Kneeling for Communion and Receiving on the Tongue

I've been debating for a while now whether or not to write a post about this topic because I didn't realise until this past year how controversial it is.

Catholics who kneel for Communion and receive on the tongue are being hated on by Catholics who don't.

And I think it is ridiculous.



I never thought that I would ever live in a Church that is trying to stop me from kneeling before my God, my Saviour who died for my sins. But I do, and it is breaking my heart.
Two times in the past year I have been told by two different people that I should stop kneeling for Communion and stop taking Communion on the tongue. And the reasons they gave are ridiculous.

1. Argument: My kneeling is failing to think of how I am making other people feel.
My Response:I found that argument ironic, because these people fail to understand how I feel.

This is how I see that argument in my mind:
I am sitting at a table with friends, and everyone is eating junk. I decide I would rather not put crap into my body, so I order a healthy meal instead. Then I get pulled aside, and I am told that it is offensive that I chose to eat healthy when everyone else is not, so therefore I should "do as the Romans do" and eat crap like everyone else.
I'm not saying that it is crap to not kneel, but that kneeling feels good and right to me.

2. Argument: My kneeling during the Mass when everyone else is standing is rejecting the community. The community prays as one and we need to have unified prayers, therefore our posture must be unified as well.

My Response: Where do we draw the line at that insane logic? Our posture needs to be the same? So if we raise our hands during the Our Father and ONE person isn't, the prayer is null and void? The old lady who has to sit through the entire Mass because she is too feeble to stand is rejecting the community and her prayers are not heard, or the community's joint prayer fails because she's sitting? Give me a break. It's stupid logic. It is also implying that when I kneel I am not praying with the Community. I sing the hymns along with everyone else, and I pray the same words as everyone else, even when I am kneeling. So to say that I am not being part of the community is ridiculous.

Canon 899.2: "...In the eucharistic gathering the people of God are called together with the bishop or, under his authority, a presbyter presiding and acting in the person of Christ. All the faithful who are present, whether clerics or laity, unite together by participating in their own way according to the diversity of orders and liturgical functions."

Bam.

3. Argument: When you kneel for Communion people trip over you and you are holding up the flow of traffic.

My Response: First of all, NO ONE has ever tripped over me. Secondly, if there is someone behind me who doesn't know me, I tell them that I kneel for Communion so they don't trip over me. Thirdly, since when do we view the Communion receiving line as traffic on a road? Who cares how long it takes for everyone to receive Communion as long as people are being reverent? If Mass took an extra 15 minutes because people were kneeling for Communion and holding up the line, I would be overjoyed.

4. Argument: Taking Communion on the tongue is unhygenic. What if I have a cut on my finger and I am HIV positive and now my cut has touched your tongue?

My Response: First, I don't think about those things when I am at Mass about to receive my Lord in the flesh. Secondly, my best friend informs me that that is a huge ignorance of HIV (she took a course on HIV and AIDS). Third, if you are HIV postive and have a cut on your finger, you probably wouldn't be giving out Communion.

5. Argument: Kneeling for Communion is heresy because it is a rejection of everything that just took place. We are all Tabernacles after receiving, so why don't you remain kneeling always?

My Response: I am kneeling in response to the awe that was put upon my heart by God in witness to the Transubstatiation, the miracle that we witness at every Mass. I kneel because God put it on my heart to kneel because the Mass is the slaughter of Christ on the altar. No, I am not rejecting the resurrection. We celebrate the resurrection after Mass. Is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament heresy? Of course not.

Canon 899.1: "The eucharistic celebration is the action of Christ himself and the Church. In it, Christ the Lord, through the ministry of the priest, offers himself, substantially present under the species of bread and wine, to God the Father and gives himself as spiritual food to the faithful united with his offering."

6. Argument: People didn't use to kneel for Communion or receive on the tongue until who-gives-a-crap century.

My Response: People didn't use to wear clothes, but now we do because we realised we would freeze to death if we didn't.


What these people fail to realise is that I am not kneeling out of arrogance. Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I hate being the centre of attention and I would rather blend in than to stand out. So for me to be kneeling in a room full of people who aren't is incredibly difficult for me. I worry about whether or not people are judging me. I worry that people think "What does she think she's better than us?"
But I know my heart, and I know I am doing what is right.

I think it is incredibly sad that people are trying to crush my form of reverence. It is quiet and silent and not disrupting anyone. It actually disturbs me and makes my stomach turn thinking about it. Our Church has so many issues, and this is what people are going to get upset about? Really? How about you go and try to get people in the door, convince them religion is still worth it, and stop interrogating the ones who are actually still showing up.

Pupils

So I went to the eye doctor today so he can refer me to the hospital to get surgery done to fix my eyes.
He had to dilate my eyes, which I have never had done before. So I've been wearing sunglasses because my pupils are ginormous and super sensitive to the light.
I look like an alien.
Here's a picture I drew to show you what my eyes currently look like:



Reminds me of this:

Shady Tree

Diary of a Mad Maritimer

It's been 29 days since we last saw the sun.

28? 27? I've lost count. Maybe it hasn't even been that long.
Earlier in the week someone on the bus said it was 23 or 24 days.

Things have been tense.
Everyone is grouchy and pushes past one another on the street.
I can't remember the last time I overheard a civilised conversation on a cell phone.
Girls on their phones on the bus, yelling at the person on the other end and begrudgingly saying "I love you too" as they hang up.

But they don't mean it.

No one means it anymore.

We have become mole people. Or fish people. Or both.
I shudder at the gruesome images that once we all laughed at, but are now becoming a reality.

I thought I saw the sun for about two minutes the other day, but it may have been a hallucination. Pure delirious-ness setting in after much wishful thinking.
Though, others claimed to have seen it too, but we may all be going mad together.

The trees that line our streets still look as though it were mid-January. They all look dead and have yet to grow leaves for the upcoming summer. Without the sun, they will remain bare and ugly. Branches filled with buds that can't open.

How cruel nature can be.

Every day I wake up to a grey and bleak sky. That ghastly grey torments me; torments us all. I've given up checking the weather channel. It's the same thing day in and day out.



It mocks me, daring me to keep hoping for sun.

Where are you sun? What terrible fate has befallen you?



Wherever you are, please hurry back to us soon.

There aren't enough vitamin supplements for everyone in this city.

3 Weeks And Counting

It has been raining for THREE WEEKS in Nova Scotia.

THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is for everyone who lives in a place with shit weather all the time:



This is a picture I drew of the sun.

The "sun" is a giant star in space which our planet orbits, and it provides us with light and heat. Well, in theory. Where we live, it just provides light.

I know what you're all thinking: "Umm, ok Christine. You're telling me there is a giant light in the sky called the 'sun' which gives us heat and stuff? Yeah, ok. I'll believe that when I see it!"

I don't blame you for not believing in the existence of the sun. But I promise it is up there somewhere! And it looks a lot like my sketch!

(minus the smiley face)

Keep the faith.

The sun will return to us someday.

I know this sounds like a striking parallel to Jesus (sun/Son...people don't believe He/it will ever return but we must have faith that He/it will return one day).

Yep, I was actually just talking about the sun because I have lost my mind over this 3 weeks of rain BS.

We are over half way to experiencing Genesis.

This Is Just To Say-Gloating Rights

This is just to say....

In a very snarky way...

That for anyone who didn't think I could survive this past semester of 5 classes

Plus a thesis

Plus a terminally ill mother with cancer

Can do the following:

SUCK IT!!!

Because not only did I survive...

I did it with just about straight A's (4 out of 5 classes)

And my sanity intact.

Where We're At

It's been a month since I last posted. Here's where we're at since then. I give you an artistic representation of my brain's current state:



Basically, I am a giant ball of stress right now, which has resulted in me clearing my schedule of all events which would have brought joy into my life, including a going away party for a very good friend moving back to the other side of the world, and a banquet which would have been a very good time, all because currently I am borderline incapable of human contact. It is for the best. I am protecting the lives of those around me who may accidentally stumble and trip onto the path of my wrath.

The good news is that I am officially finished 3 out of 5 classes (well, technically 6 classes I guess). So that has fortunately brought some relief to my ire.

The bad news is that I have 2 papers and a power point presentation due by Tuesday. But once that's over, I have the luxury of concentrating every second freaking out over my thesis until April 15th. And if you're anything like me, rather than sitting down and just getting shit done, you'd rather spend time numbing your mind to your reality by doing things that contribute nothing to your existence or current responsbilities.

So that's where we're at.

Epic Find on Google Streetview

I cannot believe that I stumbled upon this sight while exploring the very large city of Chicago on Google streetview. I almost died.



If that is the Chicago police force, I am moving there tomorrow. Screw discernment. This is a true sign from God.

Anxiety Flowchart

Here is a handy-dandy guide, as invented by myself, to deal with your anxiety:



Let's walk through it.

Start by writing down something that is stressing you out (and make it as specific as possible! Don't write down "school". Narrow it down. Don't write down "Blah's class" either. What about it is stressing you out?). So for example: how far behind I am in Mary's class; so much work to catch up on.

Next, ask yourself, "Is this stresser solvable?". It's a simple yes or no question. Either the stress can be fixed, or it can't. In this case, my answer is yes.

How can I fix it? What do I need to do to make this stress go away? Make a list of what you need to do. For example: sit down and do the work that needs to be done will relieve myself of this anxiety. Break it up if I have to.

The next step is to do it. Whatever your methods are, do it so the stress goes away. Once the stress is gone, go back to the beginning and start with the next stresser in your life, if there is one.

What if it can't be solved? Let's walk through that with an example.
Stresser: My mom has terminal cancer.
Is it solvable?: No.
How can I cope with this?: lots of alcohol.
(just kidding)
Talking about it with friends. Verbalising my problems helps me to deal with them.
Stress managed: For the most part, yes.

Move on to the next!

I bid you all good luck.

Quest for the Soul

What does it mean to go soul searching and to find yourself?

I have no idea.

I have recently been given the advice to take a year off after this semester and go find myself. "Do some soul searching". I don't really know what that means, but I agree with them. It's something that's been on my mind for awhile.

Don't get me wrong, I know I want to do journalism. There is no doubt in my mind about that one. But given the state of my life right now, I feel it would be really unhealthy to go jump into something new (and demanding) right away.

Honestly, I need a break. I am exhausted.

So I have been contemplating what it means to go soul searching.


What do you do with a year off? I have no clue. One of my profs told me to go travel. I adore traveling, the entire experience. But as much as I love to travel, how does that help me find myself? I'll go see a cool place, come back poorer, and still be lost and confused. Plus, the places I want to go, I don't want to go by myself.

But I want to go somewhere. I feel so restless. Everything bores me, which is why I've been doing weird outgoing things lately.

I am a very generous and giving person, I always have been. But lately I've had no energy left to give to anyone or anything. I've turned to IceCaps, and have become an addict. Caffeine helps. But it's not the same kind of energy.

I need to find my inner icecap...

Snow Day

What a blissful feeling to log onto your school's website in class, and see this:



Bliss.

Sarah-nade

Last night I went to the pub with 2 of my very good friends, Sarah and Chris (who are engaged to one another, awwww). Sarah is one of my collaborators for this blog, and she tells me hilarious stories everyday.

From now on, her stories will be called Sarah-nades, because she always Sarahnades me with awesome true stories.

So last night we were at the pub, and Sarah goes to the washroom to blow her nose.



She looks up, and in the mirror she can see the girl standing next to her. Her face was covered in water, and she was just staring at Sarah, smiling.



Sarah just looks at her, and finally the wet face lady spoke:



Sarah just stares back at her...



And quickly leaves.

Later that evening, crazy wet faced lady was dancing to the music, which I always find weird in a small pub. Why was her face wet? We're not sure. Maybe she had her head in the toilet. Maybe she felt hot and went to splash water on her face. Who knows. Maybe it was sweat? (ewww).

Stay tuned for more possible Sarahnades, like "Pizza! The Action Movie".

Update:

Come on United States!!! You only have 99 views, and Canada has 690. Disgraceful. Aren't you supposed to be the super power? Super at everything? You're not supposed to let anyone beat you at anything.

Update Again:

Ok ok, USA is now up to 102. But Canada is 696, so.... USA, your game really needs to be stepped up.

Childhood Fright

I was 4 years old. Maybe 5.

My mom had come to pick me up from school. I was a walker. Walkers were kids who lived within walking distance, and we were last to leave, after the bus kids went home. I went outside to the cement square by my classroom door to meet my mom.

We walked home.

When we reached the house, I decided to lag behind, while mom went into the house. I was in the driveway, turned around to face the road, and there it was: the scariest thing my 4 or 5 year old eyes had ever seen.







I started to cry and screamed as loud as I could.


My mom came flying out of the house, thinking I had been hit by a car or mangled by something.


I was pressed up against the garage door, as far away from it as I could get myself. I pointed to the horrible thing.


She looked in the direction I pointed to.



It followed us home.

I didn't know what a cat was. Or maybe I had known from TV, but I had never seen one for real before. I was petrified.

My mom was mad at me.

But thankfully she shooed it away.

Soul Tree

I am currently sitting in the university library.

I just sent off my progress report to my thesis supervisor. It is my updated version because the first one wasn't good enough, as I expected. How could it be when this department put no form of guidance in the thesis package, or on the department website?

I am frustrated with my thesis because I am forced to read and use sources that I think are crap

So I drew this picture, because I feel that with each hour I dedicate to my thesis, a piece of my soul dies.


My soul tree....the leaves are slowly falling away.

Brainstorm Picture New and Improved

One of my collaborators adored my brain storm picture from the last entry, but thought I should have added something more. So here it is, new and improved:



They are zombies, catching brains on their tongues, like we do with snow flakes. Let the feasting begin!

Evolution Brainstorm

This picture popped into my head after my lastest tweet:


It made me laugh, in a "ew, that'd be kinda gross" kind of way.

Currently, I am procrastinating writing a paper on how evolution contradicts the Bible. This is not my belief, but is the position we have to take. For our next paper, we have to write about how evolution does not contradict the Bible.

Maybe I will brainstorm my paper now.
(10 points to me for using the key word!)

1. Genesis says that God made the Earth in 6 days, and in those 6 days He made man and woman. It says nothing about man evolving from animals. It says man came from DUST. How could a human evolve from dust? It is impossible. So evolution is wrong.
(*Note: UNLESS man evolved from a Golem)



2. In beginning with Adam and Eve, and in doing the math on the generations since, the Earth is only a few thousand years old, not however millions "scientists" claim it to be. Pssh.

3. Genesis shows the intelligent design of the universe, the intelligence of God. Humans were made from this intelligence, not from some evolutionary chain of events of chance. That implies God made something move, sat back, and watch the rest happen. Genesis is pretty clear that God was involved the whole time. Evolution implies that we don't need God.

That's all I have so far......

So here's a picture of my current, inner-most desire:

I hope I get some soon....

Update:
(based off what internet people are talking about on this topic)

4. Genesis says God made all the creatures of the Earth, which contradicts evolution. It doesn't say God made a few creatures, and they evolved into other creatures, etc. This would also contradict the event of Noah's ark, who took 2 of every animal on board.

5. Genesis implies God created everything out of nothing, which goes against evolution and physics in general. Nothing can't be created from nothing.

6. If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Better Update!

I am eating popcorn. With dill pickle powder stuff. I don't know what it's called. Seasoning salt? Sure. I'm also drinking milk. I wish I had a cow. I wish my cat would evolve into a cow. Then she'd be practical.

Crazy Bus People

Today I was riding the bus, as I often do.

I was sitting at the very back, in the right corner seat, if you are facing the back of the bus. At some point between somewhere and somewhere...it's blurry, I can't remember...3 people get on, and sit at the very back on the left side: a girl, and two guys. I didn't look at them, because I could tell they were sketchy, and when sketchy people get on the bus, all I can think of is this:

They were talking loudly, as crazy people normally do in public. You know, the facebook generation...putting everything out there for the whole world to know.
The girl starts going on about how fat she is, and this is the most she has ever weighed in her life. I am tempted to glance over at her, but I didn't. Then one of the guys she was with asks her how much she weighs.
Here is my "Stupid Things People Say Reactor" meter:

At least, those are some of the general things I think when people say stupid things.

Anyways, to my surprise, she did not retort with anything other than her weight. And the grand total was: *drum roll* 135 pounds.
Wow. What a let down to hear she was AVERAGE!

After she so generously graced the public with her average weight, and apparent shame of it, she decided to loudly tell her friend that February 2nd will be "one year ecstacy free!"

Part of me wanted to glance at her, and nod a genuine nod that said "Well done. Congratulations." But the bigger part of me was reaching for the cord to let me off.

A Cat isn't a Mom

I had a thought the other day after a frustrating encounter with someone who talks A LOT. Then I had that thought reinforced with more frustrating encounters with people who talk too much.

A graph came to mind. Now, I am a visual thinker. When I study for tests, I take mental photos of the pages I am reading and store them in my brain. When I write a test, I pull out that image of the photo and look at the paper for the piece of info I am trying to remember.

That has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to brag about how awesome my photographic mind is.

But a graph really did come to mind, and it goes likes this:

The less a person talks, the better skill they have at reading people's body language. The more a person talks, the greater that skill decreases. In general.

Now, there are some people who do understand body language, and are totally aware of how uncomfortable they make people, and thrive off that. I am not talking about those people.

I am talking about that person who never shuts up and they violate your ears by going on about nothing, and things you really don't care about. People who have verbal diaharrea really bad, and as soon as your eyes meet theirs for even a second, they puke words all over you.

Ya, those people.

And I thought about the correlation because those people, or at least the ones I have encountered in my life, seem to have absolutely no comprehension of body language. When no one is looking at them, they continue to talk. When you look bored, they continue to talk. My personal favourite is when you say nothing, or your only reply is "uh huh", and they still continue to talk, believing they are having an awesome long conversation with you, but have never noticed that they are the only ones talking, so it's not a conversation.

I have been trying for years to learn how to deal with these people, but it's difficult because they are so ignorant of how other people perceive them, and often they don't even care how people around them feel (I also know people who don't talk a lot, have minimal understanding of body language, and don't care how the people around them feel) because many of these people have no comprehension that their behaviour causes people to feel anything. They are dillusional.

So I've been trying to be patient, knowing that these people don't do this on purpose. They are not purposely being idiots, constantly spewing crap and stupid statements all over your brand new sweater. They don't know any better. They probably have stupid parents who shaped them that way.

For example:
Very recently, I told someone I know that my mom has cancer, and rather than offer any sort of sympathy, they equated my mom having cancer with their cat having cancer: "Oh...I just found out my cat has cancer". To throw them a social cue at how insanely insensitive of a statement that was (and that's me using nice language), I said: "Yeah well, a cat isn't a mom". The guy behind me laughed, because he saw what I was doing. So I thought, "good, point made". Nope. They stare blankly at me, almost insulted, and said "I've had my cat for 17 years. We're very close".

I didn't say anything more. What would be the point? I decided to turn around, and stop talking to them.

So you see, dear friends, sometimes the best way to deal with these people is to avoid them at all possible costs. It may not sound very Christian, but avoiding them is more Christian than the thoughts that run through my head when I am around them.

Save yourself the stress.

Now go donate a cancer infested cat to cancer research.

A Letter to my Favourite Candy

Yesterday I decided to send my favourite candy, Starburst, an email. This is how it went:

Dear Starburst,

Your candy is my favorite. Even though it sometimes hurts my teeth, I refuse to give it up, and I eat it everytime I go to the movies.

Sometimes, however, there are too many oranges and yellows, and really, who likes those colours? Everyone loves the reds and the pinks. So I thought, why not invent one with just those colours?

Then I went to Boise, Idaho last May, and wandered into a Target. I nearly died of joy to see that there IS a Starburst pack of just the reds. I was overjoyed, but also saddened because we don't have them here in Nova Scotia. I am stuck with Original and Tropical.

I am also amazed upon viewing the Starburst website that there are even gummies, and jellybeans, which would not hurt my teeth like the fruit chews do. Why don't we have these in Canada?

Also, the 3 commericials on the website are wonderful. Whoever made them, give that person a promotion immediately. As a future journalist and some day famous writer, I commend their brilliance.

Thank you Starburst for your delicious, tasty goodness.

Sincerly,
Christine Thibeault


I would not bother to share that letter if I did not get a reply back. Which I did! Today! Here it is:

Dear Ms. Thibeault,

Thank you for writing to let us know about the difficulty you've had finding Starburst® Flavereds Candy in your neighbourhood.

The product line is brand new and as such may not be available to its fullest potential yet. Adding a new product to retail shelves does take time before it is available at all locations. Retailers have different schedules for reorganizing their shelves and some may not even allow a new product in until their next fiscal year.

Generally speaking, when a product cannot be found at the local level, it can be found at some of the larger chain grocery and drug stores. I will pass your comments along to our District Manager for your region and perhaps they can persuade some stores in your area to stock up on it.

It is possible that the stores in your area have run out of stock of the packs that are still available, and have not been replenishing their shelves. It may be worthwhile to bring this note to the attention of the managers of the various stores in your area. We cannot supply our product without an order for it. We often hear that store managers, when they ask their head offices, are not able to order certain products unless there is a special request. They may be able to stock the product as long as they see a demand for it.

Your patronage is greatly appreciated, and we hope you will be able to obtain your favourite brand in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Barbra North
Consumer Care Representative

I was overjoyed to receive this email, though I was a little sad they did not offer a lifetime supply for sending them such an awesome email. Maybe they will send me one without telling me as a surprise.

*dreams*

Which Country is Being More Awesome

I thought it would be fun to post my blog audience stats of all time.

If you haven't noticed yet, I have added a page view counter at the very bottom of the page.


So there you have it.

My very own, my beloved, Canada, is more awesome than everyone else. And these 10 countries put together are more awesome than every other country in the world that has decided to deprive themselves of said awesomeness.

I do, however, find it distressing that the Vatican is not listed. The Pope has a very stressful job, and I believe my blog would help relieve that stress.

Perhaps one day....

Update!
January 31, 2011

I want to offer my condolences to Denmark, which has been bumped off the board by Blogger for not being awesome enough, and has been replaced by Costa Rica, with 4 views.