It’s a foggy, cold morning here and I have to admit I love it. It reminds me of the final scenes of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film with fog rolling over the hill as the sun rises. The cinematography of that film has always stuck with me and real-life moments prick my mind enough to bring the scene back to the forefront of thought.
Now all I need is some delicious tea, piano playing in the background … and yes an English country house complete with a garden.
Until then, I’ll have to take the fog rolling along the backyard, and the house full of modern things but with a touch of Advent comforts.
And I know there are some strong opinions in the crowd about which Pride and Prejudice production is the best, so let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
AMDG
3 Quick Takes
We recently passed an important date in the Church — the anniversary of Vatican II. Online for years now there has been a loud contingent decrying this council, and an equally loud response from other corners. I don’t plan to get into it here (there are valid criticisms all around, that I’m intentionally not addressing here), instead, as a convert, I want to share a perspective I rarely, if ever hear online, but hear in real life all the time. If not for Vatican II I would probably not be Catholic today. My first Mass experience was on a college campus, in a movie theatre where the Mass was held. I was completely lost. It was so foreign to me — the music, the prayers (except the Our Father) and what was happening, and why. Had I gone to the Tridentine Mass, I probably would have never gone back. Truly. This journey of faith has been exactly that. I have since gone to a Traditional Latin Mass, and it is beautiful. We attend a reverent Novus Ordo Mass (ad orientem btw!) and we love it. Still, I know that had I encountered these before my conversion or even early into it without better catechesis, I would have been completely repelled and may never have found my way into the fullness of this beautiful faith. In my humble, somewhat uneducated, lay, opinion Vatican II spoke to the reality of modernity not by surrendering to it but by opening the door for the modern person to take a peak inside.
So I’ve been meaning to share this article from Patrick Neve. He touched on a topic I spent all summer writing about but from a slightly different angle. If you’ve been here for a minute you’ll be familiar with my Fulfilling Faith series that I wrote over the summer. If not you can find the first article here, the second and the third article here. There is a crisis in our American Church and the silver bullet to solving it has more to do with saying “hello” than it does with arguing theology, or opening your wallet. The funny thing is, whenever I bring it up on the Substack App I get a ton of pushback, so I’m thrilled to see another voice speaking about it. Here is his article, be sure to check it out.
This is your semi-regular reminder that if you know a family — at church, at work, down the street — who has a special needs child. Just check in on them every once in a while. Not in a creepy way, but in a “how are you really doing?” way. As some of you may know, my oldest son has Cerebral Palsy, and one of the biggest blessings through the years (and many moves) has been how some people go out of their way to not only check on my son, but also ask how Joe and I are doing. Even more, the insist on helping in some way. When our son had a major surgery last year, family came into town, helped with food, laundry, and shuttling our other two around town. It was a godsend. This time around, thankfully, the recovery is much less intense. Still I had a friend who insisted on bringing a meal. So she stopped by and brought days worth of food. Again, a godsend. I probably wouldn’t have asked had she not insisted and yet it was exactly what we needed. So friends, even if you think it might be too much, or makes you feel slightly uncomfortable, just do it. That family needs you but is probably worried of asking for too much because they know that their family is a lot and they don’t want to scare you off. So maybe show them, you aren’t scared.
P.S. Don’t forget to participate in the community poll at the end! It’s a fun way to see how we are all way more alike than we realize. Let me know what poll question I should ask next in the comments below. Sometimes it’s hard to think of these!
Quote of the Week
“Rejoice, O star that goes before the Sun. Rejoice, O womb of the Incarnate God. Rejoice, for through you, all creation is renewed, Rejoice, for through you, the Creator became a baby. Rejoice, O Virgin and Bride!” — Akathist Hymn
Devotional Corner
One aspect of our Catholic faith that I love is the both/and nature it holds so effortlessly. It mirrors something true about God Himself, and in doing so, it quietly irritates the tribal mentality that has slowly but effectively taken root in our culture, especially in the political sphere.
I often see commentary claiming that the pope must belong to one camp or another, that he is therefore “liberal” or “conservative.” But to what should be no one’s surprise, the pope, and beyond him, the Church, does not fit neatly into political paradigms. Just as Jesus did not in His own time, the Church He established continues to confound contemporary categories. She refuses to be reduced.
Bringing this down to earth, the both/and nature of our faith shapes our everyday lives in ordinary, often unremarkable moments. I recently shared on the Substack app a bit of wisdom my son offered while I was recovering from a lingering cold and the weight of another surgery for him was pressing in.
He said simply, “Well, I guess this is the Advent the Lord has given us.”
As I sat with his words, the invitation became clear. Life will throw curveballs. Expectations will be shattered. There will be seasons marked by uncertainty, exhaustion, and grief.
And yet, God is with us. Emmanuel is not withdrawn when things get hard.
This is the both/and of our faith made flesh.
The Advent season does not ask us to deny the struggle in front of us, nor does it leave us there. It allows space for sorrow and hope, weariness and trust, longing and peace.
And this is why Gaudete Sunday matters so much. Honestly it is one of my most favorite days out of the entire liturgical year.
Today, the Church does not command us to manufacture joy or pretend that everything is fine.
Instead, she invites us to rejoice within reality, to recognize that even now, even here, God is near. Joy is not the absence of hardship; it is the quiet confidence that hardship does not have the final word.
The rose candle does not erase the darkness of Advent. It simply reminds us that light is already breaking in.
Discussion Questions
This section is a starting off point to help you go deeper with topics discussed above.
What small sign of joy or light have you noticed this week? Even if it didn’t erase what’s been hard?
Where are you experiencing the both/and of faith right now—holding tension between struggle and hope, grief and trust, weariness and peace?
Love what you read? Sharing is one of the best (and free!) ways to support this work. Text it to a friend, post it in a group chat, or share it on Instagram or Facebook — wherever your people gather. Thank you! It helps me so much!
When Does Your Christmas Tree Go Up?
I really enjoyed seeing the results for this poll because I think online personalities have muddied the water on this seemingly simple decision, making it seem right or wrong to do it one way or the other. We fall squarely in the “whenever we can put it up” camp. Life is always shifting it seems and this year we had our tree up closer to Thanksgiving to accommodate the reality that our son would be undergoing surgery in December. Some years it’s closer to Christmas day. I do subscribe to the idea that we don’t want it to be Christmas before Christmas day, so we try to keep a more low-key atmosphere before Christmas and then ramp it all up for the 12 days of Christmas, but I don’t choose to feel guilty on years we can’t keep to this ideal due to real life. It’s made the whole season more beautiful and fulfilling if you ask me!
Check out this week’s poll here.
Thanks for the mention!