Random thoughts

Never forget what Mary's Baby came to do

• Have a blessed Advent!"
• I can't stand poor mouthing.  I come from a family and a culture that drilled it into my head that you did not discuss your money with anybody outside the house. Even if you had to spend the month eating grits with no butter, you got on with it, made sure the rent was paid, looked presentable when you stepped outside  and did not shame your people.  A few weeks ago a blogger mentioned that he went to France and ate something nice at a restaurant. Two readers  wrote in to say passive aggressive things like, "Oh I'd like to eat something besides Cheerios but I have 9 kids and can't do (frivolous, it's implied) stuff like that.  On another blog I read the author's advice on housekeeping. Two people responded with the sugar coated insult along the lines of "Well, I can't do that because my husband and I are real Catholics and have chosen a modest lifestyle instead your (it is hinted) wordly way." Folks, the lady blogger was writing about keeping your house clean and neat.  I see this frequently from commenters and it is not attractive.  How about, "Oh, that's nice," and nothing more or if that's too much, how about no comment at all? Begrudging what other people have and do does not make you and your lifestyle look holy, it just makes you look small, discontent, and leads other people to think, 'Wow, I feel sorry for your family.'
  
  
• My parish, St. Rita's got new hymnals and missals. The old ones from CC Watershed  were beautiful but a  not tough enough to survive my fellow parishioners. The ushers were frequently finding books with the covers and backs torn off after Mass and the arrangement of the missal/hymnal combination just seemed to confuse people. The new books are from Illuminaire. Hopefully they will survive  for a few years.
  
• The Texas nuns make good soap. 
  
• This is a gorgeous blog.
  
• In a parish in North Carolina they had a Rorate Mass. I've never been able to go to one but I mean to.
  
• Disorder in the nation starts with disorder in the home. We obviously have a LOT of work to do.
  
• Rocky is going to be ushering on the early Christmas Vigil. This is typically a suit up and be ready for anything Mass. The ushers face, among other things, visiting horribly spoiled children who are confused and upset because rude behavior that was okay all year long is suddenly not okay. I watched many young parents, sometimes the father, but usually the mother just lose it in the vestibule because they are mortified in front of their  in-laws.  Occasionally it is middle aged parents who snap. It's most often  the father who upon seeing the expressions on the faces of his shocked relatives looks at his daughter's strapless, thigh high dress and gets embarrassed.  The poor kid can't understand what the big deal is because Dad said nothing all the other times she wore the dress. This leads to a scene at home, being late and then going off on the usher when he offers  a fold up chair to sit in the back instead of miraculously finding  spaces together in the front half of the church.  Then there are the C&E Catholics who sometimes come to church with a grudge and get ridiculously upset because the usher refuses to make a 97 year old in walker move down so they and their party of eight can all sit together.