1. The Solar Eclipse of 2017
Check out our journey to watch the eclipse (click here). We walked all the way outside . . . to the driveway.
2. Venturing Downstairs
As I began slowly to emerge from the bedroom to rejoin family life, I brought David with me to the swing in the kitchen.
3. Brothers
I really look forward to seeing the relationship that grows between these brothers. How cute they will be tumbling around together! (How exasperating at times, too?)
4. Smiles and Tears
I've spotted David smiling on several occasions (thus beginning that hunt for the elusive great photograph of him doing so).
Meanwhile, as pregnancy hormones deplete out of me at astonishing rates and nursing hormones whoosh through me, there were plenty of tears on Mama's part. Being a six-timer does not make those feelings any diminished.
5. Family Errands
On Tuesday, Chris drove all of us around town for about two hours to run family errands. We could leave the kids strapped into car seats, which was a lot easier than Chris going into stores with five kids, or my staying home alone with children.
I wanted to stop in the kids' consignment store to buy a couple of bouncy seats or little swings so I could set down David in different rooms. I also got Mary a really cute dress and a duck costume for David to wear at Halloween . . . not bad for five bucks apiece.
We took the boys for haircuts. Joseph (4) described seriously, "I want my haircut like this on top," (and patted his head), "and like thunder on the sides, but keep it a secret or everyone will copy my haircut and Mama won't be able to tell us apart."
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| Thomas testing the new swing, Joseph sporting his new haircut |
6. Riding in the Sling
My little marsupial companion around the house . . .
7. School Preparation
I am preparing for a soft start to school next week. That is when Friday CCE begins, so we have to begin running over that memory work anyway. Plus, as Chris starts some hours back at work, frankly it helps me to have something with which to occupy the kids. It's more difficult for them just to run wild, making messes everywhere, than for me to give them a list of independent school work to complete.
I was so very touched when this week Mary gave me a World's Best Teacher ceramic apple with a love note attached. What perfect timing to boost my fragile postpartum confidence that thinks I can't do this . . . I can't do anything . . . pumping exclusively and feeding this newborn is already a full-time job . . . what am I going to do . . . I'm utterly useless . . .
For more 7 Quick Takes Friday, check out This Ain't the Lyceum.
ReplyDeleteDear Catholic Crusader,
Five hundred years ago in 1517, Martin Luther made public his 95 complaints against the Roman Catholic church. Today, we shall do likewise, with another 95 reasons. However, in this critique, we will exclusively fixate on the nucleus of all Catholic doctrine called, Transubstantiation. This teaching is built on the premise that when the priest utters “This is my body” over bread and wine that the “combustible” syllables of these four words ignite with such power and energy that, unbeknownst to our cognizant senses, the substance of bread and wine miraculously change (“by the force of the words” says the Council of Trent; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1375). They are then abruptly replaced with something else entirely; namely, the very body, blood, soul and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ in some mysterious form which leaves only the outward appearance of bread and wine (i.e., the color, shape, size, taste, weight and texture -- or "accidental" properties, remain unchanged in objective reality). It is claimed that the supernatural power that creates this miracle on a daily basis, 24 hours a day in Masses worldwide, “is the same power of Almighty God that created the whole universe out of nothing at the beginning of time” (Mysterium Fidei, 47). The question is: does the sacred rhetoric of Jesus lead us to conclude He intended it be recited like a magician recites his incantations? (Reason 6, 74). That at the recitation of these four words, the world is obligated to be transfixed on Transubstantiation???
We should think that a rollercoaster of 95 reasons against this doctrine should at least pique your curiosity, let alone make you wonder if, like the calmness of a ferris wheel, you can so calmly refute them. The issue is far from inconsequential, since it’s claimed our very eternal destinies are at stake. So while sensitive to the fact that many are captivated by this doctrine, we are persuaded that the theological framework of the Bible conveys a persistent and vigorous opposition to this theory. God's word tells us to, "study to show yourself approved" (2 Tim 2:15) and we have indeed done just that.
The almost “romantic fidelity” to Transubstantiation springs forth from the opinion that consuming the “organic and substantial” body of Christ in the Eucharist is necessary for salvation (CCC 1129 & 1355; Trent, "Concerning Communion", ch. 1 and “Concerning Communion Under Both Kinds”, ch. 3; Canon 1; Mysterium Fidei, intro). Our burden here is to safeguard the gospel (Jude 1:3). If a religious system professing to be Christian is going to demand that something be done as a prerequisite for eternal life, it is vital to scrutinize this claim under the searchlight of Scripture and with “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Proverbs 25:2 says, "the honor of a king is to search out a matter". We shall do likewise.
Determined to test all things by Holy Writ (1 Thess 5:21; Acts 17:11, 2 Cor 10:5), the following 95 reasons have been compiled to an extravagant length to provoke you to consider the cognitive complexities of this doctrine which we conclude are biblically unbearable. We are so convinced the Bible builds a concrete case against this superstition, that we will not allow the things we have in common to suppress the more urgent need to confront the differences that divide us, such as Transubstantiation. We are told this issue directly impacts our eternal destiny, so it must not be ignored. The Lord Jesus came to divide and conquer by the truth of His word. He said, "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division" (Luke 12:51-53).
For the full essay of 95 reasons, kindly e-mail me at
Eucharistangel@aol.com