Week in Review I

Hello! Hope everyone had a great Saturday. I'm starting something new here on Home to Catholicism. Every Saturday (hopefully), I'll be making a Week in Review post. It will include links to some of my favorite Catholic articles/videos/events from the week, reading recommendations, features on the present liturgical season, information on saints in the week and notable Catholic-related events in my life.

The Week in Review feature will serve three purposes. It will: 1) have me posting more frequently to give a more intent look into my life, 2) spread the interesting ideas shared by others to give more of a community feel to this blog, and 3) teach readers about issues or concepts within the Church which they may not understand, or even know about. This last one is most important to me. I don't know the faith demographics of people who read this blog. I would think many people who are not Catholic visit it, because many non-Catholics are able to access my blog from my social media links. When I started this blog, my two reasons for doing so were to document my experience and to teach others. I hope I can do the latter just as well as the former.

Of course, I am not infallible, so readers (that's you!): if something does not make sense or if I have misrepresenting something, please do let me know in the comments. I want to be most accurate and thorough on tricky subjects. You should also leave a comment so I can meet you and get to know you. If you have requests about what you would like to see on this blog, you can let me know in the comments as well. :)

That said, without further ado:

Week In Review: Week I

Reading

The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort.

1.The lovely book above was surprise gifted to me by my boyfriend earlier in the week. It is full of historical information about the Rosary and additional devotional prayers. I am very excited to get into it more.

2. I have been reading Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday? (Foley). I also have St. Augustine's Confessions and G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy out of the library and on my to read list to finish by the end of the month. What are you reading?

The Blogosphere

1. Carrots for Michaelmas is one of my favorite Catholic blogs. Haley talks about being a Catholic wife, mother and homesteader [my dream job, really ;)]. One of her most popular posts which brought me to her website was "10 Books You Should Read To Your Daughter." That post hooked me, but since then stories of her conversion, her thoughts on family and her recent series "Catholicism: Empowering Women for 2000 Years" have captivated me and kept me coming back for more. Haley offers such a sweet and sincere look into her family's life that I would probably be asking her on coffee dates every week if I lived in Florida. Go look at her blog and say hello!

2. I found the Catholic Stuff Podcast earlier this week when I wanted to listen to instead of read about Catholicism (it happens). Fr. John, Joe and Nathan are seminarians who spend about twenty minutes explaining the new (though by this point, seemingly old) translation, St. Thérèse, holy orders, annulments, Purgatory and everything in between, no matter how obscure. I probably listened to two dozen of these podcasts while cooking on Thursday and learned new things while solidifying my understanding in other areas. These would be easy to download and listen to whenever you have free time (in the car, walking to class, cleaning your ridiculous kitchen). You may want to keep a notepad nearby to jot down references to books, movies or Saints to look into later.

3. As the March for Life and the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approached, blog posts, videos and images exploded on the topic. Some of the highlights include this post from The Crescat which inspires prayer and intent reflection on the evils of abortion in our country. I think we can forget how gruesome and terribly sad abortion really is.

Check Your Calendar

1. Coming up in the Liturgical year: Lent! Ash Wednesday falls crazy early this year on 13 February. How can you prepare and recognize this season? Go to Confession! I believe the recommendation is once a year: what better time to go? One is only required to confess Mortal (grave) sins, but it is also good to confess Venial and as many times in the year as is necessary to keep you constantly striving for grace. I've heard about Saints going to Confession every week or every two weeks. I have a lot to say about Confession and have talked about my first one here, and will probably make another post as Lent approaches. Here are some very good guidelines.

For Lent I really want to get into the habit of saying the Rosary every day and plan to delve into the book mentioned above. I'm also thinking about incorporating Adoration and Liturgy of the Hours into my days as well. At the end, I will be received (finally, finally, finally!) into the Church so I want to prepare properly. Does anyone have other devotional ideas or ways to prepare for Easter? Sound off in the comments.

Myself

I will be visiting Paris in six weeks (provided my passport arrives in time)! I am very excited and have macarons, Notre Dame and The Louvre high on the list, but am accepting suggestions from travelers or Paris frequenters. I will be spending one day (about 12 hours) in London, so suggestions there are also welcome.

Have a wonderful Sunday!