Growing up in my family we were not the type that ever read the Bible together or learned how to pray pray with Scripture.
I always heard Scripture at Mass and I knew lots of stories about different saints. But I never had a personal relationship with the Word of God.
It wasn't until my mid to late twenties I really began to fall in love with Scripture in a much more personal, intimate way.
Several years ago I started to discover the many heroic, strong women of the Old and New Testament.
I came to see myself and my story in the stories of women like Ruth, Judith, Tamar, Esther, Mary Magdalen, Martha, and Anna the prophetess. Each of them taught me something deeper about myself.
So when I heard the the Blessed Is She Lent Journal would feature a variety women from both the Old and New Testament I got super pumped!
Written by Laura Kelly Fanucci, it promises to be as rich and fruitful as the one she also wrote for Advent this year. Each week will look at different women of the Bible.
Over the course of Lent we will have spent time praying and reflecting with a variety of women from both the Old and New Testament. Every journal I have used has been a gift to me, some in huge ways and others in a more simple, quiet manner.
Along with the journal itself, we have additional options such as the Lent bundle, which includes a beautiful hand painted print and Marian prayer cards.
And of course we have the first ever Catholic Journaling Bible available! I have been loving mine even though I worry about making it look ugly from time to time ;-).
Ever since Blessed Is She began, we have always sold out of both the Advent and Lent journals. So please be sure to purchase your copy sooner rather than later.
Whether it is your first or fifth time doing a liturgical journal with us, I so look forward to spending the 40 days Lent with my sisters in Christ all over the globe.
To purchase your copies of She Who Believed or any other goodies, mosey on over here.
I feel like Christy in that I feel like I forgot how to blog. I don't think if I've ever been great at it but I have enjoyed it and most especially the friends I have made through blogging.
I have always loved writing but as blogging has changed over time, my commitment to it has had ups and downs.
It might not earth-shattering or well-polished but I want to make more time this year for putting words here and hopefully having more conversations with you here.
Last week I sat down to go through my PowerSheets from 2017 to reflect and look back on all the moments of the last year.
So many good things. Some hard things too.
A week into January and it feels like so.much. has already happened in 2018.
I have spent lots of time snuggling my sweet nephew and getting over a nasty cold.
Tomorrow I start my job as a Pastoral Associate at a new parish.
After Beth did one particular Teachable Tuesday video on a saint and a word for 2018. I have been asking God for a word each new year for several years right now but never done the same with choosing a saint.
The word I ended up with was PRESENT. When the saint name generator gave me St. Therese of Lisieux I inwardly groaned.
Before you throw rocks at me, I think part of the reason is Therese and I are definitely opposites of everything from personality, temperament, and Myers-Briggs. After I stopped my whining and gnashing of teeth for not getting someone else, I decided that there are probably some lessons St. Therese has to teach me in the coming year.
Who knows maybe she'll have even more to teach me about being present! :)
Whatever your word or goals for 2018 are, I am hoping the New Year is full of hope and promise.
We live in a culture where access to pornography is as easy to get a hold of as a mobile order for a grande Starbucks latte.
I have been watching and reading a lot as #metoo grew louder and people started to take notice. We've all watched as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and many others were fired over accusations of sexual assault on women. For several months now, sexual assault has dominated our media and news.
But in all the news coverage and articles I have read, there is one connection that no one in the secular world is making.
Which is?
That we live in a world that accepts and normalizes pornography. Sexual assault, abuse, manipulation, and the objectification of women all come back to rampant porn use.
It all goes back to the porn.
And nobody is talking about it.
When pornography is the norm, is socially acceptable, it opens the gate to objectify and use another person.
When its the norm to use another person you see the mess we are dealing with today in the culture.
If we really want to do justice to #metoo and women who have been sexually abused, we have to acknowledge the horrific damage pornography is creating in our world and culture and relationships.
We've heard snippets from some people in the media.
Elizabeth Smart shared her kidnappers exposing her to pornography made her captivity a living Hell. Serial killer Ted Bundy said in an interview watching porn only takes you so far and eventually you need harder materials.
Nothing makes more money online than pornography. NOTHING.
The human body and soul is treated cheaply and without dignity.
We have the science that viewing porn actually re-wires the brain in ways that negatively affect how men and women view and treat each other. There are pictures of the human brain that show what happens chemically when porn is watched and the brain looks very similar to brains addicted to hard core drugs.
And yet there are still people who deny or downplay such findings.
We wonder why these horrific #metoo stories keep coming out. Is porn the only reason? No, but it is one of the main contributing factors.
If we want to do justice to women who have been sexually abused and manipulated we absolutely have to address a core problem that says it is okay to use women and treat them as objects.
If we cannot agree on that or start from this foundational point, then what the heck are we doing?
So many people (both men and women) have been harmed by the misuse of sexuality that because of things like #metoo everyone is more aware or talking about it now.
People are more aware. Stories are being shared and experiences being validated.
But if we want to do right by victims everywhere, we cannot afford to sweep its connection to pornography under the rug.
If people are going to stand up for the rights of women who have been abused and silenced over the years, then we also have to speak to this reality which is affected by a pornified culture.
