On EWTN's Journey Home Program

It has been busy with the online Catholic Writing Conference (where I offered a workshop on Writing for Hire) and barbershop guest program; I'm still playing catch up, but imagine my joy when I learned that my conversation with JonMark Grodi taped last July would air on EWTN's Journey Home program on Monday, Feb. 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation. Matt Swaim said, "And it’s particularly poignant to me that because of some scheduling your episode got moved to the feast of the Presentation. I don’t plan these things intentionally! But how fascinating that your episode will be airing on the feast of Simeon letting Mary know that a sword would pierce her soul… given the power of the Pieta in your story, it’s hard for me to not make the connection!" God's timing is indeed perfect. Here it is: Journey Home - Vijaya Bodach - Former Methodist and Agnostic. 

A friend captured this on her TV (I was at barbershop practice) and it has been a joy to watch this again. I loved how beautifully JonMark is able to express the essence of what I was trying to say. He's a wonderful host, putting me at ease. I urge you all--speak or write the story of what God has done in your life. As Rick Warren says in his book, The Purpose Driven Life, "God wants to use you." With Lent just around the corner, perhaps you'd like to pick it up. I've given away multiple copies of this wonderful book. 

Our grandson was baptized on the Feast of St. Paul Miki and Companions (Japanese martyrs) in the baptismal gown that my mother had sewn for us. Given how much Christians are persecuted, I often wonder whether our children and their children will be called to make the ultimate sacrifice for the faith. We live and die in Christ. But will we have courage? I pray for it. 

The material is silk damask and it looks like it could be from the leftover material from my grandfather's priestly vestments. I was the last person in my family to be baptized in this garment until now. My sister brought it when she came to visit me when Dagny was two months old. Poor Max cried because he didn't fit into it. I draped it over him for a picture. I will keep it for a while--until Max and Laura's little one is baptized.

We were atheists then, so it was just a pretty garment to dress Dagny in. We didn't even pretend to baptize her--there's a story about St. Genesius, how he was converted while in a play mocking Christian baptism. The Holy Spirit came upon him and he refused to renounce even when threatened with death. He's the patron saint of actors, of people who work in theatre and movies. Anyway, I have to speak about another movie, Nefarious, that shows the value of baptism, of belonging to Christ. I wrote a review here: Vijaya Bodach: Strawberries and the Sacred Heart. Praise God for not letting us remain in sin, for giving us the grace to repent, to turn to Him. On this Feast of St. Valentine, may we remember to always be guided by Love and Truth Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

June: Humble like Jesus or Proud like Satan

June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, He Who is meek and humble, who poured out every drop of His Precious Blood to save us from our sins. I find it increasingly ironic that in our culture June is dedicated to Pride--a capital sin, most opposed to humility. And it is indeed pride that makes some people think they know better than the God Who created them. Sigh. I truly, truly feel sad for the people who cannot appreciate the body they are in, but to think that physicians promote giving them hormones or surgery to heal their deep wounds is criminal. From the very beginning this diabolical experiment (at Johns Hopkins and recounted in As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto) was filled with lies. I wept reading this book many years ago and I couldn't bear to talk about it. But we mustn't stay silent. What a tragedy, both twins, Brian and David Reimer, took their lives from the trauma they endured at the hands of the medical establishment. And increasingly, they target children. 

The plethora of books for little ones with LGBTQ content is unbelievable. I presented ways to counter this at a Write2Ignite conference prior to the lockdowns. I don't know how an industry dedicated to children has become so corrupt as to blithely harm them. Today is the Feast of Charles Lwanga and his companions, who were tortured for their refusal to engage in homosexual acts with the king. It went against their newfound Catholic faith, which they refused to give up, and for this they were killed. This old article from Fr. Rutler is ever relevant today: New Advent: Ours has become a neo-pagan culture, and that can be even worse than a simple pagan culture 

This is why I was so pleased to read in the Federalist Louisiana Catholics Resist The ‘Pride’ Infiltration Of Their Town (thefederalist.com) that people are fighting back. They take the emblem of the Vendée martyrs (French Revolution).

Oh, Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in YOU! Save us!

St. Bartholomew and First Day of School

Pacino di Bonaguida, c. 1340, Florence

I don't know why I never knew that St. Bartholomew (also known as Nathanael bar Tolomai) preached in India. In Armenia, he was martyred--flayed alive and beheaded. I came across beautiful art with him, with all his sinews, holding his flayed skin but it might be too disturbing for tender readers so I give you this manuscript leaf instead. Today was his feast day so I learned these little bits. He's famous for saying, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" to Philip, who replies, "Come and see." Even though Bartholomew is skeptical, he takes a chance to see who Jesus is and that's all it takes for Jesus to infuse some knowledge into Bartholomew, who exclaims, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." This story reminds me that all I need to do is invite people for Mass or Adoration and Jesus will do the rest.

I've always found it fascinating that the instruments or manner of death is what the saints are patrons of. So, St. Bartholomew is the patron of bookbinders, butchers, cobblers, and against nervous/neurological diseases. I'm going to try to learn more about him because he sounds like he'd be a good companion for me. I love how how saints make themselves known to me. I love his name because its got a mew in it :) Here are my mews--sitting on my novel notes. But a closer look at the computer shows that I was actually working on my chapter book. Of course, the cats made me do it :) Dagny had finished all the art for it and I was adding it to the story considering I couldn't work on my novel very well. Can you see that Benny typed up some stuff? Cats! They're never content with the story you're telling; they have to add their own thoughts. 

Max had to get a last cuddle with Jules before he left for Ave Maria. What a wonderful gift to have both kids home for five months. But we are so grateful they can return to school and their studies in person with their teachers and friends. I am praying for all our children to grow in wisdom, skills, knowledge and love of our Lord. Michael and I are happy to return to a more quiet and contemplative life. Deo gratias.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

I find it fascinating that the original devotees at Carmel were actually disciples of the prophets Elijah and Elisha who honored the Virgin Mother who would bear the Messiah. Once God entered time through Mary and redeemed mankind on the Cross, they became Christians. Here are the beautiful meditations from Dom Prosper for today's Feast Day. On this day in 1251 AD, she appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the brown scapular, which so many of us wear to remind us of our own devotion to the mother of our Lord. She is the Queen Mother and we can appeal to her for all our needs. She fights continually on our behalf to bring us to Jesus. 

She brings us Christ and we return to Him through her. St. Bernard of Clairvaux tells us how. "God has willed that we should have nothing that did not pass through the hands of Mary." Wow! All the graces we receive from God are through her. She sings the Magnificat, "My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..." I am convinced that the world will be reconciled through her to Christ, especially once I began to read some of the literature associated with her appearance to the three little children at Fatima. She appeared to them and told them to pray and fast for poor sinners.  

I have been so saddened to learn about the destruction of Christian churches and statues over the past couple of weeks in the US. I know Christians are persecuted elsewhere but I didn't expect this vandalism here. But this weekend, I was most sad to learn that the Hagia Sophia, one of the oldest churches ever built dedicated to the Wisdom of God, is going to be turned into a mosque. At least the sacred art was protected as a museum. Do take a look before it's destroyed. I'm afraid many of the churches in Europe are already museums. We must return to our Judeo-Christian roots before we lose our great heritage. 

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Blessings!

Today is the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude and what fondness I feel for St. Jude since it was the church named in his honor that we were received in and how fitting--he's a patron of impossible causes, but all is possible through Christ Jesus! All the Apostles were martyred except for John and it fills me with awe--Christians everywhere, especially in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are being martyred every day. I wonder if we in the West could be as brave.

I've not been well but even that's been a blessing because there's been more time to spend contemplating God. We celebrated the Feast of Christ the King yesterday and it fills me with so much joy just knowing He is King of all and to surrender my life into His care. 

For Respect Life month, the pastor of St. Clare of Assisi invited me to sell BOUND after Mass. It was so lovely to be able to tell parishioners why I wrote the book. I'm praying it will spark many discussions about choosing life when it's hard. Fr. West had two posters showing the latest progress on the building itself. I was bowled over by the beautiful stained glass windows we'll be getting and also the High Altar! Check out this short video about it. It's going to be such a beautiful house of God!  

We picked that shiny eggplant and I made a ratatouille. And wonder of wonders, there are four more baby eggplants! Good thing we'll be having a potluck supper after the Requiem Mass. Doesn't Michael look like a proud papa?!

Finally, an unexpected gift from Pearl Meaker. She composed the layout with the photograph, Hebrew writing, and calligraphy of a hymn verse. I have her permission to share it. May it bless you too! 

Hoppy Easter!

Some of you probably know that I sign my book with a Hoppy Easter! If only I could draw cute bunnies, I would. I had a wonderful time at my reading and book-signing at Barnes & Nobles in Mt. Pleasant, Holy Sat. The police officers drew in the big crowd and I piggybacked after them. They're the BEST!

This beautiful weather (and my neighbor's pretty flowers) makes me hop and skip and the lingering sadness goes away for a while. It has been an unusually somber Easter for us with Notre Dame in flames on Monday of Holy Week and just a month prior, another fire at St. Sulpice. I subscribe to Catholic news agencies and GetReligion published an excellent piece on the increase in vandalism and desecrations of Catholic churches. Alas, he points out that it's not reported. Newsweek reports that officials do not know the reason why. Oh please! France is a secular state; they have turned their back on their Catholic heritage. And just as God used Israel's enemies to punish them for turning their backs to Him, unless we repent and return to our dear Lord Jesus, we too shall perish at the hands of our enemies. Arise, O sleeping Catholics! And come home to Holy Mother Church! When the French president spoke about rebuilding ND, I wondered, for what purpose if it isn't to worship in? As a convert, I feel the loss of faith very, very deeply. Where is the France of the Little Flower? Of Bernadette? Of Catherine Laboure? Of Rene Goupil? Of Joan of Arc? Wikipedia mentions 147 of them and these are just the ones who are known! Oh pray for us, all ye angels and saints! My own response is to pray, pray, pray unceasingly for conversions. And look at these beautiful gifts from the Holy Land from my sister to keep me focused!

After all the beautiful liturgies of the Sacred Triduum and Easter Masses, it was a shock to come home Sunday afternoon to the news of the bombings of Catholic churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. They were killed solely for their faith. I consider them martyrs and their blood will be the seed of the church's growth. Already the West has a declining population of religious--priests from Africa and Asia come here to evangelize. Fr. Dwight Longenecker has a good article about it. 

My mother always said we are an Easter people. Even at Christmas, she kept in mind why He was born. To suffer and die for us--the perfect Lamb; to save us all from our sins. And He will be with us until the end of time. He assured us of this on Holy Thursday when he gave us His own Body and Blood and instituted the priesthood. And so I share this beautiful motet with you: Ave Verum Corpus by Josquin, which we had the delight to sing! We only recently learned to sing the chant and although I love both the Byrd and Mozart versions, you can almost hear the chant in the Josquin. I hope we get to sing this again. 

We're having a wonderful Easter break, sleeping in daily, cooking, harvesting the first of our lettuce, reading, writing, watching movies. I pray you all have a very happy Eastertide!

  
 
Ah vanity, vanity! It makes me post these extra pictures :) It *is* a hoppy Easter!

 

 

Agnus Dei

A few years ago we sang a Mass written for two voices in honor of St. John the Baptist by Rene Quignard for Laetare Sunday. There were no recordings at the time. But just on a lark I decided to see if I could listen to it and found: Agnus Dei. It is my favorite movement. St. John the Baptist reminds me every day to write true, no matter what the cost. Today we celebrate his birth!!!

An Anniversary, Book Reading, Massacres, and Music

Today we celebrate our 8th anniversary of reception into the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes I wonder when the honeymoon will end but like our marriage, it hasn't yet. We keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And I have so many friends up high. A dear friend introduced me to St. Gemma Galgani. Isn't she a beauty? Today is her feast day. And given that Easter is a moveable feast, it's even more special that she died on Easter Vigil. I always ask her to pray for our family. What a perfect saint for our teenagers!

This past Saturday I had a great time at Barnes & Noble. The children were so attentive and we had a good time together after hunting for eggs and coloring traditional pysanky designs. Parents appreciated that the eggs were sealed. I just loved the baby in purple! She was the first to find the eggs. The little boy who's running off is besotted with my friend Sharon Chriscoe's Racecar Dreams. He wanted nothing at all to do with silly eggs. If only eggs hatched trucks :)  

 

Alas, Palm Sunday brought the terrible news from Egypt, the massacre of Coptic Christians during liturgy. Please take a couple of minutes to listen to Bishop Makar. It is heroic to practice your faith in a place where people want to kill you. Yet, as Tertullian said nearly 2,000 years ago, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Christians are being exterminated in the Middle East but their sacrifice is not for naught. Christianity may be declining in the West but the Church is growing in Africa and Asia. Pray for us, O new martyrs, even as we pray for you and your families. And please pray for Pope Francis as he travels to Egypt in a couple of weeks.

We are busy learning music for the Sacred Triduum. These are not Holy Days of obligation but our priest wonders how people transition from Passiontide to Easter without these extra days of devotion. In essence it is one liturgy beginning Maundy Thursday until the Easter Vigil. There is no dismissal when we go to Mass. We leave in silence and return in silence.  I could never miss it. When our children were in public school, I'd pull them out for Good Friday. And I just love Maundy Thursday because that is when our Lord instituted the priesthood and without our priests, we wouldn't have our Lord in the Eucharist, and without the Incarnation, we wouldn't have anything at all. We'd still all remain in our sins. And so I leave you with O Magnum Mysterium by Victoria.

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!

A blessed Holy Week to all reading.