communion is supposed to mimic the Passover. Like the Passover Feast, it is not a mere recalling but a reliving, an actual experience of it, sort of like. The sacrifice is Jesus, present in the Eucharist and consumed just like the lamb was. The Passover also foreshadowed the coming of Jesus and his Sacrifice for us all. In the Eucharist, we relive the sacrifice of Jesus. We have our Passover Feast - every single week, and almost every day if we so choose. There are daily Masses as well as Sunday Masses.

Next time in RCIA, we will be having a walk through the Mass. I am greatly looking forward to it. I understand there is a connection between the Mass and the Catholic interpretation of Revelation. Soon I will be going through some extra things that are part of actually joining the Church, so I can also fill you in on those details when I get them.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

On the Conflict in the Middle East

Here's what I have so far for my middle Eastern global awareness project in Painting class. It's due Jan. 26th at 3 pm. I needed to touch it up a bit, improve the quality When the snapshot was taken. 

I used a black and white pattern and added Stars of David and a red crisscross weaving.
The red can represent blood, the stars of David and the Pattern in the back are inter-locked by the red, symbolizing the pain and bloodshed on both/all sides of all the conflict out that way now, and how everybody there is likely feeling many of the same things. Everybody's afraid of somebody, worried about violence and their family and what will happen if this or that group comes to power or comes to their area. Some feel a war against the other people is necessary, some people know that violence just makes everything worse. Feeing the same things usually binds people together, though in this case that doesn't usually seem to be working.... 
All humans are really related to each other if you go back far enough, so in a way we are all "brothers". Abraham is the common ancestor of all these people, so that is another way that this is a war between relatives.
The red could also represent the blood of Christ with the power to redeem everyone and all things, to make all things new and make all people, even the most contentious, part of one big family. Jesus was Jewish. That's what the Abrahamic Covenant and the Blessing and the Law and the Prophets was all about. Through that nation, all nations would be blessed, and we have been, through Christ Jesus.

I guess its a pretty controversial picture, once I explain it...

I pray for God's comfort and for the ministry of his angels for everyone affected, directly or indirectly,by this conflict. I pray for salvation and restoration at every level. I pray for an end to all war-mongering, fear-mongering, and hate-mongering by those who profess Christ as their God and Savior. I stand with Pope Francis and others around the world in prayer for peace.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

On the Nature of Temptation

Not every thought or temptation we ever have necessarily gets encoded to long-term memory.
In order to report occasional same sex temptation or attraction, the mind/brain would have retain it. You have to give at least some amount of attention to something in order to remember it.

Depending on the wording of the question, anywhere from 10% to 45% of adult men report having fantasies involving same-sex activity. Those are just people have sat and entertained the thoughts for however long, possibly on more than one occasion. These things never originate with the person anyway, it all comes from satan, and not just same sex stuff but other things. We decide if we are going to hold the thought or not, and whatever else we might do with it.


Advertisers sometimes try to get people to associate products with unrelated things that they want or need. Sex being used to advertise credit cards, shoes, or etc is an example of that, as is Summer's Eve's unfortunate attempt to use women's career advancement goals to sell feminine deodorant. Likewise, the enemy tries to sell unnatural or even self-defeating things to people.

Like the advertisers attempts at sales, the enemy's ploys may or may not work, and may or may not even be remembered. He has probably tried stuff on me that I don't remember. I lived on the street a couple of times in my life, but do not recall ever being actually tempted by drugs. Ever. I'm sure he must tried it though. If you have any doubts about the rates of same-sex fantasizing, the links to sources are below. Keep in mind, even on anonymous studies, self report studies tend to be skewed by people giving answers closer to what their society would want to hear (See the section on "measurement bias" in section 2 of this UIC article).

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12734/full
http://www.businessinsider.com/which-sexual-fantasies-are-normal-2014-10

There is a very strong taboo about same-sex activity and temptation among American males in particular. If there is self-report bias here, it is more likely to be making the rates look smaller, not larger. Not recalling ever being tempted by SSAs, or anything else on the list of perverse thoughts and actions in this study, does not mean it has never been tried on you, or that it never will be. It does however, mean you are probably less likely to commit that particular sin, even in your thoughts. Many, many people who do not identify as LGBT and never acted out, and may never act these things out, with others have committed this type of sexual sin in their thoughts through lust.
Sexual fantasy is, in fact, a lustful sort of meditation that many people who are physically very chaste may battle with on the inside, and which the Holy Spirit can and will deliver people from.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Answers to Yesterday's Challenge

The song "Gloria" is about war. Its all about the glamorizing of large-scale armed conflict. It's supposed to be celebrating the numerous wars their ancestors fought in. Kind of like if Catholics wrote a bunch of tunes celebrating the crusades.... Probably nobody really needs that kind of thing.
Some of the imagery in the official videos degrades women, as do some of the lyrics sometimes.

Google translate's rendering of the lyrics is below. Remember, other languages are often structured very differently than ours. Google translate doesn't always do a good job with that; it often just does the individual words. You might have to look at it like "unscramble the words and find out what these people are talking about." But you can get an idea.


The songs of women and young men
in the clear shield is eternal
Report on the lips of our compatriots
scars he has been battling

Stand-do honor
name and sing
when a man bears kruunuaan
kingdom shoulders

Whispers dozens dying
he will hear from corpses
Provides a blessing earth
for weighing takes the gods

Kai guessed that hour, but
for the rest of the country will go the
So, once the, I guess the last
will he stand up in the saddle

Gods know it
I have lived according to the rules of honor
Any decision to change I
any street can not herald the right

Damn the day of its
when I fall down arrows to the enemy
I have shown you the way
it keep going when I no longer able to do

Wash the blood from his face
body carry your home
deeds tell
and the name of the stone cut down


Jeesus on Herra is a worship song, I would say.
Google translate's rendering of the lyrics is below.




Only You Lord, only You Lord, I love only you, my Lord.

You get the power, now confess that Jesus is Lord.
She is!

Hello there!
Why do not I do as You Want, if I love you so much?
Hello there!
Why I'm not going as You Want, if Sua praise and worship?

There is a really good video of Johanna's testimony on youtube as well.



So, how did you do?

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

A Prayer for Widespread Redemption

Father,in Jesus' name, please give us strength. Your strength, not our strength. Not the "strength" of our anger or fear, not the strength of our reasoning or marketing-type strategies, not the strength of the world with its numbers and political agendas or machinations. But your strength God, to handle all of this. Lord,your wisdom is greater and stronger than anything we can find on earth or in ourselves.
Lord, I pray for the children being raised in same-sex romance households and I thank you for working in these situations to bring deliverance to parents and children alike. I thank you that at least in the midst of the darkness there, somebody is feeding and clothing these kids and taking them to school and hopefully at least caring about them. I thank you that the kids the Dean at my school and his "husband" are raising did not have to be separated after their parents' deaths.
No one can come to you unless they are drawn. We ask you to draw the people oh lord, that we cannot do anything for with our arguments or our best explanations. Lord, your ways are indeed higher than our ways and your thoughts than our thoughts. You do not forbid sin because you want to be mean and you have good reasons for everything. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts and convinces, not us. Forgive us when we have tried in our own strength to accomplish what only you can do.

In this time where so many in our culture insist on finding out the hard way the "why" behind your statutes, we thank you that even in the midst of this ignorance you will show yourself true and good. I pray lord that this avalanche of same-sex marriages will only serve to help social scientists and others gather the data they are missing that explains why you have set the rules that you have. I pray you will use even the things people think they want to show them that it is really what they don't want.
I pray God that what the enemy has used for harm, you will work for good. and turn his evil upon his own head, for the redemption of so many souls and lives. Ditto with the many other things he is doing on such large scales that are so wrong, here and abroad. Amen.
Lord, I pray for strength and wisdom for Pope Francis and other Church leaders to hold fast to what is right. I pray for repentance of those who have been deceived. I pray God for the light of truth.to enter in and heal.
I come against the distraction Lord, that turns so many good hearted people away from doing the things you have called them to do and they spend time and talents supporting a sinful lifestyle for a few people that should be spent making a real difference for many, or even for all people. I come against the spirit of pride, and the "I'm progressive, and ahead of all these other Christians. I have more revelation than the apostles, who wrote the sacred texts and said wrong, condemning things out of their ancient ignorance..." or "Humanity and time are all moving in one direction step by spend I am at the cutting edge. It is my job to straighten out the old misconception,s and the old-fashioned, narrow-minded people, and show the world the real Jesus who no one in the church has ever shown before...." and other such deceptions. I ask you Lord to use us who you have delivered from all these kinds of lies, and our little testimonies, to plant little seeds that will change the western world, not by our strength or wisdom or ability, but by your working what we never could do, for your own glory. I pray that you will help us to stay humble and keep a right spirit and attitude about how we go about doing things in this world for you. In Jesus'name, Amen.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - The Church Calender - Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day

This isthe last season here is to talk about on the Catholic Church calender Advent is the time leading up to Christmas, much like Lent is the time leading up to Easter. Pentecostal and at least some Baptist churches do not do anything like this. Nondenominational churches usually don't either. 

Advent would probably have been the best season to big in with, and it is what we began with in RCIA.

Advent is a very reflective time. There is no"Gloria" in the Mass, but there is still "Alleluia" in the advent Mass.

Advent begins 4 Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve right before the Vigil of Nativity. The advent special music is mostly the "O antiphons"such as "O Come All Ye Faithful." 

The music is toned down and supposed to be more reflective and subdued. It's like the calm before the storm, but in a good way. At Christmas, we pullout all the stops musically and decoration-wise.

At Midnight Mass, every Catholic parish on earth begins Mass at Midnight of December 25th and it lasts for at least an hour. As the earth turns, the praises go up and the celebration begins all around the world, "Happy Birthday Jesus, thank you for what you did." In our city, we have a really big music and art university. I think they had students from there doing the music. They had opera singers and a symphony and they did all the Christmas songs from our book. At the conclusion of Mass, they did the Halleluia chorus mixed in with, I think, Joy to the World. It was arranged beautifully, it flowed seamlessly from Joy to World, to Halleluia and back. It was awesome. We have an old church building designed with acoustics for a choir like that. It is the first time I have experienced anything like that live. It was so beautiful!

So that is why the toned down music and mood during Advent. It is to seriously ponder and take in everything that was going on with Mary's pregnancy and all the amazing things God was doing, and why. It also adds even more emphasis to the big bang of a celebration at Christmas.

There is something called an "Advent  Wreath" that holds four candles. Three of the candles are violet and one is rose-colored. You are supposed to light one each Sunday of Advent. An RCIA participant from the Methodist church says they have five candles and each one means something - love, hope, and etc. One of the teachers said "We don't have that much fun in the Catholic church. We just light the candles." I though that was funny.
The colors for Advent are, of course, violet and rose like the candles. Rose is just for the third Sunday, though. The priests wear violet vestments, except on the third Sunday. On the third Sunday, also called Gaudete Sunday, Catholic priests wear rose vestments.

More on Advent:

In addition to featuring advent wreaths, the environment is supposed to be one of elegant simplicity. There may be moderate use of flowers in keeping with the season and climate.

Really important Catholic feasts during Advent include:

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - December 8th, refers to the idea that Mary was sinless, not to the virgin birth.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas - December 12th. This commemorates the Event that led to the conversion of indigenous communities in Mexico and Latin America. Reading this story has almost made me reconsider my position on the Marian dogmas I disagree with - almost. It has certainly given me a new respect for it.

In our parish and others in the Springfield, IL Diocese, we also have the Solemnity of the Dedication of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on December 2nd.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

On the Conservative Media

I do not listen to everything the "Right Wing" news tells me, nor would I ever recommend that others do so. When I was a child, my folks seemed to. Supposedly there were all these Satanic cults everywhere that were after us all. Supposedly Kellog's  brand supported abortion. Supposedly Christian rock was part of the Illuminati...

The conservative and liberal news media are both full of emotional appeals and paint people who vote against them as evil, dangerous people out to take control and take over everybody's life. "Do what we are encouraging you to do here, protect yourself and your freedom!" I am pro-life and believe homosexuality is a sin, but I am also an active environmentalist. I get emails from both "wings," and they're actually both nuts. Absolutely nuts.



I do not agree with, or follow Alex Jones and all the conspiracy theories entirely either, but at times they do make some good points.



I have an old friend who was conceived when her mother was raped. I love this dear friend of mine. She is not "a product of rape." She is a wonderful thing that came from a terrible thing. She is not what happened to her mom; she is an example of the triumph and beauty of life in, and even through, the darkest of circumstances. It definitely does devalue life to make exceptions to an abortion ban for babies like this dear friend of mine. Ditto with handicapped babies. Many conservatives are quite willing to make these unacceptable concessions. Some GOP candidates have also very stupidly stated or implied that if a woman gets pregnant, it means she is lying about being raped. It is possible to get pregnant through sexual assault. It is a very weak, or very uninformed, man/woman who will publicly accuse my friend's mother and others like her of lying, and publicly shame thousands of violent crime victims in that manner. This has turned many informed men and women against those candidates - including me.

I do not believe our founding fathers had a personal relationship with God or founded this country on divinely inspired and scriptural principles. Our founding fathers practiced slavery and genocide, and they twisted the bible to justify it as badly as any "gay Christian" or "Christian" abortion-supporter has ever twisted the bible. If the times we live in do not justify our looking the other way and keeping our mouths shut, and they don't, then our founding fathers are not justified for legal abortion either (abortion was legal btw, research this carefully. Legal abortion is not progressive, but regressive), or slavery, or the covenant breaking and genocide they practiced against the indigenous people of this continent because of the times they lived in either. If "gay Christians" and those who at least excuse abortion are not of God, neither were our founding fathers; all of these justify sin in the name of "freedom and justice for all" and abuse the Bible to do it. Our founding fathers were not divinely inspired saints doing God's will. They violated his commands endlessly, from the get-go. As a Christian, I am profoundly offended at claims associating such abominations with divine inspiration, or sort of-like "sainting" some especially wicked sinners. As an American, I am offended at not being told the straight out truth about my history and heritage. If I am not told about the blemishes in it, I cannot learn from them, nor really understand the situation I have to live in and address today.


 I self-identify as a pro-life feminist. I believe there is such a thing as "Rape Culture," and my studies of other societies, especially matriarchies, indicate that there is a link between our concept of power, our separation of sexuality from family and procreation, plus our devaluing of motherhood, and the prevalent twisting of minds that can cause folks become sexual predators. This situation pre-dates the nineteenth century feminist movement by at least hundreds of years. Problems caused by modern "feminists" are symptoms of internalized misogyny, and will not be solved by maintaining patriarchal values and social systems. When aggression and the ability to use physical force to achieve an end is valued very highly, this lends itself to all kinds of bullying and oppressive behavior, including sexual violence. With the connection of sex to family life and the circle of life, sexual violence  becomes virtually inconceivable all around the world.

I believe abortion is a symptom of misogyny and oppression, as did Susan B. Anthony and all the early American feminists who got our voting rights - and who originally fought to ban abortion in America. Abortion rarely occurs in places where women have resources and rights.  It is more prevalent in places where women have few rights and are oppressed and disrespected. It was legal here in the 19th century, before we could vote or get decent jobs. 19th century American Feminists fought to end it. The 60's feminists did not trust anyone over 30 and would not even listen to those who worked so hard to get them into those universities in the first place. They were uninformed, as is anyone who refers to the second wave, 1960's "feminism" as "the feminist movement." It existed for some 200 years prior, and did a lot of good.

Neither "wing" can genuinely be classified as "Pro-woman." When a Drag "queen" or so-called "female impersonator" goes on stage, they are degrading women along with themselves. What they are "impersonating" is not what we are, and dressing/behaving that way should not change the pronoun used to mention them. Our essence and purpose are not, and never will be, summed up in any fashion show. Their definition of "female"and "feminine" miss the mark as badly as June Cleaver did. Drag represents an oppressive, patriarchal and degrading definition of womanhood, and of the roll of women. Liberals who support drag are supporting an inherently misogynistic movement.

The conservative media/"wing" sometimes also degrades women in its own way. Some conservatives are indeed patriarchal. Saying that a man should make more money than his wife or that men have a biological instinct that makes them feel threatened or devalued if their wives make more than them. What kind of teammate pouts if someone else on his team scores more points than he does? "The whole team is going to the championship, and I did not score the winning plays. I don't want to play anymore, or I want that teammate to stop scoring so much." That's not a good attitude. If a man's emotions are devastated because his kids have better access to higher education, his family has more insurance, the house is getting paid off faster, etc., because his wife got a raise and now makes more money than he does, than he needs to check his ego at the door! The whole family benefits, and it should not matter who made the score, everybody is going to the playoffs of life, so everybody should be happy. Some conservatives still support or tolerate pig-headed and patriarchal attitudes though; if such foolish men actually divorce their wives or otherwise leave their family in a mess, the woman with the raise/promotion and the people who fought for her opportunities get at least partial blame in the conservative world sometimes. THAT does not sit well with me at all.

I also note that when Republicans want to go to war with everybody, then war is noble and necessary and brave and etc. When liberals do it, it is evil and senseless bloodshed. Liberal media does the same thing in reverse. Torture even becomes ok "if the party we usually vote for backs it up," and if not... "That just shows you how the other party is, doesn't it? They torture people.... "
I do not subscribe to any conservative news letters or "like" any of their pages. Ditto with liberal ones. I follow a lot of issues, but completely ignore anything that groups issues together in "wings" or major parties. I do"like" pages of a couple of third parties that do not even like each other though, keeping an eye out for better alternatives...

I guess what I am saying is I distrust conservative media as much as liberal media and vice versa, and strongly recommend that others do the same. I try to check facts carefully, as if all news I hear comes from pathological liars, because essentially it does.

I have no idea if this image was made by a "liberal" or a conservative, or a neither like me. I do not own the rights to it, if any are owned. I certainly appreciate the message though.


Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - The Catholic Church Calender: Easter Time

In the Catholic Church, there is Easter Sunday and then there is Easter Time. It lasts for 50 days after Easter Sunday. It ends with Pentecost.

There are a great deal of flowers, like on Easter Sunday and the pulling-out-all-stops decor of Easter Sunday stay until Pentecost. There is a special dismissal chant for Easter and Pentecost.

The scripture readings in the Mass, (which are also at least some of the texts for the homilies Acts of the apostles, Revelation, and the Gospel accounts of Jesus time on earth after the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost.

The book of Revelation is interpreted very differently in the Catholic church than in Protestant churches. They do not teach that it foretells the end of the world. There is nothing frightening in it for them, for the Catholic church, Revelation is a book full of hope and there is nothing fearful in it. I have more study to do on it. I very much look forward to learning more about that, and then sharing what I learn.

Solemnities of the Octave of Easter - Every day for 8 days after Easter.

Special days in Easter Time include include:
Divine Mercy Sunday - The 2nd Sunday after Easter. It was Pope John Paul II's "special task," as he put it. St Faustina had some revelations during the time of Hitler's reign in Germany. It gave tremendous hope to the Polish Catholics who suffered in the concentration camps, one of whom later became a bishop and began the process that led to St. Faustina being made a Saint. The revelations of Divine Mercy are summed up in the statement that "Good triumphs over evil, life is stronger than death and God's love is more powerful than sin." This is revealed in Christ's cross, but St. Faustina''s very timely spiritual experience explained this in a way that made it very accessible to the understanding at a time when it was so urgently needed. It is also a message of the need for us all to forgive. During the Cold War, when John Paul II instituted this Special Day, and now when we hear of wars and rumors of wars everywhere, the Catholic church believes it is very important that those who follow Christ remember these revelations and ponder them. I agree. I really look forward eagerly to celebrating my first Divine Mercy Sunday and hearing/reading more teaching about it. I expect that it might need its own post!
The Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. - April 25th
Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord - 40 days after Easter
Solemnity of the Feast of St. Matthais the Apostle - May 14th
Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday - 50 Days after Easter.

I see I will need to do more study of the book of Revelation, Divine Mercy Sunday, and the Octave of Easter. Those look like some pretty special and important subjects. Having been raised Pentecostal, and knowing that my pastor was raised Pentecostal, I wonder what kind of sermon I will hear on Pentecost.

If any of you see a special day or some other topic you would like me to investigate or inquire about, leave it in the comments below and I will see what I can do.

Take care and God bless.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - The Church Calender: The Triduum

The Triduum is the three days leading up to Easter. These are the holies days of the year on the Catholic church calender. I am really looking forward to celebrating these!

Holy Thursday:
Celebrates the Last Supper, and the gift of the Eucharist. It begins with the Mass of the Lord's Supper and ends as Good Friday Dawns.
The "Gloria" returns to the music in the Mass here, and they begin to use instruments more. there is still no "Alleluia" though.
The color for Holy Thursday is white, and the priest will wear white vestments.

The very special chant, called Pange Lingua is incorporated. It was written by Thomas Aquinas. In, English, it goes like this:

Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
O'er ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.
To the Everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen. Alleluia."

If you would like to hear someone singing it, albeit in Latin, click here.

Flowers are brought back for the decor, but it has to be a simple kind of elegance. Nothing extravagant. There is a Mass commemorating the Lord's Supper, and Eucharistic adoration
later on. If people cannot make it to Adoration, then they are encouraged to light some candles and say some special prayers when they get back from Mass, and again before bedtime.

Good Friday:

The Friday before Easter. 

Alter is bare, no flowers or other decorations. Holy Water fonts are even emptied. There is only one large cross for veneration. The color for this day is Red, for the blood of Christ's sacrifice that day.

There are reflective silences during service. It is not a mass.

Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering servant, the book of Hebrews: Jesus the great high priest. John's account of the Lord's passion.

There is still no "Alleluia", but the "Gloria" is still sung. Both are usually a regular part of the Mass.

The Gloria:

"Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you, 

we bless you, 

we adore you, 

we glorify you, 

we give you thanks for your great glory, 

Lord God, heavenly King, 

O God, almighty Father.

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, 

Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, 

you take away the sins of the world, 

    have mercy on us; 

you take away the sins of the world, 

    receive our prayer; 

you are seated at the right hand of the Father, 

    have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One, 

    you alone are the Lord, 

    you alone are the Most High, 

Jesus Christ, 

with the Holy Spirit, 

in the glory of God the Father.

Amen." 

It's not so easy to find a recording of this, because people sing it every week and if they attend daily Mass, they sing it almost every day. I have noticed, living in different places, that the "Gloria" and the"Alleluia" have somewhat different musical arrangements,but similar ones, in different parishes. 

Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday

This begins with Vigil Mass after nightfall on Holy Saturday. It ends Easter Sunday Evening.

Instrumental music returns, and the Alleluia returns. The songs are very joyful. 

There is a lot of decoration; tons of flowers, full, beautiful decorations. It is the biggest day of the year, time to pull out all the stops. The Exsultet is chanted, which is lengthy enough I will save it for another day.

There are up to seven Old Testament scripture readings, which can make for a LOOONG Mass. Some perishes, including ours, shorten this. The Old Testament readings are accounts of salvation history. The covenant with Abraham and etc.

The second reading is from the Epistles, about how if we died with Christ we will live with him.

The Gospel readings are, of course, about the Resurrection.

I am  very much looking forward to experiencing this time in the Calender first and for the first time.I expect there will be a lot more to write about, then. I hope the Lord will give me grace to convey this  in a clear and interesting way.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - The Church Calender: Lent

Not everybody has Lent. Non-denominational churches often don't. Pentecostals don't. I don't think Baptists do.
In fact, the only days on their church calenders are Easter (some churches call it Resurrection Sunday, and using the term Easter is frowned upon) and Christmas. However, I guess some Protestant churches have the Church calender too. No feasts of Saints and there may be other differences, but these terms and concepts are familiar to, and even observed by, some Protestants.
So, for those that don't know, Lent is a time of fasting and repentance.
It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at the start of Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday.

In the worship service, there is no "Gloria" in the Mass and no "Alleluia" no instrumental music except as needed to support singing. The theme color is mostly violet, but on the 4th Sunday, AKA Laetare Sunday, the color is rose. The Priest's vestments are always the special colors.
The environment is stark simplicity during this time. There are no flowers in the decor.
The scripture readings come from the Old testament stories of Adam and Eve, and Moses and Abraham, and David, Jesus in the desert, and the Transfiguration.

The Solemnity of St Joesph, Jesus' stepdad, is on March 19th.
The Solemnity of the Annunciation, which is when the angel told Mary she was going to have a baby, it's also where the first part of the Hail Mary Prayer mostly comes from.

In our parish, we also have a Solemnity for the Dedication of St. Patrick's Church on March 17th.
That is a local solemnity, when we thank God for our church building that we have to meet and to hold his meetings in.

The Scrutinies: There is something going on at this time called scrutinies. They are very special rites for those preparing for Baptism, and they occur on the middle three Sundays of Lent. The people preparing for baptism are called the Elect. I have already been baptized in a Baptist church, and that baptism counts as my baptism in to the Catholic church too, because both are Christian in the eyes of the Catholic church. I have no idea if I will be doing the scrutinies or not, but I might be. either way, I will have to write more on this later.
The scrutiny gospels are: the woman at the Well, the man born blind that Jesus healed, and Lazarus being raised from the dead. I thing the Elect have rites that are reminiscent of these events, and must meditate on the lessons in these stories.

Palm Sunday Scriptures are about the triumphal entry, and Jesus passion at Gethsemane

Adventures in RCIA - Dispelling Some Myths About the Pope, Pt. 1

Recently, I asked my pastor, who has a great deal of education in Catholic theology, and is, of course, a Catholic priest, if the Catholic church thinks the pope is "prophet, priest,and king" like some Protestants say that they do.

He said the pope is prophet, priest and king by virtue of his baptism, just like every other baptized believer. He said not "every believer" because demons believe too, and this does not apply to them. He said a Christian is a little Christ.
The role of a prophet, according to catholic church is basically a witness of God's Word (and I think there were a few other things he mentioned and I couldn't write that fast, but I think he was elaborating on "a witness of God's word"). The Role of a priest is to offer sacrifices (and again I think there were a few other things he mentioned and I couldn't write that fast) and king is a ruler.
As believers we have the job, and are equipped by the holy spirit, to be witnesses of God's word. As believers, it is also our job to offer sacrifices, first of all in gratitude and praise, and also offering ourselves, and offering our lives - our struggles, our joys, etc,etc, etc. to God.
We have responsibility and ability given by god to be rulers of ourselves. Living by the spirit, saying no to the flesh, and again these are rights/abilities given to us by God, and by God's power we exercise them.
My baptism in a baptist church ten years ago counts as my baptism into the catholic church, because protestants are counted as Christians in official catholic doctrine as long as they believe in the Trinity. So my baptism, and your baptism all would make us "little Christs" and therefore prophets, priests and kings/queens, like Christ but on a smaller scale, every bit as much as the pope is. That's official Catholic doctrine. The text cited for this is the same as I got in the "who you are in Christ" things I have read in the Protestant world, 1 Peter 2:9, and several verses around it, likely familiar to most of us.
He said that is how the Pope is Prophet, Priest and King, and that is the ONLY way he is those three things, "The Pope is not 'King of the church, or anything like that,'" he said, "absolutely not".
I really feel like my job, through going through this process, is to remove barriers and lies people believe about each other by sharing what I am learning as I go. Lots of Protestants have exaggerated ideas about what Catholics think of the Pope, including me up until recently. This was really big news to me, to learn this today. Perhaps it will be for you too.
Godspeed.