by Catherine | Oct 20, 2014 | Faith
Whoops! Sorry I missed a week on this new “regular feature” on the blog.
In case you missed it last time, this is a weekly opportunity (on Mondays) for us to swap prayer intentions. The goal is to actively unite our intentions to the cross for one another, putting those prayers “to work”–especially in times of suffering (no matter how small).
My intentions this week:
- Continued patience with the kiddos
- Being a better wife all around (generosity in time, focused attention, acts of service, using more words of affirmation)
- Our GodTeens (especially those unsure of God’s existence or why He matters in their lives)
What about you? What prayer intentions can I start “putting to work” tonight at adoration? I’ll add them to my prayer journal and bring them with me. I will continue to bring these intentions to my prayer time throughout the week.
Thank you for praying for us! You’re in my prayers this week, too!
by Catherine | Oct 17, 2014 | Everything Else
It was time for a hair intervention! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since April. Between the move, getting settled, and the start of the school year, my locks fell further and further down the list of priorities on the totem pole. I had dry, dead ends, and my spring highlights had grown out so long that I looked like I had a poser ombre look going.
Here’s my before picture:
I finally got in yesterday, and I feel like I lost ten pounds. Maybe I should have weighed myself before and after because I probably DID lose one pound! Every little bit counts, right? Right???
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| So long, dead mousy brown hair! |
My hair isn’t super thick, but I do have a lot of it, and it has some natural curl. I asked the stylist for something versatile that I can wear curly or straight. I wanted a big, swoopy bang across my brow, but I wanted it juuuuuuuuust long enough that I can still tuck it behind my ear or pin it back. These were my inspiration pictures for the style. Thanks, Keri Russell and Charlize Theron:
For the color, Miss Emma Stone was my muse:
Here’s my version:
It’s so much easier to get ready with half of the hair, and it’s fun to have some new color. Whatcha think?
Don’t be like me and wait until it’s hair intervention time to make an appointment. Get a date night on the calendar, call your stylist, and rock a new ‘do! It’s amazing how a little cut and color can put some extra pep in my step.
by Catherine | Oct 17, 2014 | Everything Else
It was time for a hair intervention! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since April. Between the move, getting settled, and the start of the school year, my locks fell further and further down the list of priorities on the totem pole. I had dry, dead ends, and my spring highlights had grown out so long that I looked like I had a poser ombre look going.
Here’s my before picture:
I finally got in yesterday, and I feel like I lost ten pounds. Maybe I should have weighed myself before and after because I probably DID lose one pound! Every little bit counts, right? Right???
|
| So long, dead mousy brown hair! |
My hair isn’t super thick, but I do have a lot of it, and it has some natural curl. I asked the stylist for something versatile that I can wear curly or straight. I wanted a big, swoopy bang across my brow, but I wanted it juuuuuuuuust long enough that I can still tuck it behind my ear or pin it back. These were my inspiration pictures for the style. Thanks, Keri Russell and Charlize Theron:
For the color, Miss Emma Stone was my muse:
Here’s my version:
It’s so much easier to get ready with half of the hair, and it’s fun to have some new color. Whatcha think?
Don’t be like me and wait until it’s hair intervention time to make an appointment. Get a date night on the calendar, call your stylist, and rock a new ‘do! It’s amazing how a little cut and color can put some extra pep in my step.
by Catherine | Oct 9, 2014 | Faith
Yesterday, I shared the story of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman facing a terminal cancer diagnosis. Brittany plans to take a pill on November 1 that will kill her.
Praise God, the voices that object to suicide are getting louder, praying that Brittany will change her mind. Among those voices is Kara Tippetts. Kara, a young wife and mother of four, is also facing a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Kara embodies courage as she battles for her life, entering fully into whatever suffering may come, trusting that Christ can meet her in her suffering and bring blessing to herself and her family as she suffers well. Please read Kara’s letter to Brittany. You will know that you are reading Truth.
“Suffering is not the absence of goodness, it is not the absence of beauty, but perhaps it can be the place where true beauty can be known.”
I pray that Kara’s words can soften Brittany’s heart and help her to consider another option. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Brittany accepted Kara’s invitation to meet, talk heart to heart, and share one another’s stories? Please, God, open Brittany’s heart to hearing Kara’s beautiful message.
Kara Tippetts is facing her battle with cancer with the same courage and faith of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano. Chiara is on her way to becoming the first “Generation X” Saint.
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| Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, image from Life Teen |
Chiara was diagnosed with an osteocarcoma as a 17-year-old. She received the treatments and fought hard against the cancer. She accepted the diagnosis with great courage and faith. She said, “For you, Jesus…If you want it, I want it, too!” As the cancer progressed, Chiara put her suffering to work. Focolare.org recounts:
The more the illness progressed, the more the experience intensified for Chiara. At one point she refused morphine because “It takes away my lucidity” and “I can only offer my pain to Jesus. It’s all I have left.”
Finally, on 7 October 1990, her “departure”. One last smile for Ruggero and then a goodbye for Maria Teresa: “Mamma, be happy, because I’m happy!” There was a huge crowd at the funeral and, as she had requested, Chiara Luce was buried in a white dress, “like a bride going to Jesus”.
Shortly before dying, Chiara Luce exclaimed: “The youth are the future. I can no longer run, but I’d like to pass the Olympic torch on to them. The young people have only one life and it’s worth it to spend it well!” The 25,000 young people who attended her beatification ceremony in Rome on 25 September 2010, demonstrate that Chiara Luce Badano has given witness to a model of holiness that can be lived by everyone!
My friend, Emily, pointed out that the anniversary of Chiara’s death was just two days ago on October 7. Chiara’s feast, October 29, is just a few days before Brittany Maynard’s chosen date of death–November 1, All Saints Day. Please join me in praying that Chiara Luce Badano and all of the saints in heaven can intercede for Brittany. Pray that Brittany will hear the stories of heroic people like Kara Tippetts or Chiara Luce Badano. Pray that hearing their stories will help her to face her own battle with renewed courage and strength. God, please bless Kara, Chiara, and all those who have united their suffering to You abundantly in heaven. May we all follow their example and start putting our suffering to work, uniting it to the cross on behalf of Brittany Maynard and all of the other souls contemplating suicide.
Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, pray for us!
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend Brittany in battle!
Come, Holy Spirit! Be with Brittany, now and at the hour of her death.
Amen!
by Catherine | Oct 8, 2014 | Faith
Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman facing a stage 4 brain tumor, says that she has a right to “death with dignity.” “Death with dignity” is a euphemism for suicide with a prescription drug. Maynard’s doctors told her in April that she likely had 6 months left to live. She intends to take a prescription medication on November 1 to end her life while maintaining that it is not suicide.
“Death With Dignity”?
The phrase “death with dignity” reveals a misunderstanding of what dignity is in the first place. The presumption is that there’s a way to die without dignity.
Well, what is dignity anyway?
We get the word dignity from the Latin dignitas meaning “worth.” All human beings have dignity–inherent value and worth. The way we die has nothing to do with our worth. We have dignity because we are human. Period.
How did we get our dignity as humans?
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26)
We have dignity because God gave it to us. He made us in His image and likeness. What can be more dignified than being made in the image and likeness of our Creator? When we understand what dignity really is, we understand that it is impossible to die without it.
So, what do people mean when they say that they are seeking “death with dignity”? They seem to mean that it is undignified, or beneath the worth of a human, to have to suffer. We hear this language all the time–especially when the person envisions themselves “becoming a burden” to loved ones or going through the humiliation of losing their physical or mental capacities.
It seems ridiculous to hear that line of thinking and gaze upon a crucifix.
Or look at images from The Passion of the Christ
Christ suffered.
He was humiliated.
Would we even dream of saying that He died without dignity?
He is God, and He went through humiliation and suffering before His death for us. Nonetheless, we seem to think that we are above certain ways of dying.
While we don’t believe that suffering is good, and we can make appropriate medical interventions to avoid it unnecessarily, we may still suffer as we die. Palliative care is a wonderful blessing and gift for the dying, but we are not guaranteed that death will be as neat, tidy, convenient, efficient, or easy as we try to make the rest of our lives. So, if our death comes with suffering, we might as well put it to work.
Just like the woman in the story, I am a 29-year-old woman full of hope and plans for the future. I have no idea what God has in store for me. I pray that His plan includes raising our children into adulthood and living a long, healthy life, but it may not.
I’ve never received a stage 4 brain cancer diagnosis, but as Fr. John Riccardo says, “we’re all terminal,” from the moment we’re born. I don’t get to choose when or how I’ll die, but I pray that God will give me the strength to do it well. My life is pure gift, only He gives me dignity, and only He will get to decide when my life will end.
The culture of death wants us to embrace suicide as “death with dignity.” To convince us that “death with dignity” is a good choice, the proponents have to do language gymnastics. Brittany Maynard describes “death with dignity” like this:
“It is an end-of-life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live. It would enable me to use the medical practice of aid in dying: I could request and receive a prescription from a physician for medication that I could self-ingest to end my dying process if it becomes unbearable.”
“Aid in dying”? “End my dying process”? Suicide is the taking of one’s own life. How can taking a prescription to end one’s life be considered anything but suicide? Look no further than the comment boxes related to this story, and the people choosing “death with dignity” are called heroic, selfless, and brave.
I wrote a few months ago that I want people to do this when I’m dying: get a priest, make sure I receive the sacraments, and keep bringing me lists of intentions of people to pray for until I die. By God’s grace, I’ll be able to die a holy death. If I’m honest with myself, I admit that I’m terribly weak, so I’m trying to get spiritually fit for that moment now. I’m keeping lists of intentions and *trying* to remember to unite all of my sufferings (big and itty bitty) to the cross. That’s tough stuff. That’s th
e stuff saints are made of. Yet, that’s what we’re all called to.
As we approach November 1 (All Saints Day), the day that Brittany Maynard has chosen to commit suicide, let’s all pray that those suffering find strength in the risen Lord and remember their dignity. May they imitate the lives of the heroic men and women in heaven who also suffered, remembered their dignity, took up their crosses, and followed Him.
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
If you or a loved one is struggling with how to navigate end-of-life issues, consult the National Catholic Bioethics Center. They provide a free consultation service with qualified ethicists on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — (215) 877-2660. They also publish an informative Catholic Guide to End-of-Life Decisions.
