"Go out and play" can be... messy.

"Mom, Louie is messy!" Understatement. He's soaked from the waist down. Including his shoes.

"Mom, I think I destroyed my pants." They are destroyed. Yes, you need to change clothes before dance class. The irony? The Boy is cleaner than his sister.

"Mom, I think I need to change my... things." Her vagueness is telling. She needs to change from the skin out.

Ah, spring has sprung.

Random questions--any help?

I'm unleashing the Power of the Blog, such as it is with my two dozen regular readers.

1. Does a Kindle get out-of-print books? Big sellers only? How obscure can the books be? See, I know and love a book junkie and a Kindle would really help with the the space issues. However, if it's only popular books or bestsellers, that helps very little. He's into relatively obscure Byzantine texts, out-of-print Catholic stuff, small publishers, etc. And once you have it on Kindle, do you have it forever or will it eventually zap off if it goes out of print?
The other, possibly more practical option, is for me to get the Kindle and donate/sell my various books. I don't have quite the eclectic taste my husband does.

2. I have a pair of boys' Bob the Builder overalls in a size 4T. Dale loved them and I'm planning on keeping them for Lou. However, we don't have the matching shirt I'm sure exists (I saw it on someone else's son). Does anyone know of, has anyone seen somewhere, a long sleeved Bob the Builder plaid shirt? How much will you want to part with it? And if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. And yes, I've trid eBay and the closest I've found is a short sleeve one in 3T.

That is all for now. Thanks, folks!

What Connor MacLeod said.

For the uninitiated: "There can be only one."

And so there is. That one is just fine, measuring at 10 weeks one day. We even saw the little legs move and all.

Now I'm going to resume my normal life of chores, meals, and teaching. Daddy may scan in the picture later, but for now you have to take my word for it.

Metro, boulot, dodo....

No, I haven't given up blogging for Lent; it just seems like it.

I've got a kind of Dr. Seuss-ish poem in my head somewhere, rhyming "mathematics" and "phonics," "obstetrician" with "pediatrician," and "orthodontist" with "dentist." Throw in grammar, reading, science, spelling, playdates, dance class, first Friday Mass, dishes, laundry, floors, keeping Louie alive and clean, and brushing my teeth and I'm shot.

Oh, and now that spring has made arrangements to arrive we'll be starting a garden. Kind of a relief that there are only two more episodes of ER (my only reason to stay up past 10PM). Yes, there's me, the production crew, and the mothers of most of the cast still watching.

We finally have up a Baby Ticker, and Daddy has one too. That'll make it easier for someone to keep track since this is kind of new for him. Given the loss before Louie, my doc wants me to come in for an ultrasound this Wednesday morning to be sure we have a heartbeat and all. I'm not worried but there are some changes this time around. I've already gained a few pounds and some of my clothes aren't fitting; that's never happened before in the first trimester. If I find time and there's anything exciting, I'll try to post Wednesday.

On current events: I'm waiting to see a Ron Burgundy-style joke about Obama and his teleprompter. Let me know in the comments.

That is all. Now I get to take my cooling rack back from Louie, get the other three doing school, wash yesterday's dishes, have some breakfast, throw in a load of laundry... This is the life I signed up for. And honestly, I love it.

Real Presence vs. Literal Presence

Our homeschooling group has a Moms' Night Out (MNO). There are usually a dozen regulars or so and we dish pretty explicitly. Some months ago, there were even pregnancy tests taken (one was positive). Really.

So it's no surprise that talk turns to religion. Don't get nervous; there is very rarely any raised voices or harsh words; it's almost always in the vein of clarifying one's own beliefs and educating others--not necessarily to convert anyone.

It seems a few folks had seen the video Common Ground and there were some questions about the Real Presence. I'd talked about it with one person before but... I'll be honest. My 1970's Glitterchesis was thirty years ago, and while Madeleine made her First Communion last year, Daddy did the teaching. I needed to knock some rust off.

See, in the video, Father Riccardo (whose orthodoxy I have no reason to question--quite the contrary) said something very like if not exactly, "It's not literally the Body of Christ." (I haven't seen the video--yet.) This gave me the screaming willies. I need to see this, and quickly, to put it in context.
I lead a busy life, so renting and watching videos is one of those things that gets done rarely. Instead, I mulled it. I thought about it. And I realized that "literally" has a very narrow meaning. It appeared I had two options.

Did I believe that Jesus' Body is literally made of unleavened bread and, were He to cut Himself shaving, would bleed wine? Hmm. That sounds vaguely familiar...

In a word--no.

The other apparent option if we're talking literally is that, upon consecration, the bread and wine undergo some kind of chemical change that turns them into Glorified Human Flesh and Blood-down to their molecular makeup.

That one is just as silly and even scientifically disprovable. Is there a third option?

I decided to consult the Catechism to see what actual Church teaching is. Paragraph 1374, in its entirety, says: The mode of Christ's presense under the Eucahristic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is called 'real'--by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."

Whoa. There's no talk of "literally." We look through the eyes of faith and see Jesus present sacramentally--really, truly present, but not literally. I mean, the Blessed Sacrament to my knowledge has not cured a woman's issue of blood by simple contact, restored sight, or healed a withered hand. While It may float on water, I don't think It will walk.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I'm trying to get a grip on the doctrine of the Real Presence and how to explain it. I read John 6 and it's like algebra--makes sense while I'm reading it but ten minutes later, it's gone. When I watch Common Ground, I'll bet Father Riccardo's explanation will help.

I think, though, that it's called a Sacred Mystery for a reason. Better minds than mine have thought about it for longer than I have time to do, and haven't been able to explain it fully. For those non-Catholics, "Sacred Mystery" is Catholic-speak for "let it go."