I remember being a kid, going to Mass to the Cathedral and seeing grandmas wearing their waist-length mantillas. But after a while no one really kept wearing them.
About a year ago, I started noticing a few women here and there wearing veils or mantillas to church. I got a little bit curious and started looking into why women wear veils, and I really liked the idea. I am naturally awkward and kind of self conscious so the idea of showing up to Mass with a veil on my head... my hands would sweat at the thought of it. Not to mention, what if I came across as a holier-than-though? (I'm not sure why I thought that other people would think that of me since it's not what I thought when I saw women wearing mantillas).
A couple of days ago, I came across this post on Faith and Family. It seemed like there's a lot of women out there with the same sort of fears, which made me feel better. The more I read about it, the more and more I liked the idea of wearing a veil to Mass. But I still freaked out thinking about what other people would think.
This Sunday something different happened at church that made up my mind. The priest was going to be a couple of minutes late due to some scheduling confusion, and there was a bit of chit-chatter in the church. I was trying to not to space out and say some prayers while we were waiting for Father to arrive, when I overheard the family behind me complaining about the priest being late. And it bothered me a bit. I mean sure, we were going to have to wait for him and we're usually on time but also... is it going to kill you to spend 5 more minutes in church? is there something out there more important than waiting for The Eucharist? so my mind was made up. I decided to start looking for a veil to wear to church because maybe this way it will be an outside reminder (for me and those around me) of what's really going on. To keep our minds in the fact that we're there to celebrate Mass, that we're there to be with Him. It's not a Sunday task to be checked off.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Too many is just as bad as none
So I was looking at some old posts during a slow period at work erhm I mean after I got home and was done with the laundry and cleaning and found this really funny one over at Simcha's blog about people making rude comments to large families. Some of the responses the mothers give are funny, although I think if I had been in that situation I would've said something like: yeah, we got TV but I really don't like commercials.
Anyways that got me thinking about large families and children... And let me tell you, it isn't pretty on the other end. We've been married for around three years and no babies. Granted, we haven't actively tried but we haven't gotten pregnant. And I'm cool with that.
If it's God's will for us NOT to have any kids, I'm not going to argue. But it does start getting uncomfortable when everyone asks: "when are you having kids?" well.... how would I know? I hate it when people ask me this question. And for some reason, they never seem to ask my husband, as if I was the planner or whatever.
So we go to Church where all the uber-Catholics seem to look down their noses to me, the childless woman (OK, OK perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's MY blog) and ask when is it that I'm going to have kids?. Look lady, you have 25 kids behind you so I think you know from personal experience that kids.just.happen. Not all of them are planned.
And don't even get me started on the snobby comments on birth control. Well you know what? I'M NOT USING ANY! It seems like no one really stops and thinks that maybe... MAYBE... that's what God's will is. To not to have any babies, or to not have any babies now. And all I do is embrace it.
There's also the notion that we are not a family since we don't have any children. We're not a couple, we're married. We are a family. We are just a small family, but still a family.
So if it's any comfort for any of you ladies out there, for every moron that asks you if all those children are yours and if you know how they happen, there's a moron asking us (the just wives, not moms) when is it that we're having children already because we're not getting any younger.
Anyways that got me thinking about large families and children... And let me tell you, it isn't pretty on the other end. We've been married for around three years and no babies. Granted, we haven't actively tried but we haven't gotten pregnant. And I'm cool with that.
If it's God's will for us NOT to have any kids, I'm not going to argue. But it does start getting uncomfortable when everyone asks: "when are you having kids?" well.... how would I know? I hate it when people ask me this question. And for some reason, they never seem to ask my husband, as if I was the planner or whatever.
So we go to Church where all the uber-Catholics seem to look down their noses to me, the childless woman (OK, OK perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's MY blog) and ask when is it that I'm going to have kids?. Look lady, you have 25 kids behind you so I think you know from personal experience that kids.just.happen. Not all of them are planned.
And don't even get me started on the snobby comments on birth control. Well you know what? I'M NOT USING ANY! It seems like no one really stops and thinks that maybe... MAYBE... that's what God's will is. To not to have any babies, or to not have any babies now. And all I do is embrace it.
There's also the notion that we are not a family since we don't have any children. We're not a couple, we're married. We are a family. We are just a small family, but still a family.
So if it's any comfort for any of you ladies out there, for every moron that asks you if all those children are yours and if you know how they happen, there's a moron asking us (the just wives, not moms) when is it that we're having children already because we're not getting any younger.
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