This morning I got a phone call (roughly 6:04am) to teach a half day at the Carrot River Elementary School. I was called in to replace the principal, no less. I taught four gym periods (grades 1 - 4) as well as read the grade threes a story, helped the grade ones with snack-time, and patrolled the grounds at recess.

It was actually quite tiring, mainly because of the lack of sleep the past few nights, the icy drive to Carrot River, the lack of coffee, and having to teach every kid in the school (with the exception of the kindergartners). But it wasn't too bad, especially since all I had to do was teach volleyball. And there was only one fight to deal with! Some boy in grade three decided to punch a girl in the face because he wasn't getting his way...

I dealt with the situation accordingly though (i.e.yelled loudly at the boy and then took both students to their regular teacher).

All in all, I must say that I appreciated the older grades. In the grade one class there was one little girl who had a super soft and squishy volleyball glance lightly off her face and she started crying loudly. Sigh. Whereas the fourth-graders took care of themselves and did not need a zillion explanations on how to play the game.

I think I just lack patience sometimes.

Anyway, I must admit that the most rewarding part of the day for me is knowing that I will get paid instead of being the one to pay thousands of dollars to teach (as during my practicums). I really don't think I'm cut out for substitute teaching. I thrive on a steady environment, where I can make my own plans. But for now I will try to make the best of things.

And maybe dress accordingly tomorrow...

 

A Sure Sign of Sleep Deprivation

I'm going to recount for you the dream I had the other night, or rather morning, after Dan so generously looked after Joseph while I got a little more sleep. You may or may not think I'm clinically insane by the end. You may or may not believe it. But, believe me, you just can't make this stuff up.

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I was on my way to a movie theatre with my Mom, Blaise, Ben, and Madelaine. As we pulled into the parking lot, we decided we'd go see a movie that was something like The Incredibles. We parked the van.

No sooner were we out of the vehicle then Mom turned to a woman who had just pulled in beside us to ask if she, by any chance, was wearing a costume like that of the actors in this particular movie. Yes, indeed she was, she told Mom, opening her heavy coat to reveal something like the spandex suit worn by Mrs. Incredible, complete with a cape. And would she like to exchange outfits with Mom? Sure. They decided to make the swap right then and there. I couldn't figure why she wanted to swap as Mom was wearing ordinary clothes, but then -- whatever.

Leaving Mom near the van, I headed into the theatre to catch up with my younger brothers. They had already paid for their tickets and passed through the security gate, so I avoided the box office line and tried to lean my way over the security line without touching the other side with my feet, in the hopes of seeing the boys and calling to arrange a meeting spot. Suddenly, one of my feet was picked right up off the ground and raised high in the air, with the other end of my body down near the ground. A large teenage security guard accosted me in a loud voice, asking me how I dared to breach the security in such a way. After regaining my footing, I stood my ground and emphatically told him that I was simply looking for my brothers, who I named and gave ages for (interestingly, I told him they were 13 and 11). In addition, I added, I was not the type of person he had to be worried about because I was in my twenties and had a university degree. Take that, you twirp!

When I was finally released after some debate back and forth, I rejoined Mom (now in her borrowed costume) in the ticket line. We bought our tickets and then chatted with the woman from the parking lot, who was sitting with her family in a cafeteria area. Then it was time to get our tickets ripped and head to our movie. While in line Mom somehow realized her ticket was stamped to read that she was owed a refund of $20. But it was too late to turn around and deal with that, so we tore off part of the ticket to attempt recovery later and carried on.

We asked another teenage worker whether our movie was in Room 4 or 5. He didn't know, so I headed over to peek my head in Room 4. Bright lights and blaring speakers greeted me and whatever was on the huge screen immediately convinced me it was the wrong room.

Finally arriving at Room 5, I found I was carrying a very heavy Joseph (huh?). We walked into the room and where there should have been a ramp of some sort leading to seats, instead was a huge, steep stairway. I have never seen a stairway so steep. And we had to walk down the stairs until we were directly in front of the huge screen. Now, when I say walk down it was more like hugging the stairs as we inched our way. Thankfully, there were many railings at every height imaginable along the side and so we grasped them as we nearly fell to the bottom.

Once in front of the screen, I found I was not the only one with a baby in the theatre. Another lady had her little daughter sleeping on her chest. The baby's ear facing out was covered by a small blue knitted cloth of some sort. Oh, is that how you keep babies from hearing all the noise? I thought, grimacing at the loudness. I smiled at the woman and faced the nearly-as-steep climb that was railing-less to where my brothers had decided to sit. It took all the effort I could muster to climb those stairs, while still holding Joseph. Our movie had already started.

Upon arriving at our seats, I discovered that sitting at this height you had to literally look down and crane your neck to get a good glimpse of the screen. There was no way I could sit here, especially with Joseph! But my brothers were adamant they were the best seats. Meanwhile, Madelaine arrived (I have no idea where she was gone all this time) with a friend. They somehow avoided the stairs altogether and slipped through the railings between the door and our seats. Ignoring this fact, I began to make the descent again to find better seats.

I found the lady with the sleeping baby girl at the bottom again. I began asking her where I might find a good spot to sit with my baby. Then I noticed that she was accompanied by her husband and young son. Their toddler-son was standing on his seat next to his father, walking around and dancing -- but he had his eyes shut and was sound asleep. At this point I decided that this couple was weird and not-to-be-trusted as they were crazy enough to take their kids to the movies instead of putting them to bed. Upon seeing the spot-for-sitting-with-a-baby that the lady pointed out and instantly realizing it was no good, I also had the presence of mind to realize I too had a baby in the theatre and should just go home.

I left and promptly woke up.

Memes and One-Liners

Memes and one-liners. That's what most debates have turned into. I'm not against memes and one-liners. I find that they can be extremely funny, witty, and hit home important points. For instance, here we see the superior Batman correcting Robin's misguided theology:

It's kind of funny, and also teaches that faith needs works. Afterall, if faith didn't need works then Batman's great works would all be useless.

Or, one of my favourites:

This meme says it all. For all you "spirit of Vatican II baby!" people, I do not think it means what you think it means.


However, the other day a meme popped up on facebook that I thought was lowering itself to the worldly standard. Here it is:

I wasn't impressed with this meme. Sure it got a little chuckle out of me, but I knew it was a cheap shot at the messed-up sedevacantes (the-seat-is-vacant) group. The sedevacantes, if there are any that still exist, essentially believe that the Chair of St. Peter has been vacant since Blessed John XXIII. The Chair of St. Peter in this meme is given a purely literal meaning, while obviously the real controversy refers more to the belief that there is no valid Pope. In other words, the meme attacks the sedevacantes purely by optics, and not by theology and common sense.

As I said earlier, this meme/one-liner style is that employed by the secular world to attack Catholics and morality. Consider some of these memes being used today:

Here we have a picture of a beautiful Vatican room, with many Cardinals meeting and greeting the Pope. Yes the Vatican has some of the most beautiful art in the world. People who hate the Church often translate art into money. It's as if every piece of art in the Vatican could be sold at a great price and given to the poor (sure, Judas). However, if you look no further than Pope John Paul II and what he says about the world's need for sacred art, you will understand why the Vatican, and all churches, should have beautiful art. This one-liner from a meme attacks something it does not understand.

And furthermore, what makes the person think these Cardinals are rich and live an easy life!?! For instance, does the writer of the meme sleep on wood plank like Cardinal Arinze does? I didn't think so.

It seems that the pro-abortion memes are some of the worst for attacking life by means of disjointed one-liners. Here the meme is suggesting that if a person cannot speak for himself, then he really is not a person at all. I guess this goes for those with downs syndrome? Or those who are mute? Or those who are under the age of four? What makes a person a person is the ability to speak in full sentences, apparently. So anyone who can't should be killed? Personally, I find President Obama's speech to be all choppy and non-sensical, particularly when his teleprompter is shut off. That must mean he doesn't have the right to life...

Here's a meme that attacks Catholic moral teaching. It falls under the line of argmentation that: that's good for you, but you can't force it on me! The ironic thing is that the U.S. government is forcing the HSS mandate on Catholics. But lets not get lost in rational thought here.

This meme confuses ceremonial and moral precepts. A ceremonial precept governs specific aspects of worship and living that is particular to a religion. Jews don't eat pork, nor do they force the world to abstain from pork (mmmm, bacon...). Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays (or at least they SHOULDN'T... that might be a blog for another day), yet they don't force the rest of the world to abstain from meat on Friday. A moral precept, on the other hand, is an unchanging moral truth that applies for everyone. Murder is evil. Abortion is evil. Lying is evil. Yet, this meme confuses ceremonial and moral precepts, and tries to base its argument accordingly. Nice try.


Ok, I could go on and on. As I said earlier, I love memes and witty one-liners (though oddly enough, I've never been a huge fan of Chesterton, who is the master of one-liners). As Catholics, we must be able to know the difference between a good meme, and a meme that is taking something out of context. Don't lower your standards and produce, and share, memes that follow the secular world's logic. Rather, share what is witty and true.

May Our Lady guide our meme sharing...

Scorch-Pow!
Take that pro-abortionists!

The First Snowfall

We have snow! It may or may not be here to stay, but it's out there right now.

Joseph and I headed outside this afternoon just like two excited little kids (ok, he is an excited little kid). We just had to sled down the ditch a couple times, throw some snowballs for the dog, and run back and forth on the front lawn with the sled.  

I was just as delighted as this little munchkin, although quite possibly just from delighting in his joy. The giggles and laughs errupting from the sled as I ran over bumps and around in a big circle was enough to make anyone happy.

Joseph wanted to drag his huge mitten in the snow beside the sled, but wasn't interested in tasting it when I offered it to him (don't worry, it was clean snow!). When we came inside he sat down to examine and poke a little chunk of icy snow that fell off his snowsuit, curious as to why he couldn't pick it up and why it was growing smaller and smaller.

And, if this seems like a little too much excitement for you, we can always be brought down a notch with Dan's comment (although not made in despair): "About another 5-6 months of this now". Me: "Groan". But for today, it's fun to watch a 13 month old laugh and play in the first snowfall!

**Note: This snowsuit is red and blue. I'm sure it appears that way for all of you, but my family somehow thought it was a beautiful hot pink from these photos. As if we'd buy Joseph a hot pink snowsuit!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

When we were in Ontario a couple of weeks ago we had the great fortune of being able to attend Mass everyday. Given that Southern Ontario is so densely populated, we were able to attend four different churches for these Masses. One thing that was common with these churches was the use of bells at the Consecration. Now for any of you who have children, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Picture me at the back of the church with Joseph. Joseph is desperately trying to keep busy, for he believes that if he stops moving he will die. He crawls frantically over to a display and starts pulling papers. He then stands up and walks over to a chair to bang his hands and make noise, all the while yelling in joyful accompaniment. Then he tips the chair and falls over and lands on his head. He gives me that look which says: "man that hurt!," and he appears like he might let a wail go... all the while I'm conscious that the Consecration is happening at Mass. Then it happens...

bring, bring, bring

Joseph pauses in awe and wonder. "Wowwww!" he whispers. Something special just happened. He forgets his pain and dives to look forward into the church. He waits until the last echo of a bell can be heard, and then looks at me with wide eyes. I'm able to mutter a brief prayer at the Consecration, thanks to these bells. And then, it happens again. The bells ring three more times as the chalice is elevated. Once more I am able to say a brief prayer, while Joseph stares in admiration at the altar.

Then it's back to war, and Joseph and I fight it out until Communion time.

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Sadly the use of bells has disappeared in most places I've been to in Saskatchewan. I don't know why either. I was told by someone that the Archbishop of Regina wanted them out. Again, I don't know why. I dunno, maybe altar servers in Regina were smuggling drugs by hiding them under the bells? Or the bell vibrations were interfering with the EMS transmitters? I don't know why.

All I know is that the bells are still a legitimate option for the Mass, as is stated in the new revised GIRM:

"A little before the Consecration, if appropriate, a minister rings a small bell as a signal to the faithful. The minister also rings the bell at each elevation by the priest, according to local custom." (GIRM, 150)

The History

Now the use of bells at the Consecration developed during the Medieval times. The development came because a theological controversy was brewing concerning at what point in the Mass transubstantiation occurs. To make a long story short, the Latin Rite believes that once the words of institution are said by the priest, "hoc est enim corpus meum," Jesus becomes substantially present. To emphasize this, the practice of elevating the host, and ringing bells during the elevation, came into practice. It was a strong response to a theological controvery. The response became wildly popular. During Masses in Medieval times, often the people in the church were not aware of what was happening on the altar. The priest stood there, facing the altar, and whispered many prayers in Latin. Having the elevation of the sacred species, along with accompanying bells, was incredible, and helped bring great devotion to the Eucharist and the Mass. People waited in great anticipation for that holy moment at Mass. In other words, they, like Joseph, recognized that something of great importance was happening. The use of bells at Mass has been a cherished, organically developed, practice at Mass which has served to increase devotion for the faithful while also promulgating an important theological teaching on transubstantiation.

The usage of bells is certainly optional. But it nevertheless helps to see the history of its development.

Antiquarianism

If the Archbishop of Regina, or any priest or bishop for that matter, outlawed bells because of some crazy reason (such as drug smuggling... or whatever), I could handle that. However, I hope the reason for outlawing them does not involve antiquarianism.

Antiquarianism is a belief that gained great traction by some liturgists in the 19th and 20th centuries. It essentially states that all the practices of the Mass in the earliest centuries of the Church are superior to any developed practices, and therefore the Church must restore all practices to resemble every bit of the early liturgy.

Sound reasonable?

Antiquarianism was officially condemned in the Pope Pius XII encyclical: Mediator Dei (1947). For those of you unaware, Mediator Dei was probably the most important encylical written in the 20th century. Any one who claims to understand Vatican II and yet has not studied Mediator Dei is fooling themselves. Mediator Dei is essential for understanding the teachings of the Church, Papal authority, and developments of liturgy. In paragraphs 63 and 64 it reads:

"Clearly no sincere Catholic can refuse to accept the formulation of Christian doctrine more recently elaborated and proclaimed as dogmas by the Church, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit with abundant fruit for souls, because it pleases him to hark back to the old formulas. No more can any Catholic in his right senses repudiate existing legislation of the Church to revert to prescriptions based on the earliest sources of canon law. Just as obviously unwise and mistaken is the zeal of one who in matters liturgical would go back to the rites and usage of antiquity, discarding the new patterns introduced by disposition of divine Providence to meet the changes of circumstances and situation. This way of acting bids fair to revive the exaggerated and senseless antiquarianism to which the illegal Council of Pistoia gave rise."

In other words, Pope Pius XII is confirming that organic development in the liturgy, which strengthens faith and prayerful participation, and is approved by the Pope, is not to be discarded, even if such a practice did not exist in the first two centuries of the Church.

And so...

In conclusion, what I am trying to say is...
...basically that the ringing of bells at Mass is a legitimate custom, approved by the Church, which developed organically and has served to increase devotion and prayer at Mass. Yes it is optional, and I am ok with it being removed for important reasons. However, I am suspicious as to the reasons being imposed on the faithful of Saskatchewan, and I hope these reasons do not involve the condemned practice of antiquarianism.

Most importantly, ringing the bells during Mass helps control super active 13 month old boys who otherwise would not allow their parents to pray during the Consecration.

And there you have it.

And now for some random liturgy pictures:

Long-Dreaded Flights

Hello! We're back in Saskatchewan, safe and sound, after a very enjoyable 9 day trip back home to Ontario.

I figured writing an entire post dedicated to our actual flights was not over the top since we spent so much time prior to the trip worrying how 'Captain' Joseph would fare.

Had to add my 'winglet' picture. We saw a beautiful sundown sky enroute to Hamilton.

I think it's safe to say that we learned some valuable lessons on our trip about traveling with a toddler -- and, that our toddler impressed us with his fabulous traveling!

Joseph takes Daddy for a walk around the Saskatoon airport

After much debate, we decided to do the whole trip in one day and left Nipawin early October 4th to drive the 2 3/4 hrs to Saskatoon - Mistake #1. Once in Saskatoon, we bought Joseph a brand new sippy cup so that he would be excited to drink in the very likely chance that he would be too distracted to nurse during take-off and landing - Great Idea. We spent some time visiting with Elaine and (Joseph's cousin) Catherine and took a long walk, then headed to the airport. Our flight left Saskatoon at 3:30pm and headed west to Calgary - Mistake #2

Using his 'space' sippy cup and checking out the little TVs.

Here's some good news: Joseph nursed on take-off, fell sound asleep, slept all the way to Calgary, and the whole time we were grabbing supper in the airport! Dan and Joseph spent a good portion of our layover in Calgary walking (or running) down the fast lanes. You can't imagine the thrill for a new walker like Joseph!

The complete overload of new stuff to admire -- flashing lights, airplanes, runways, so many people -- brought out Joseph's newest (and cutest!) new word: "Wow". We heard it for the first time on the plane as he looked out the window, then again when Dan showed him the mountains from the windows in Calgary. "Wow" pretty much sums up Joseph's outlook on life: he is always ready for some new adventure and ready to be wowed by everything he sees.

Back to the trip. After Calgary, we headed back east on a long 3 1/2 hr flight to Hamilton. Joseph ate supper like it was his last meal and was generally pretty happy enroute. He played on the floor in front of our seats (probably not the most sanitary place to play), smiled and chatted with everyone around us, and "wow"-ed everything.

At this point I have to admit that we were thrilled beyond words at how Joseph had far surpassed our wildest imaginings and was a wonderful traveler. Here's the bad news: as we were making our very rocky descent into Hamilton he wanted to nurse, then screamed and screamed (and we didn't know why), then threw up all the huge meal he'd eaten... all over himself and me! Gross! Still, it wasn't his fault. Then he promptly fell asleep in my lap, exhausted by his efforts. Poor little guy!

Happy times: playing in the airport

So, that was our one very gross downside to the trip! After recovering from my awful clothes mess, I was very happy to hear a similar toddler-throw-up story from my aunt while visiting my parents -- and, I'll admit, happy that hers was worse (her son threw up all over the cock-pit back in the days when kids could check out the captain). 

When all's said and done, we had quite the exciting trip! Our flight back, if you're interested, was uneventful and very smooth sailing. 

Valuable lessons:

1. Split up your trip (driving and flying) as much as possible. But, do not book flights that take you out of the way (i.e. do not go to Calgary from Saskatoon if your destination is East).
2. This follows from #1. If possible, always book direct flights when flying with a little one. 
3. Always bring an extra set of clothes for your little one and, most importantly, yourself in your carry-on.

And one last point. See all those awesome kids toys? Saskatoon and Calgary were so kid-friendly (they even had private family washrooms once you go through security). But Toronto had nothing. Nothing at all! I think I'll write a stern letter or something.

Rider Nation in Ontario

Yes, we're back from Ontario! We had a great time visiting, attending a wedding, and playing sports. However, call me predictable if you wish, but for me the obvious favourite part of the trip was going to the Rider game in Toronto on Thanksgiving Monday, Oct. 8. Becca, Joseph and I, along with Ben, Barry, and Theresa, made the drive down (or up, I should say) to Toronto.

Now the tickets in Toronto are quite cheap. For $23 plus a $1 stadium fee we had seats like this:

Yet hardly anyone in Toronto goes to the game! What was funny was before the game the announcer had to explain to the crowd when to cheer and when to remain quiet. This is to a city that thinks it could support an NFL team. It didn't matter though. The majority of the stadium was filled with Rider fans. And we knew when to cheer...

Joseph was a trooper throughout the game. He did require a bit of a nap during the third quarter (evidently, so did the Argos), so his grandma walked him around the concourse in his stroller.

It wasn't long before the Riders began dominating the game. The play of the game, I thought, was Weston Dressler's 78 yard touchdown reception. Being able to see the whole field, and thus watch the play develop, his touchdown catch was all the more impressive. Why? Because it was clear watching the play unfold that two Toronto defenders had an easy angle to tackle Dressler, well short of the endzone. However, Dressler's speed was incredible, and he blew by both Toronto players easily. That is something you'd never truly appreciate when watching the game on T.V. But watching the game live brings out the ability of the players all the more.

Durant played fairly well, and put a nice touch on a long 56 yard pass to Greg Carr. Kory Sheets had a beautiful run, and Odell Willis had the Rider crowd all riled up and was full of energy all game long. But for me the player of the game was the kicker, Sandro DeAngelis.  

Every time Toronto appeared to get some life, DeAngelis would step up and nail a long long field goal. Being at the game you could tell his kicks were deflating the Argonauts spirits. Then, during the first half, the Rider punter Chris Milo got injured. DeAngelis took over punting duties and did an amazing job, despite never having punted professionally before. During halftime he was out practicing his punting, and you could tell he was very focused. Then some Argonaut players came out to practice some passes in the endzone. DeAngelis didn't care, and started raining punts from midfield deep into the endzone, where he nearly nailed a couple of Argo players in the head. His overall attitude, I felt, really affected the game. Also, I believe he also had a special teams tackle. For his efforts he was named the CFL Special Teams Player of the Week.

Overall it was a great game to attend. The Riders won 36-10. Ridernation was alive and well. At one point some guy asked us if we really were from Saskatchewan. He just couldn't believe that people from Saskatchewan support their team so much, and so he took our picture. After the game, while walking on the street back to our van, we high-fived Craig Butler's family (I asked them if they were his family, just to be sure), who were all decked out in nice new Butler Rider jerseys.

We left Toronto with a big smile on our faces. On the way back to Brantford Ben and I sat in the back of the van and discussed the ins and outs of the game, and what caught our eye. It was nice to soak up a big victory!

 Family picture

Joseph didn't want to leave, and had to be dragged away!

Brief Update

As Becca, Joseph, and I continue our visit in Ontario, I thought I'd sneak in a quick update on things.

First, Pat and Madelaine were validly married on Saturday, October 6th. Here is an unofficial picture:

Second, we went to the Rider game!!! Rider nation was alive and well in Toronto. Here we are at the end of the game:

Finally, we've been doing some visiting, and hiking, and sports, and eating, and Mass going, and more visiting. Here is Joseph on a hike yesterday:

There will be more blogs about our trip next week, after we get back to Nipawin. Stay tuned for that.

Gone Gone Gone

This morning we head out for Ontario. Please pray for our safe travels, and especially that Joseph handle the day well.

In the meantime, we'll be gone gone gone, been gone so long...

This video has been in our heads for 3 days now. Enjoy!

The Good Old Hockey Game

Tonight (Oct. 2) Dad and I drove to Prince Albert, and met my Uncle Carl Danchilla and David and Andrew there, to watch the Prince Albert Raiders play the Red Deer Rebels (WHL, for all of you non-hockey fans...). We watched my cousin Cory play. Cory is 17 and entering his second year with the club. It was my first time watching him play since he was in junior novice.

In the 3rd period Cory, using a great burst of speed, scored a beautiful breakaway goal. Unfortunately Cory wasn't given tons ice time, despite his play being quite superior to other left-wingers on his team. However, it is clear he has the skills to play at this high level of junior hockey.

The Raiders eventually won 5-4 in a shootout. It was an entertaining game. Oh, and Dad won the 50-50 draw. $2602. Not a bad evening.

Here's Andrew, David, and Cory after the game:

And, of course, what's a WHL game without a fight? Here first round draft picks Matthew Dumba and Mark McNeill go at it. I don't think Dumba will want to fight McNeill again after this tussle. He took more than a few shots to the head.