New Year, No Promises

It’s January. Every single year I always claim that I promise to blog more, but I’m done promising that. I’m not about the business of making promises or deals that I don’t intend to keep. I do intend to blog more, but my train of thought will dictate that, nothing else. 
I’m not really one to make New Years resolutions, because as I said, I don’t like the temporary. If it’s temporary then I don’t want it. That’s what I walked away from 2015 with. 

As I reflected on the past year, I came to the conclusion that it was a mix of good and bad. The good was amazing; I did a lot, saw a lot, accomplished much, and I’m simply going to continue the unfinished business while the good Lord continues to place the stepping stones before me. When He doesn’t, I’ll call out to Him to carry me like the afraid child I can be. 

In contrast, the bad was staggeringly painful. Every year, for myself at least, brings some kind of new or revisited pain. But these sorrows were different, they were the type that you’ll never forget because they were so deeply ingrained in the heart of your soul. You know what I mean. If you don’t, then you’re a lucky one. 

I’m looking forward to the coming year. Next month I’ll forever drop the teen from my age, unless I live to 113, though that’s highly unlikely. I’m looking forward to turning 20, continuing to cultivate good relationships, the last season of Downton Abbey, visiting San Francisco again, seeing Adele, spending time in adoration... I’m even looking forward to Lent. I’m looking forward to the unknown, basically. Throughout the last year God really cemented to me that He is truly good and loving, no matter what happens. It’s one thing to know it, but another to truly believe it. 

So I’m not going into the new year with a resolution. I don’t need one because my life is a constant turning of tides, and resolves come out of that versus just once every year. Right now God is setting the stage for something and I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know it’s coming in His time. My prayer is that I can be as prepared as He desires, not just with this new year, but until the last breath leaves my body in adoration of Him. 

The Case of Not Liking Being Catholic

Read on before you judge based off of the title alone. Or go ahead and judge me, although you’ll just help sanctify me in the process.

Two posts in one week? I must be going crazy. Or I’m just itching to write something before I go crazy. Both are true, more or less. It’s like I get these pounding ideas from keywords, phrases, or inspirations from anywhere, and I’m uncomfortably antsy until I spit it out. Or until I lose interest, it always depends. It’s been fun and interesting figuring out how I work as my personality settles in, because so far not many have been able to handle it. I blame it on being choleric. Well, the blame doesn’t solely lie there, but it is a momentum of prominence since some temperaments mesh better than others. My sister is phlegmatic and we get along fabulously, until someone wants to borrow a blouse or misplaces makeup. That’s sister life, yo. 

Anywho, all of the above has little or nothing to do with the continuation of this post. 

Source: Tumblr

A few days ago I was finalizing the outline for a talk I gave, and I started wondering why I’m still Catholic. I can be pretty terrible about it. Confession isn’t a sacrament for nothing, let me tell you. Having a veil and carrying around a rosary don’t count for much, not all the time. But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving the Church or even questioning the faith, not at all. Quite the contrary.

 So I continued to think about it, with Milky Chance accompanying my thoughts and the click-clack of my bright red nails pushing down letters, tying together biblical typology between Jesus and Jeremiah. Secret’s out, that’s how I (always) work, even writing this. As I continued to (surprisingly) think, I had one whiny thought.

Being Catholic is hard. 

The raw truth is that I don’t always like being Catholic. Romanticism aside, being Catholic is one of the most difficult feats I’ve ever attempted to accomplish. Sometimes my only reasons are just fides et ratio… faith and reason. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m quitting or throwing in the towel. I know damn well that the Catholic Church is the fullness of truth, and to go anywhere else would be to cheat myself not only of salvation, but also of complete truth. I couldn’t comfortably live with that, and the thought of living without truth is a scary one. Because if you don’t possess complete and full truth, what do you have instead? 

Nothing. 

I like to think that even in my choleric state, I pick my battles very wisely and carefully. I somehow know when to stand my ground, and when it simply isn’t worth it. This isn’t one battle I’m going to cave on. By the grace of God alone, I’ll reach the finish line, even if that means crawling on my gravel-filled hands and blood soaked knees. Graphic, but triumphs have never been for the pansy-hearted.

So I don’t always like being Catholic. That’s precisely because of my fallen nature, my own vanity, my own pride, my own blindness, and above all, my own sinfulness. However, because being Catholic is hard and because I don’t always like it, that’s exactly why I have to be Catholic. In continuation of that premise, I need to be Catholic because I don’t always like being Catholic. I keep saying I don’t always like being Catholic, and God could smite me for that, or you’re probably thinking, “Then just leave, you crazy girl.” 

But I won’t leave. I also hope God doesn’t smite me, because my beloved St. Teresa of Avila didn’t pray for years and she came back with superhuman holiness. Checkmate. 

No one is forcing me to be Catholic, I’m a grown girl and it’s my decision to remain where I’m constantly challenged and pushed. I am painfully aware of my faults, shortcomings and imperfections. I won’t pull a Popeye and say, “I am what I am.”, because that’s not what I am. And guess what? The only thing that uproots it all from the inside out, is Catholicism. Through Catholicism, faith, reason and maybe even nights like this, I am most myself. How could I ever leave that? Sure it’s not always pretty and petite, but I don’t believe life is meant for that. Without struggles, there is no celebration, and without pain, there is no comfort. Without Catholicism to challenge me and make my life difficult, I can’t imagine what I’d be. I actually can, but I’d rather not be that. 

So that’s it. I don’t always like being Catholic, but I am precisely because I need to be. It’s a paradox of sorts, but I can safely say that that is a part of me, and I’m fine with it. 

I think I forget that people actually read what I toss out in the open, so thank you for putting up with my choleric schemes and ridiculousness, because half the time I take to the keyboard, my mind is half here and half there, wherever there is. I’ll tell you when I find it. 

The Post with No Moral

First off, there is no moral to this post. Sorry, I can’t muster one up at the moment. Frankly, I don’t even want to try because this isn’t about a moral, underlying inspiration, or anything like that. I don’t want to talk about modesty, chastity, virtue or any other repeated topic because I currently have nothing new to say, since it’s all been said anyway. This is just going to be keyboard smashing from a 19 year old Catholic girl, who happens to need a good keyboard smash. But I can say that this post has been influenced by circulating thoughts and Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. Technically I don’t really write about myself, even though this is my platform. It’s not that it’s uncomfortable, I simply don’t like airing every aspect of my life, since it’s not necessary until it’s necessary. On second thought, the song really doesn’t have much to do with anything in regards to this post, I just really like it right now. It pairs well with dark coffee, since coffee opens up your voice and I only pretend to know how to sing.

Anyway, I’m done with school (for now) and it went fabulous. From the beginning I asked St. Maximilian Kolbe to help me, and dedicated it all for God’s greater glory, so the past four months went academically well. I have no plans to stop until I reach my goal, because even through the occasional (and healthy) meltdowns, I can and will do it. I’ve found that not only do I enjoy public speaking, but I also like playing with and rearranging words, and most of all, studying logic and rhetoric. That’s what gets my wheels churning, and I delight in it. I don’t have the kind of mindset or personality to settle for less, and that doesn’t make me snobby or arrogant. I don’t think anyone should settle for what doesn’t make them really think or feel something. Not everyone expected much from me, and I met passive aggressive discouragement, so that just motivates me even more. It doesn’t even piss me off and I don’t hold grudges either, so thank you. 

Yet, college still isn’t the be-all and end-all of my life. It is important because right now my vocation is to be a student to the best of my ability, buuut it doesn’t govern my life. I’m only 19 and I don’t have every little detail figured out, but I’m at peace with that. I also won’t pretend to have it all figured out, because that’s just lying to myself, which is something I refuse to do. Except when I decide to go running and tell myself it’ll be great. Anyhow, I won’t go on a tirade about how wonderful my walk with God has been, because it hasn’t always been lovely and fantastical. Sure, I’ve had my amazing moments, I won’t ever deny that. Other times it’s been incredibly painful, leaving me breathless and on my knees, literally. Sometimes I have to sit back and just laugh, because I know so little when it comes to God and His wonderful and aggravating ways. Eventually I see the purpose in the pain, and it’s usually to purge and strengthen for some other seen or unseen purpose, so I don’t try to run from it anymore. That’s one thing I will always love about being Catholic; no matter what, there will always be purpose in the pain. I’m no expert, but pain is much easier when you just accept it and ride it all the way through, because that’s where the grace lies. 

Even so, my life isn’t a constant oh-woe-is-me tale, and I won’t paint it that way. Where pain has been, there is eventual joy, like Psalm 30:5. It’s a joy that only Christ gives. Sure I have difficult moments, but don’t we all? It’s almost like being Catholic makes everything 10x harder, since we’re not called to live ordinary lives. To be Catholic is to abandon the ordinary, to take up the extraordinary. I take whatever the Divine Will throws at me, and pray to God that I’m still somehow doing His will, or at least on my way to fulfilling it, whether I’m crawling or running. A few weeks ago an anon on Tumblr asked me what my greatest desire is, and I re-realized that that’s just it; to do His will and nothing more. The details of this will aren’t something I worry over anymore, because as long as it’s His will, I’m all good. Thank you, nosy anon. 

However, despite the roller coaster, I know who I am, and who I’m becoming. I’m about to get Tumblr-esque, but I’m really not the same person I was even a year ago, and I’m grateful for that. Of course I’m still me. I still like singing to Lana Del Rey (and currently Ed Sheeran), admiring the night sky, binge watching The Office, eating mochi, having good conversations, buying little plants, gladly paying for that extra shot of espresso, bantering with my friends, and so on. But those are all just exterior things. They shape and influence what I am, but aren’t who I am. My life is coming together like a puzzle, sometimes the pieces don’t fit and need to be examined more closely in order to find their niche. Which does happen, usually. Do I know what image is being formed? I occasionally catch faint glimmers of the finished product, but they also could just be smoke and mirrors. I suppose in a way we’re all like uncompleted puzzles. We won’t know until it’s done.

All of the above is great, and I’m not perfect. Even if I realize that, it doesn’t mean I have to acquiesce to that fact. I’ve learned to be totally honest with myself, and I am keenly aware of my faults and imperfections. I would hate to become stagnant in them. In The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila describes stagnant souls as becoming like putrid pools of water, if I remember correctly. The current situation isn’t the final destination, so we can’t treat it as such. Instead, she prompts her readers to remain as fresh pools of water, clear and constantly flowing. St. Teresa knows what’s up. I should probably read past the fourth mansion.

So there we have it. I’m still not sure what the point of this post was, so I won’t make one up. There’s no fancy clincher or call to action, because this is where I stop. Despite the word vomit, it could have been much worse. Sometimes word vomit is necessary. 
Just sometimes. 

Here Come the Brides

A few days ago I went to adoration, wearing my veil like I always do, when I don’t forget to switch it from my backpack to purse or vice versa. The struggles we Catholic college students undergo are trying. The next day as I was thinking about the last visit, I questioned myself, “Why do I really wear a veil?” I’ve been asked this before, and it seemed like a simple question with the usual answers:

Out of respect for the True Presence. 
As an inner and outer act of humility before God.
It’s scriptural.
As a reminder that mass is sacred.
It helps to focus on mass and prayer.
Simply because I want to.

So on and so forth. 

Some time ago I wrote a post about why I veil. Two actually. This third post is making the topic into a trifecta, it’ll probably be the last time I talk about it. The reasons listed above are all legitimate and valid reasons to wear a veil, but I felt there had to be more to this habit of mine. I’m pesky like that, I always think there has to be more than what’s already on the surface. I remembered what my friend once said to me; approaching Christ to receive Him in Holy Communion is like a bride approaching her spouse at the altar. What do brides wear? 

Veils. 

The Catholic Church is referred to as the Bride of Christ, with Christ as the Bridegroom.
In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul wrote, “Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord: because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the savior of his body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it: that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish.” (5:22-28) 

This passage is a beautiful example of what a true marriage should look like; reflecting the relationship between Christ and us, his bride the Church. Especially now that Lent has passed, we were and are reminded just how perfectly Christ delivered Himself up for the Church, by His Passion and death. Allowing Himself to be utterly destroyed, shedding every last drop of His Precious Blood, for the sake of sanctifying and cleansing us, His bride. In the same way, husbands are called to die to themselves in order to sanctify their wives and make them holy, while wives must imitate the Church by being subject to their husbands, in order to bring each other to Heaven. That being said, marriage definitely is not for the weak. Neither is Catholicism, since practicing sacrificial love is always part of the package, wed or not. The formula of love is pretty important, and like Matt Fradd said, if we don’t get love right, we won’t get life right. Simple as that. 

Where does the veil come in? Though I’m not sacramentally married, it doesn’t matter because when I go up to receive Christ in Communion, in a way I become a bride to Him, as all women do. I am His and He is mine. It’s only fitting that brides wear veils as they approach their spouses at the altar, as they prepare to give themselves, and vice versa. We give our imperfect selves to Christ, and He in turn, gives us His perfect self. In a sense, women are representing the union of Christ and His bride, the Church, who we all are.

Within the Church we see, hear, taste, smell and touch. It’s all very sensual, not allowing our faith to just be some fantastical idea that’s up in the clouds, cold, unseen and untouchable. So we have instruments like the rosary, incense, scapular, candles, vestments, holy water, and the veil, that bridge the link between Heaven and earth. The Eucharist is the most precious of all, Christ’s perfect gift of Himself to us.

I don’t veil to be better than anyone, or to draw attention to myself, or even for some personal agenda. At the end of it all, I wear my veil without shame because I love Christ, imperfect as that love may be. It will only be through humility, constant purification and aid from the Blessed Mother, that not only myself, but all of us, can come to love Christ perfectly, as He loved us… His bride the Church. 

Exactly What You Need to Give up for Lent

Lent begins in exactly one week, on the 18th of February, but you knew that, right? Where did the ordinary time go? 

*ba dum tsss*

Anyway, last year I came up with a list of 40 Lenten sacrifices, which became the second most popular, shared, and read post in the history of The Salty Catholic. The first was the one about summer modesty, which ruffled some feathers but why would anyone even bother defending immodesty in the first place, especially being Christian? A perfect example of the backward culture of today.

Since Lent is right around the corner, many of us are preparing to sacrifice our little, and not-so-little delights, fancies, and whims in order to die to ourselves physically, to elevate ourselves spiritually. That’s not to say that our bodies are bad, (Theology of the Body, anyone?), but we don’t always have to get whatever we desire, because then it’s easy to forget about the soul when so focused on the body. It’s both a difficult and wonderful thing to be able to say “no” to yourself, for the sake of a greater “yes”. In this Lenten case, the “yes” is cultivating a deeper spirituality and love for Our Crucified Lord. 

While giving up things like coffee and the snooze button are true and admirable sacrifices, if you cherish your sleep and are a heavy coffee drinker like I am,  
the most important thing to give up for Lent isn’t coffee, chocolate, the snooze button, or even social media.

Exactly what you need to give up for Lent is sin and vice. 

They go hand-in-hand; vice leads to sin, and sin feeds vice. However, on the flip side, virtue does the opposite, since it roots out sin and crushes vice. 

Though we (should be making) make the firm resolve to turn away from sin during each confession, the determination must not waver or fade away, especially not now with Lent. If anything, the resolve should be even greater, since our sins are what put Our Lord on the cross. 

To be more specific, let’s look at the seven deadly sins, and the seven virtues which counter them.

Lust vs. Chastity (purity)

Gluttony vs. Temperance 

Avarice vs. Charity 

Sloth vs. Diligence 

Wrath vs. Patience 

Envy vs. Kindness 

Pride vs. Humility 

Pride is the biggest one to beat, not only because it’s the most deadly and damning of all seven, as it is what caused Lucifer to fall, but because it is what spiritually blinds us from seeing our other sins and vices. Since pride is so incredibly blinding, it becomes difficult to see our faults by our own volition. In a state of prideful blindness our sins, vices and mistakes become invisible to us. They are definitely present; we simply refuse to see and remedy them. And if we refuse to see them, then they won’t go anywhere. There they will remain festering, and quietly, or not-so quietly, self-destruct our virtues, relationships, and souls. That’s not very enticing, is it? 

In Proverbs 3:34, it says, “God is stern in dealing with the arrogant, but to the humble He shows kindness.” To combat pride, we must be humble and exercise humility. St. Augustine said, “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” It is only with the eyes of humility that we can truly, honestly look at ourselves and begin root out our sins and vices, which is my challenge to you this Lent. Even so, if this still proves to be difficult, which is understandable, but still not an excuse, I encourage you to pray to Our Lady of Sorrows to reveal your vices to you. When Simeon prophesied that baby Jesus was set to be the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, he also said to the Blessed Mother, “and thy own heart a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts, thoughts shall be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35) Cling to Our Lady as a child clings to his mother, she will never disappoint. 

No one is perfect, and the concupiscence is real. However, that shouldn’t discourage us from striving for holiness, which begins with humility. As a tip, St. Faustina said, “He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus.” (Divine Mercy in my Soul, 267)

All in all, whatever you decide to sacrifice or work on for Lent, don’t forget to let love be your motivation. Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, it seems appropriate for this quote by Matt Fradd, since we’re on the topic of love: “We were made by love, to love, and for love. If we don’t get love right, we won’t get life right.” 

I sincerely hope you all prepare well, and have a spiritually fruitful Lenten season. Know that my prayers are with you, always. Pax.

How to Damage Your Soul in Six Easy Steps

Body and soul. That’s what makes us up, as human beings. There is also the heart, but I’m leaving that subject untouched, for now. 

We are both corporal and spiritual, made in the image and likeness of God. Lately I’ve been pondering the nature of the soul, especially in moments of metaphysical pain and joy. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph 366: “that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not “ produced” by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.” 

Our souls are precious treasures, which we either elevate as they were intended, or tarnish to the point of destruction. The latter is the easiest to achieve, to be perfectly honest, since it happens every single day, all around us, all the time. The mystic St. Teresa of Avila said it herself, “I saw souls falling into Hell like snowflakes.” 

You’re probably thinking: 

Yes, it did, and I’m being serious. But how does one damage their soul to the point of losing it? It’s usually quite simple, and not always by flagrantly rejecting God. It can happen over time, without anyone even knowing or realizing it. So if you want to learn how to damage your soul in six simple steps, keep reading. 

• Settle for being a good person 

We’ve all heard it; “As long as I’m a good person, I’ll be fine.”

However, that’s not fine. It’s far from “fine”. Let’s look to Ven. Fulton Sheen to shine some light on the topic: “Too many people get credit for being good, when they are only being passive. They are too often praised for being broadminded when they are so broadminded they can never make up their minds about anything.” 

Passive? That’s not a very appealing trait to have, yet many settle for it, and so we have a near-whole society that doesn’t know whether it’s coming or going. The good-person card is nothing more than an excuse not to try, or even simply just do. It’s a sell out and insult to human nature, because we are capable of much, much more than merely being “good”. 

It’s very similar to the “don’t judge me” card, which translates to, “I know I’m doing wrong, but don’t you dare tell me otherwise because I’m too comfortable in my wrongness.” Then which translates to immaturity, with a touch of pride.

Souls don’t get to Heaven by being “good”. It happens by being holy and living a holy life. Why settle for being “good”, when you totally and completely have the ability to be holy? 

• Be tepid towards spirituality, especially your own

Revelation 3:16 sums this up pretty well: “But because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot, not cold, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.” 

Straight from the Douay-Rheims, aka the most accurately translated Bible. 

Of course we will go through spiritual dry spells, but I’m not talking about that. I’m referring to overall tepidity, the kind that just is, simply because that’s all we can mistakenly believe there is. This includes being “meh” towards prayer, exercising virtues, discerning our vocations, receiving Holy Communion, our relationship with the Blessed Mother, upholding what we believe as Catholics, and so on and so forth. 

When we are lukewarm, tepid, apathetic, indifferent or whatever else it can be called, we do not grow. How can you expect yourself to grow in virtue, love for God, love for Our Lady, truly appreciate the mass, deepen your prayer life or even increase in holiness, if that zeal isn’t there? Maybe this is the wake-up call you need, I know it’s what I myself constantly need. Nevertheless, hope is never lost, because we can always call upon the Holy Spirit to increase in us His gifts, especially that of zeal. After all, Jesus did promise that the Paraclete would abide with us forever. (John 14:16)

• Treat confession like a chore

Once the awe and humility towards this sacrament is gone, so are the good confessions. Thus they become vaguer, and sin becomes more common, with less penitence. It just becomes something we as Catholics do every now and then, just because we have to. This goes hand in hand with the previous point, tepidity. 

I say “awe” because God’s bottomless ocean of mercy isn’t something to be taken lightly, or abused. We should always run, not walk, to this sacrament with the utmost humility, because we are poor sinners in need of grace. Not only humility, but also reverence and deep gratitude, because we don’t deserve the mercy God gives us, yet in His infinite love and goodness, He desires us to come back to him, always. 

• Have no or very little devotion 

I challenge you to name a saint who did not have a devotion of any kind. In the meantime, let’s think of who did. St. John Bosco was devoted to Mary Help of Christians. St. Gemma Galgani had a devotion to St. Gabriel Possenti, who in turn was devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows. The Little Flower was devoted to the Holy Face of Jesus. Bl. Nellie was devoted to Baby Jesus. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati was not only devoted to Our Lady, but also to Our Eucharistic Lord. The Holy Father has a devotion to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. 

The list goes on and on. They all came from different backgrounds, vocations, and stories, but they all have one thing in common; they each achieved holiness. We stumble and fall, it happens. However, when we have a solid devotion it becomes a little easier to get back up, and fall less often.

• Ignore or near ignore the Blessed Mother 

The greatest devotion we can ever possibly have, is to the Blessed Mother. She never loses what is given to her, and when we give ourselves totally and completely to her, you can be rest assured that she will do absolutely everything in her power to save your soul and bring it to her Son… to Jesus through Mary.

Ignoring her is one of, if not the most unfortunate thing a Catholic, or Christian can do. Pope Francis has even said that any Christian who does not have Mary as mother, is an orphan. To ever so slightly bend St. Josemaria’s famous quote on mass, I say this; if praying the holy rosary is too long for you, it’s because your love for the Blessed Mother is too short. 

For a better look on exactly why we should love Our Lady, click here. 

• Don’t take Hell seriously 

When we don’t take the possibility of Hell seriously, we don’t take sin seriously, and so in the end, we don’t take the Devil himself seriously. He’s a liar. A pompous, arrogant snake, who more often than not, comes to us as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The greatest thing he can do is convince us that he either doesn’t exist, or that he can’t effect us. Of course he can’t, but we have to resist it. When we just assume that he can’t, that’s when we’re in trouble, because it’s a vicious cycle, as mentioned earlier; by not taking him seriously, we don’t take sin seriously, and by not taking sin seriously, we don’t take Hell seriously. 

However, understand that we don’t take him seriously in the sense of believing his empty promises or fearing him, but in being aware of the fact that he hates us more than we can comprehend, and he will do anything and everything to keep us from our ultimate union with God. 

____

So there you have it, six ways to damage your soul. Now the question is (gotta love the Socratic method), what will you do next? 

Pax. (or scroll below for personal notes you may or may not be inclined to read)

Our Lady Undoer of Knots,
pray for us

_____

I know I go months and months without writing anything, and I wish I could and had the ability to come up with new material more regularly, but that’s just the way it goes. When it comes, it comes. When it doesn’t, you don’t get emails about new posts. We’ll see how this year progresses. In the meantime, a big thank you to my loyal readers, my prayers are with you, I promise. Please also pray for me, because life has been interesting, and by interesting, I mean somewhat difficult, per the usual prayer request. Pray for me, and I’ll pray for you. Deal? Deal. 

Lastly, for a super cool and amazing novena for any situation, look no further than this one right here. I may have promulgated it in the past, but more Momma Mary is never a bad thing. 

Until next time, stay salty Catholics, and pax.

Five Reasons Why I’ll Never be Liberal

Let’s be honest, the reason I don’t blog very often, is because my blog isn’t my personal diary. I have a spiritual journal for that. However, there has been quite a few exciting on-goings, but I suppose that’s just growing up and moving along with life. Most importantly with the Divine Will. Hooray for Momma Mary being the perfect example of absolute conformity, when I need so much help with that. Mother really does know best. 

Let’s talk about liberalism. You’re either liberal, or you’re a hateful and intolerant person who wants to watch the world burn. At least that’s how they paint it, though to be fair, I have met some nice libs.

While liberalism is a political leaning, it’s also a way of living, (barely) thinking and behaving. One day I began to think to myself, “What if I was a liberal? Wait a minute, nope.” 

I just couldn’t and can’t do it without lying to myself, here’s why: 

5) I value logic over emotions

Now, for the record, we’re talking about plain logic in general. What is logic? The principles of correct reasoning? The study of valid reasoning?  Well, yes, that and much more. It’s used in philosophy and mathematics, so it has to be important, otherwise we wouldn’t use it at all. Emotions are also important, but they have no place when it comes to logic, since emotions change. That’s natural, but not productive when it comes to logic. Just because I feel something, that doesn’t make it correct, or even true. This is because what we feel, is not what is the truth, because truth is not subjective. It’s always been objective. It doesn’t bend to our whims, and it never will. If you think it does, then it’s probably not the truth. This is a major pitfall in liberalism. If the sky is green because you feel it’s green, then by all means, it’s green. If anyone says otherwise, file a lawsuit and force everyone else to also acknowledge it’s green. However, that still doesn’t make it green. Sorry. But I’m not sorry. To explore a bit more in this ideology, if we all live however we think is correct, because we feel it’s correct, instead of living by what is correct, then we fall into being a morally relativistic society. 

But wait. 

We’re already there.

However, valuing logic over emotions doesn’t make you a robot. It makes you a truth seeker, and an eventual truth slayer, like Matt Walsh. If we are never open to being wrong, then we’ll never be open to being right.

4) I’m Open Minded 

 To have an open mind is to be willing to see the other side of things, willing to be wrong, and willing to learn. It takes humility. When we’re so close minded, we don’t allow ourselves to grow, and instead, we become grown children who are always right, even when we’re wrong. Yet the ones who swear they have the most open minds of them all, are the ones whose minds fall out, just like G.K Chesterton said. That’s exactly the case with your typical lib. It’s one thing to be solid on your opinions, but it’s a whole new field to be so close minded about it, that you can hardly fathom the idea that you just might be incorrect. 
What horror. I can’t bring myself to think that way, because it teeters on pride, and it’s unwise to assume you’re right on all matters. 

Sure, I might not agree, but I’m still willing to listen, think about it, and maybe change my mind, if it’s sound and true. If not, then at least I have your perspective and I was open to it. The end. It’s not that difficult. 

3) I value human life and dignity at all stages

From the womb to the tomb, my friends. We live in a culture that simply doesn’t respect life like it used to. It hardly respects life at all, though that tide is turning. However, liberals are notorious for failing to respect the lives of the unborn, and of the elderly. It’s ironic because they seem to forget that they were once unborn, and one day, God willing, they’ll grow to be one of the elderly. We see them clamoring for abortion on demand and without apology. 
Not far off, they’re for the right to euthanize those who need the most care. Not cool. All human life has dignity and value, no matter what the circumstance is. Circumstances are temporary, dignity is forever. 

2) I Believe in Personal Responsibility 

This one is pretty self-explanatory. We can’t run around expecting free stuff for the sake of free stuff, or blame others when we don’t get our way. Again, we become perpetual children who feel we’re entitled to everything and all things, just because we deserve it.
For what?

Who knows.

That doesn’t make for a productive society. It never has, hence why socialism doesn’t thrive. That makes a sub point, I also can’t ever be liberal because I don’t believe in socialism. My apologies, Mr. Branson. Before anyone blows a gasket, I fully realize that not all liberals are for socialism, but you can’t deny that this ideology leans towards it. As I exercise my right to free speech, I believe everyone has to be responsible for himself, because that’s how people grow up. What about the helpless, you say? By all means we should care for the truly helpless, nothing wrong with that, it’s what Christ calls us to do. However, to the people who are not helpless but just entitled; grow up, it’ll do you good. I promise. 

                                

1) I’m Catholic 

Hence, The Salty Catholic. Before I’m conservative, liberal, independent, green party or whatever, I am a Catholic faithful to the Magisterium, above all else. Complete truth lies in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and what’s to be found outside of the fullness of truth? (not the fullness of truth, that’s what)
That’s exactly why I’ll always be Catholic.

It’s been said many times, that there are no conservative Catholics or liberal Catholics. Rightly so. There are faithful Catholics, and there are heretics. 

Oh, a heretic? 

For some reason, the word “heretic” has become taboo. It simply means one who believes heresy, which is what is contrary to Catholic doctrines and teachings. Which means that there’s lots of heretics running around, spreading more heresy. Not good, case in point being that the Church needs good, solidly catechized, and most of all, holy priests, religious and lay people to reverse this trend. It is happening though, Deo gratias.

Here’s the point, you can’t be both liberal and Catholic, because then you’ll end up an unfaithful Catholic. Again, not good, as it turns into a hot mess, since it’s all or nothing.
It usually goes like this, “Well I’m Catholic, but I don’t believe in a, b, and c.” 

or: “(I was raised Catholic, but) I just can’t agree with the Church on d, or e.” 

But there’s hope, because there’s always hope with God. We’re not talking about pseudo campaign “hope”. Too bad we couldn’t believe in it. 

Now, if you are a Catholic who struggles with accepting Church teachings, take some advice. Get yourself properly catechized and go to confession. I say (type) that with the utmost charity. I’m not salty all the time. It all boils down to, do (or don’t do) this out of love for God. But if you take my advice, you’ll find that out for yourself. 

’Till next time, pax. 

The Silent Drug

There’s a new plague in our society. It has been lurking over time, yet gradually growing, infecting, and spreading wherever it can reach. 
Sometimes it’s silent. Sometimes it’s a whisper. Sometimes it rears its’ ugly head, demanding to be seen and heard by all, only to take all down with it. 

Pornography. 

Yes, I’m finally going there. It’s nearly impossible to go anywhere, turn on any channel, any radio station, anything, without it being pornographic, even in the slightest away. More than anything, it’s pathetic. 

Pathetic because these organizations, producers, directors, designers and whatnot are reducing all to cheap sexuality to force-feed to the people. Our latest example is 50 Shades of Grey. But, we as people can rise above it, and be better than that.

What happened to human sexuality being special? Being treasured? Being revered instead of tossed everywhere and in everyone’s face? Porn is a disease of its’ own, and more than anything, it kills love. It really and truly does. 

Love is cool. 

Porn is not cool. 

It never will be, because nothing is better or cooler than real love. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until my voice goes out. We all long for love, and that isn’t a bad thing. It shows that we desire to be unselfish, to think of and eventually give ourselves to another. However, love can’t be found in pornography, because porn warps and distorts the idea of love, by making it solely about yourself, instead of anyone else. The awesome thing about love is that it calls you to forget yourself, for the good of your beloved. 

Porn is the antithesis of love.

However, our modern society definitely isn’t understanding that concept, but that should only be part of our motivation to go against this tide, pursue authentic love, and rise above porn. Although pornography is rampant in the world today, not all hope is lost, because in the end, love always triumphs. 

Which is where I introduce to you, Fight The New Drug 

This is an organization I am very excited about, and if you haven’t heard of them or checked them out before, I strongly urge you to do so. Like, now. They’re doing an amazing job of spreading the word that porn is harmful, not only through the merch and media exposure, but also through the hard facts on the harmful effects of porn use. 

So remember kids, love is cool, and anything else opposite of that, just isn’t.

Our Lady, an Announcement & Salty Carmel

First off, happy solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel! May she bless, protect and save us all from everlasting death, through the means of the Brown Scapular. St. Simon Stock, pray for us. 

Now, you may or may not have noticed that something is different around here. I’ll give you a second to look around and find it.

Found it yet? 

That’s right. I’m no longer going by “The Cali Catholic Girl”. While the title was a cute creation, and I’m grateful it helped me make some sort of name for myself and my obscure little blog, it was time to move along. Not too drastically life changing or even shocking. The content won’t change at all, simply the blog title and url. 

So here we are. 

The Salty Catholic. 

Aside from inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I chose this name for a number of reasons, but I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s just make a short list instead.

• As Catholics, we are called to be the light of the world, and salt of the earth, as read in Matthew 5:13-16. Also, by renaming the blog as The Salty Catholic, it personally pays homage to a deal I made a long time ago; to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. You can find more on that in my memoirs, many decades from now. Stay tuned. 

So here’s our equation so far: Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic

• In the Catholic Church, salt is viewed as a powerful sacramental when it is blessed or exorcised. I prefer exorcised, just to give it that extra oomph. Back to the drawing board: Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic

• Lastly, in modern culture among our youth, the word “salty” has become an adjective to describe someone who is a bit bitter or testy. In all honesty, it perfectly reflects my personality, because I am Catholic, and I can be salty. For however long you’ve graced this little blog with your presence, you should already have an idea of that fact. I’m definitely not salty all the time, but I also won’t deny that that is how I can be. Again, Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic. 

So, it makes sense. To celebrate today’s special solemnity and word play, I’ll be attempting to make salted caramel. Or should I say salted Carmel?

It only makes sense. Pax.

The Crumbling Cookie Monster

Since the beginning of Girl Scout Cookie season, not one box of deliciousness has been in my possession. Yes, I have joined the CookieCott. Technically, I haven't purchased Girl Scout cookies in years due to their affiliation with Planned Parenthood and radical pro-choice feminists, which they blatantly deny, yet the evidence is out in broad daylight. However, this year the boycott came out stronger than ever. Not surprisingly, the organization is not happy.

But hey, as a practicing Catholic, it would be imprudent to support an organization that tries to hide their support of another organization that does 1/3 of the nation's abortions, pushes graphic sex-ed on children and is morally relativistic. Even by buying (an overpriced, might I add) box of cookies. Sorry, little uniformed girls. It's totally not their fault, because I would totally buy their cookies if their up-top leaders weren't pushing this liberal, feminist, pro-choice agenda on them. We should be raising our girls to embrace their true femininity, not the former points which only degrade it. 

I applaud LifeNews.com for constantly uncovering and calling out Planned Parenthood on their foolishness, specifically this time around in regards to their connection with Girl Scouts. Much like Planned Parenthood, (remember Komen?) a GSUSA executive has threatened LifeNews because of the exposure. Lovely... not. 

So let's sum it up. In between the support of radical feminists tied in with the pro-choice/anti-life agenda, which is attached to strong immorality, and now the lies and threats, myself, and many others across the nation, will continue to boycott GSUSA, by withholding our funds and support, without apology.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Later, Today and Forever

New Year, new blog look. Pink is cute but the eye can only take so much of the obnoxiously adorable color, so voila, I present to you dear readers, the new look. There’s also a few new extra tidbits around, but I’ll leave you to explore for yourself. I hope you all had a holy and blessed Christmas, and also a happy New Year. I personally didn’t make any resolutions, because I believe in making firm resolutions to improve oneself throughout the whole year, even every day if needed. I think of it this way; hell is forever and full of people who said, “Later”. The saints didn’t become saints by saying, “Later”. They turned that later into today. That’s where confession comes in handy, because we cannot change ourselves without first cleaning up our souls. That’s like having one foot on the brake pedal but still expecting the car to go. It doesn’t exactly work out very well. Remember that a state of grace equals a happy place.

So now that the season of Advent has passed, we’ll move into ordinary time, and then dive into the Lenten season. Before I get too ahead of myself, one of the many things I love about the Church is the changing of liturgical seasons. It allows us to walk with Christ from His birth to His death, thus forging a stronger relationship with Him, year in and year out, today and forever. Think about it; in just one year, we can meditate upon the Annunciation, the birth of Christ, His hidden life, His public ministry, His Passion, Death and glorious Resurrection. That’s not even mentioning the other subjects of meditation in between, like St. Joseph’s perfect obedience, the adoration of the Magi, the sorrows of our Blessed Mother, the miracles by Jesus and so, so much more that hasn’t even scratched the surface. So much meditation, so little time. Yet it’s all the better reason to not allow our minds to be idle, as idleness is the Enemy’s playground. In his book, “An Introduction to the Devout Life”, St. Francis de Sales mentions that the more we meditate upon the life of Christ, the more we’ll come to know and imitate Him in His perfection. St. Francis compares to it to a child learning to speak, sweetly lisping the words he emulates from his mother. You gotta love St. Francis de Sales and his analogies. 

Meditation can be difficult because of distractions, but it’s not impossible. For help, look to Our Lady, the Mystical Rose, who never denies to help any of her children. That title has to be my personal favorite, and one day I was wondering what it meant, and some time later the answer popped up on right on my very Catholic Facebook newsfeed. The Lord provides. She is the Mystical Rose because as seen in Scripture, she often kept things in her heart to ponder, and through her perfection, she is the highest mystic. The Rose part comes in as the rose is the queen of all flowers, and Our Lady is Queen of Heaven and Earth. Another legitimate answer can be found here. 

One of the many reasons I embraced more Traditional Catholicism was because of the silence. Especially when it comes to Catholic youth ministries, silence is nearly impossible to be found. It’s almost taboo. In the end of my experimentation with the modern Catholic youth ministry, which is usually loud and consists of Protestant influenced notions and happy-feel-good-but-watered-down teachings and ideas, I was aching for silence. It’s like the youth are being force-fed all this clanging noise in an attempt to be modern and “speak” to them, because allowing the silence of Christ to do that is apparently just too much to ask for. Anyway, after that ship sailed, the new harbor was very quiet. However, docked in that stillness, my soul wasn’t emptied and it didn’t disappear. Rather, I was able to embrace Christ in a whole new way, through simple meditation, and He completely flooded my soul with Himself and His mother. Silence isn’t only golden, it’s sacred. Through sacred silence we learn to quiet ourselves, to focus more fully on the Divine Mysteries and meditations. Holy Mother Church is so rich in subjects of meditation, not a moment of our lives should be wasted on idle or silly thoughts. 

We are all called to holiness. No one is exempt. Take a look at the great saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John the Cross, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Padre Pio and so many more. They all had one thing in common; they silently contemplated divine mysteries. My challenge for you this year is to take time to be silent and meditate. Meditate on the courage of the martyrs, the conviction of the Apostles, or even on the glories of Heaven. Especially when we meditate on Heaven, we’re contemplating an eternal joy with God, which doesn’t last a fleeting moment or a few hours, but forever. Ven. Fulton Sheen could not have put it more beautifully, 

“We become like that which we love: If one loves the material, one becomes like the material; if one loves the spiritual, one is converted into it in his outlook, his ideals, and his aspirations. Given this relationship between love and prayer, it is easy to understand why some souls say: “I have no time to pray." A higher form of prayer than petition and a potent remedy against the externalization of life-is meditation. Meditation is a little like a daydream or a reverie, but with two important differences: In meditation we do not think about the world or ourselves, but about God; and instead of using the imagination to build idle castles in Spain, we use the will to make resolutions that will draw us nearer to one of the Father's mansions. Meditation is a more advanced spiritual act than “saying prayers”; it may be likened to the attitude of a child who breaks into the presence of a mother saying: “I’ll not say a word, if you will just let me stay here and watch you.” -Ven. Fulton Sheen

It's Rose, Not Pink

One minute I'm prancing around in my Lady of Mount Carmel costume, the next I'm panicking over black widows hiding behind the Christmas decoration boxes. True story. Unlike most of America, I didn't forget good ole' Thanksgiving, but the transition from October to December was fast. A little too fast, but we all say that every single year, don't we? Anywho, in my blogging absence* I've been busy with homework (aka penance), being continuously sick, and somehow hanging out with lots of brothers and seminarians. Cue the #CatholicGirlProblems. God truly does have the greatest sense of humor, praise be to Him. But in all seriousness, continue to pray for an increase in vocations... not to forget holy matrimony, because that's where religious vocations are fostered. Priests, brothers, sisters and nuns don't pop out of thin air, you know. Don't get me wrong, it's great that so many young men and women are courageously answering the call, but holy marriage is also a very important vocation that isn't to be forgotten. However, in the end of it all, whether or not these men and women become religious or not, the Church still gains a more faithful and stronger Catholic; win-win situation.

Moving along, we're all aware that it's Advent! Deo gratias, baby Jesus is on His way. On the third Sunday of Advent, we wear pink. I mean rose. In all honesty, at the Latin mass I went to this past Sunday, I was interiorly geeking out over the rose colored chasuble. So. Cool. With Christmas season comes the Christmas trees, Nativity Scenes, assortment of treats and pretending that empty wrapping paper tubes are didgeridoos. Aside from the preparation for the festivities, are we really ready for Christmas? I'm not talking about it in a material or decorative way. 

Are you really and truly ready to welcome baby Jesus into your heart? 

On Christmas Day we're remembering how Christ came to us in the utmost innocence and vulnerability; as a newborn baby. The little King of kings, lying in a manger wrapped up nice and snug by the Blessed Mother, with dear St. Joseph protecting the both of them. This is the analogy I gave my confirmation class: if you were to invite Christ into your home, would you want it to be spic and span or dirty and cluttered? Chances are, you'd want it to be immaculately clean. With that in mind, the best way to prepare for the coming of Christ is a good, sacramental confession. It might be scary or daunting, but by confessing all of your deepest and darkest sins, you're only opening up your soul to the love and mercy of Christ. You can either shut Him out like the inkeepers of Bethlehem, or make room from Him in the manger of your heart. 

I pray you all have a blessed Christmas season, filled with love and peace of Christ. Not happy holidays, or happy Festivus for the rest of us, but merry Christmas to each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart.

* Just as a side note, since I'm not able to blog as much as I would like, you can follow me on Twitter, @AlwaysYvonne , to keep up with my Catholic shenanigans and whatnot.