Interior Catholic

  • 2018 Year in Review

    Often do we wish the current year away, especially when it’s steadily approaching its close. We plan parties not to welcome the new year, but to bid a not-so-fond farewell to the year that’s soon to end. “Good riddance,” we say, popping the cork of another champagne bottle. We toast the year’s inevitable demise, counting down the seconds until it’s finally over.

    But as midnight approached, surrounded by people who simply couldn’t wait for the year to finally end… I was almost sad. 2018 was very good to me.

    It had a rocky start. January began in the midst of perplexing personal matters and, per annual tradition, sick. The snowstorm that welcomed the year was a nasty one, especially since I was meeting a friend to take a three-hour drive together.

    But.

    I was in the midst of RCIA. I’d just started a new job, one that helped bring God’s word to children. Personal matters and snowstorm aside, the year was already off to a good start.

    There was so much I hadn’t planned or anticipated over the year. I rekindled my love for my fraternity, attending convention in Arizona and accepting a position on the national level. I took a bold step in telling a guy I was interested in him, which threw my “I’m probably meant to be alone” stubbornness into a committed relationship. I watched John Williams conduct his own music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma on cello. I traveled to Italy, where I waved to Pope Francis during the papal audience and visited the tomb of St. Paul, my favorite convert and missionary.

    And, above them all: April 8, the day I was received into the Catholic Church.

    During a recent work event, we were asked to what year we would return, if given the chance. College was a popular choice, or mid-thirties (for the “older” folk), and some joked that toddlerhood was the ideal. Though I’d answered college myself, the real answer was… right now. If I could experience all that 2018 brought over again, for the first time, I would. It was filled with joy and wonder, with happiness I didn’t even know existed.

    Thank you, 2018.

  • Books of Advent

    Part of my Advent goals included reading two books off the pile of Catholic texts to read (and trust me, it is literally “a pile”), so you get a two-for-one book review this time around!


    First on the list: The Crucified Rabbi, by Taylor R. Marshall
    When my Jewish boyfriend first attended Mass, I expected him to be completely lost. After all, I had felt completely lost the first few times, and I was already coming from a Christian background. Instead, he said a lot of it felt familiar. A lot of the prayers and motions were like Temple. So I had to find out what else might be the same.
    There’s a lot, which this book nicely lays out. We forget that the early Christians were Jewish first, and this book explores those origins through its Jewish foundation. Those Christians took their existing religion and integrated Jesus into it. It’s why the layout of a synagogue is similar to a church, and why we have the same prayers. It delves into religious life itself as well, discussing things like the Jewish nazarites and consecrated Catholics. And, yes, it does talk about the Pope’s “yarmulke.”


    Book two: Praying the Mass, by Jeffrey Pinyan
    This one is a great study of the Mass, for anyone who attends—whether it’s newbies to the Church (hi!), or people who need a refresher as to why things are done, or those who wonder why in the world the words have changed. (Spoiler: the updated translations are now more accurate to the Latin text.) It reviews each part of the Mass, in order, and references accompanying Scripture verses to where the words come from. There are also references to the original Latin and Greek texts to further explain the origin of the translations. And it’s all presented in a way that makes sense, even to a newbie like me. I should’ve read this one a year ago when it was first gifted to me!

    It’s more than just the Mass, too—there’s an overarching reminder that church isn’t just an hour sitting in a pew on Sunday morning. From the moment you arrive to the final dismissal, it’s a constant prayer and a reminder that we should be living for Him the rest of our days, too.

    For 2019, I plan to get through the rest of my Catholic books pile. And pick up some others to replenish the stack, too, of course.

    ,

And they said to him, “Inquire of God, we pray thee, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”

And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”

—Judges 18:5–6

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