All Else Confusion

At the March for Life, it's very difficult to hear the speeches. Therefore, it wasn't until today that I came across President Bush's remarks on the occasion. One paragraph in his remarks stuck out to me.

Thirty-five years ago today the United States Supreme Court declared and decided that under the law an unborn child is not considered a person. But we know many things about the unborn. Biology confirms that from the start each unborn child is a separate individual with his or her own genetic code. Babies can now survive outside the mother's womb at younger and younger ages. And the fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul.

For the first time this year, I attended the March for Life as a chaperone for several youths from the parish where I work. We left early in the morning hoping to attend the youth rally at the Verizon Center, but it was already full when we got there. We later heard that the Verizon Center was full by 8 o'clock in the morning. So, instead we headed to a nearby church which was set up as a satellite location. At the church we attended Mass - celebrated by a priest who is a leader of the pro-life movement in France. It was one of a series of firsts for the teens since it was a Tridentine Mass.

After the Mass we headed to the Mall to eat lunch and then hear the speeches. It was interesting being on the Mall as the crowd was gathering. It's always fun to see how many states are represented and how many colleges are there. As always, the official numbers are disputed and woefully under-reported in the Press - a friend told me that he saw a blurb in the Washington Post that stated there were 2000 people there. However, I think - and several other people said the same - that there seemed to be many more people there than there have been over the last few years. The only unfortunate part of the day was that because the speeches lasted so long and it took us so long to start marching the kids couldn't complete the entire March and had to leave before getting to the Supreme Court so that they could catch the Metro and get home in time for their parents to pick them up. Hopefully next year we'll be able to take them the whole way.

Labels: pro-life

Heaven for all Jane Austen fans!! PBS' Masterpiece Theater devotes the next several Sundays to Jane Austen beginning tonight at 9 with a new adaptation of Persuasion (which is my favorite behind Pride and Prejudice). Besides Persuasion, the series includes new adaptations of Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey as well as the Kate Beckinsale Emma and Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (shown on 3 consecutive Sundays). A biopic, Miss Austen Regrets, will also be shown.

Labels: Jane Austen

I went to Confession today. One thing I love about going to Confession here in the Arlington Diocese is how many other people are going to Confession also. In Worcester, I was usually the only one at the Church for the half hour Confession slot. Here I've never been to a church that had fewer than 3 priests hearing Confessions for an hour with a line at each Confessional. Today I was at the end of a line of 5 people and there was no one behind me when I entered the Confessional. When I came out a line of 4 more people had reformed. Amazing!

Labels: Virginia observations

I taught my first RCIC class last Wednesday night. In our parish, RCIC is a class for children over 7 who need to be baptized, for children in 3rd grade or above who need to make their First Communion, and for high school students who have not yet been confirmed. Because of the great disparity in ages and sacraments for which the students are preparing we've separated the high school students from the rest of the class with another teacher. So, I have close to 10 students ages 7-13 to prepare for baptism, Penance, First Communion and Confirmation. We have to go over Confirmation with them also because any child baptized over the age of reason receives all the Sacraments of Initiation together (something I learned at my new job).

I was a little nervous before the first class because I've never taught children this young before. Usually I teach middle school or high school. But, the class went really well and the children really seemed to enjoy it. In fact, as they were leaving the classroom, one of the boys said, "That was kind of fun!"

There are no texts for an RCIC class, so I'm having to make up things as I go along. With some help from our textbook series Life in Christ, the 1st and 2nd grade DVD's from the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, and what materials I've been able to find on-line, I've been able to put together something. This week we discussed sacraments and the story of Adam and Eve in preparation for talking about Baptism next week. I think that their favorite part was discussing Original Sin. Modifying an idea from the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, I used 2 empty, clear tumblers to signify us and filled them with water from a big pitcher to show people filled with grace. When we talked about Original Sin, I had them dump the water back into the pitcher. Then I asked them to give some grace to another student. Of course, they couldn't.

So, we'll see next week how well they retained this lesson. Next up - playacting a baptism.

Labels: RCIC

I resolve to post at least once a week - really, I mean that!