The Church — Page 3 — Living La Lupe

I am reminded so often how anti-children our society is. It makes me really sad. I could really write at length about this but I am going to focus this entry on what happened at yoga the other day.

I have really come to appreciate yoga in my life. I even really appreciate all the advice and home remedies I get talking to yoga moms. Most of these moms are really into this “natural” style of living. Making sure they feed their family all organic food. Having natural births. So on and so forth. But where this “natural” stuff stops is when it comes to conceiving a child. One of my prenatal yoga teachers (who was also pregnant at the time) told us repeatedly in class and still mentions it in postnatal classes how she is for sure done having babies. On Tuesday she brought it up again. Another person in class was saying how she wanted to have another baby and she responded with, “Why would you want to do that? I am definitely not having anymore kids. My husband got fixed.”

How in the world is having your husband “fixed” a natural thing to do??? This is coming from a group of ladies that believe you should squirt breastmilk in your baby’s eye if they have pink eye instead of getting an antibiotic. In using vinegar water instead of hydrocortisone cream to clear up a rash. In calling contractions, urges because contractions is too negative of a word. (Not that I think that any of this is unreasonable. I would actually do all of these things.) So where does the disconnect happen between this belief that we should live as naturally as possible and then doing unnatural things to not have a baby. It doesn’t make sense. The most natural thing in the world is to get married and have babies. If you are married you are supposed to have babies. Not on your timetable but God’s timetable.

I was recently talking about this with another person and they made a good point. “We have forgotten that we are subjects of God.” We forget that God is the one in charge, not us. God sends us babies when God wants to and if we choose to get married, we have to accept this. Marriage is inherently tied to being open to new life. Not just when it is convenient. Not just when it is good for our career. Not just when we think we can afford it. Not just when it fits into the “plan”. But always. I know it is hard to give up this control and leave it in God’s hands. Really hard and inconvenient sometimes but it’s how God intended.

It’s natural.

Last Saturday during the homily Fr. Mike told us that St. Ignatius is getting serious about proactively encouraging vocations to the religious life. Because of this, the vocations committee decided it would be a good idea to play the “Fishers of Men” video from the USCCB at Mass.

[Side Rant: Now I usually really hate it when priests do stuff like this during Mass. Call me traditional but I just think a homily should be a priest talking to his congregation and helping illuminate the Word through his own words. I’ve seen technology used in homilies before, like sound clips, videos, and powerpoints. Most have been distracting and usually take a stretch to relate back to the readings. I believe that there is definitely a need for creativity in homilies to reach all the people that go to church but creativity does not mean gimmicky which is what I think happens sometimes.]

All of this aside, this video is absolutely fantastic. I showed it at the school retreats we had last year. I think this is creatively reaching youth and showing them how amazing a call to the priesthood actually is. So many people think that being a priest or brother or sister is a boring but this video really shows that it is anything but.

As I was sitting in this pew watching this, something that one of the priests said struck me. “I get to live everyday in complete and total service to God.” I remember I used to think this all the time when I worked at the Houston Catholic Worker house. The work that is done there is just so obviously good and righteous and God’s work. So I understand what this priest meantin the video.

What struck me though was that I had not told myself this in a long time. It has been awhile since I have laid down to sleep at night and thought to myself that my day was in complete and total service to God. I had forgotten that, no matter what I do in life, my work should be work for God. This is what we are all called to regardless of our vocation. My vocation is to be a mother and wife. Although my days are now more “simple” when compared to my Catholic Worker days or my teaching days, my work should still be dedicated to working for God. Or how Fr. Bill Wack likes to sign his emails: Working to beat hell. Sure working in a clinic serving undocumented people is service to God but I need to see how playing airplane with the Squeaker as equally service to God.

So, as Lent is quickly sneaking up on us, one thing I am going to focus on is my vocation and how I can “beat hell” by loving my daughter and supporting my husband.