“Gerardo, I installed that fire hydrant so that house fires could be put out, not so that you could have pool parties in the cul-de-sac”. (cf. homestarrunner)
 

 
Seriously, two little boys knocked on our door and said something like , “Uh, do you know that the hydrant outside your house exploded?”.

 
How do we find fulfillment in our lives? John Paul II tells us in The Theology of the Body, simply yet profoundly:
 

When God-Yahweh said, “It is not good that man should be alone,” (Gn 2:18) he affirmed that “alone”, man does not completely realize this essence. He realizes it only be existing “with someone”–and even more deeply and completely–by existing “for someone”.
 
The communion of persons means existing in a mutual “for”, in a relationship of mutual gift. This relationship is precisely the fulfillment of “man’s” original solitude.

 
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They’re a bit sparse; some have been nibbled on by critters, and I don’t think they will even add up to half a bottle of wine, but nonetheless, all glory be to God, I have some grapes on my grapevines!
 
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United 93, reviewed by Steven Greydanus.
 
Real heroism in the face of real evil.

 
What’s a Catholic blog without a post about the Da Vinci Code?
 
I have not read this book. I do not plan on seeing the movie. I don’t think you should read it or see it, either. Why?
Because I am afraid that you will learn that the Church has been hiding secrets from you in order to keep you from living the good life for centuries?
No.
 
I will neither read nor see it, and I encourage you not to do so as well because the fact is that Jesus Christ established his Church and He desires what is best for you, and He created His Church for the express purpose of teaching you the truth of yourself and the universe so that you can live the truly good life and live it eternally in Heaven.
 
The odds of someone, Dan Brown or Charlie Brown, figuring something out about the spiritual life that Jesus Christ did not reveal and has not taught in His Church are 0.0%.
 
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When I awoke Friday morning, April 21, I did not imagine that I would be Devin’s betrothed by nightfall. I was blissfully unaware as I sat in Adoration that morning, praying that Devin have a blessed day, that Jesus was smiling to Himself with the knowledge of Devin’s true location. I had no clue, when I left school at 3:50, that Devin was driving around Deming in a baseball cap and sunglasses, to hide from my eyes in this small town.

No clue. How delightful! So, how did it come to pass that I was engaged to Devin by Friday evening? Well, read on.

Earlier in the week, my parents invited me to dinner with them Friday evening at Palma’s Italian Restaurant, where Devin and I had shared our first meal. How fun! Friday evening came, and we had just arrived at our table at Palma’s when the cell rang; Dad handed it to me. It was Devin–yay! “Why don’t you go talk outside, Katie?” Dad suggested. Okay.

I carried the phone outside on the sidewalk, the place where I had first met Devin, where he began to speak in a sober voice. “Katie, lately we’ve been discussing engagement, and I want to tell you that I’m just not ready. I’m not totally sure of God’s will, and I need more time.” My heart sank; was Devin preparing to break up with me? I tried to calmly reply that I appreciated his honesty, but, before I could say more, Devin said, “Well, now I don’t need any more time,” and ended our call.

Suddenly, he was behind me, wearing a tie and holding roses and grinning broadly. Devin? Devin!

In the space of a breath, my reeling brain halted on the “We’re going to break up” track and switched gears to “I’m receiving a proposal.”

Next, the realization penetrated that Devin was reciting Hosea: “I will betroth you to myself forever” which we had read for Lent together.

Then, he was kneeling. “Katie, will you marry me?”

Thankfully, I had already clearly discerned my reply should Devin ask for my hand, or I might have said nothing, so great was my shock. But, I had discerned and was able to reply, “In the name of Jesus Christ, through the help of Our Lady and St. Joseph, I will marry you.” Then, Dad was snapping photos, and we were hugging, and there was general hullabaloo.

It was wonderful and exhilarating and romantic! Yet, underneath all the excitement, a deep peace rested and still remains. I will be Devin’s wife in Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. This is a holy call from God. We are honored to oblige. YKC!

 

 
“I will betroth you to myself forever,
betroth you with integrity and justice,
with tenderness and love;
I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness,
and you will come to know the Lord.”

 

 
I second the G’s approval of this TV show series, which has only 5 installments, and add my own endorsement of it.
 
We have watched the 4 shows that have played so far, and each one is better than the one before it as the young men get closer to making a decision to enter the seminary. In the 4th episode, Steve Horvath, who was a frat guy in college, goes to Guatemala and has some sobering experiences, especially facing the reality of extreme poverty there, and when he is about to leave the country to return home, he very honestly admits his fears and his appreciation for what it means to be a priest.
 
He says through tears: “If I’m fortunate enough, God will make me a priest; the question is, ‘Am I going to have the courage?’ and I don’t have the answer to that.” 
 
Wow, how great for him to recognize that the priesthood is an amazing honor. For about two years, I felt God might be calling me to the priesthood, and similar thoughts to Steve’s often went through my mind: If God is calling me, will I have the courage to answer the call? What if I miss my vocation due to my own sinfulness?
 
All four of these men are very different from each other, but all are faithful Catholic young men and the directors of the show honestly portray their very Catholic lives. 5 stars and blessings to these Jewish men who made this program!

 
I have always been intrigued and mystified by what our Lord meant when he said that in marriage, “the two become one flesh”. Clearly their physical flesh does not meld into one another, so it must be on a different level. John Paul II speaks about this:
 

The unity of which Genesis 2:24 speaks–”they become one flesh”–is undoubtedly expressed and realized in the conjugal act. The biblical formulation, extremely concise and simple, indicates sex, femininity and masculinity, as that characteristic of man–male and female–which permits them, when they become “one flesh”, to submit their whole humanity to the blessing of fertility.
 
Uniting with each other (in the conjugal act) so closely as to become “one flesh”, man and woman rediscover, so to speak, everytime and in a special way, the mystery of creation. They return in this way to that union in humanity (“bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”)….That they become one flesh is a powerful bond established by the Creator. Through it they discover their own humanity, both in its original unity, and in the duality of a mysterious mutual attraction.

 
Man was created male and female, and before the fall, they were in “original unity” with one another, forming a perfect communion of persons that imaged the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fact that in marriage–created, redeemed, and sanctified by Christ–the husband and wife can return in some sense to this original unity and rediscover their own humanity, is awesome!