Two birthdays and a new blog o.o

Today is the United States Navy 238th birthday, but also today is my great-grandmother, Irene Beaver's 90th birthday.
As I have joking for the past few days, I knew the Navy and Granny would have something more in common than just my great-grandfather, Raymond Beaver.

It is hard to believe that my great-grandmother is 90, when she does not look the part. I love listening to her stories of her life and what she has went through, and yet she never makes it out like she was going through a Great Depression or a war, but was living the best she could.

The only sad thing that involves these two is the lack of effort to acknowledge their achievement of today. It is amazing and rare to meet a 90 year old woman who is clearly very independent and a Navy who has went through so much and yet has remained strong. Google is the one thing that has bothered me, they like to change their Google emblem when something important comes up, but yet today they never did anything for the birth of the United States Navy.

On another note, the idea of creating a blog for the book club I am a part of well it became a reality! Three Bookish Girls check it out and please comment on the entries that are there. We are hoping that this blog/web page will be a good thing for us. Plus, it will be nice to write things on another blog especially focusing on books and reading.

Well that should be it, write tomorrow about 20s Group and how Granny's birthday went (hoping more people will wish her a happy birthday).

God Bless,
Nikita

A Rainy Wednesday

It has stopped raining right now, but when I got up it was and up till now it was. I do not know if I have ever said this, but I absolutely love google+.

It is a simple and not cluttering like Facebook is doing so it can compete with other social media. But, google+ is also that clean slate for me, for I have had Facebook since freshmen year of college (when it literally was only for those in college) and one of the biggest problems I have is deleting or really removing people off my Facebook.

Though I know they would never care, I would because I have to remind myself why I added them and then why I am removing them (do not associate with me anymore, only trying to get me to play games, etc.) but really it is much easier for me to add and not add people on google+, because I understand myself more than I ever did when I was just starting college.

Wednesday means new updates for one of my favorite comic series ever! Which my friend Mary and I are really going to need tissues. Here is the link to the latest page to this wonderful comic: The Dreamer Comic

Yesterday before JR and I had what we call "Tuesday Home Date" (it is where we stay at my house and cook a home-cooked meal together and watch NCIS) I did something, updated my wish list on Amazon. My Wish List on Amazon check it out and maybe I might get a few presents!

Lastly that I wish to write about is how a friend, Emily and I have been talking on google+ about our little book club. I am happy to say we have agreed on creating a blog for the club and hopefully at the November meeting, we will have a list of the books we will read in the coming months. Very excited about this because it gives me something to really do, but actually I get to socialize with people who I consider my friends (which I am very happy to have them as my friends).

God Bless,
Nikita

Life in General, it is one of those updates

It is quiet here at the house on this Tuesday afternoon and so I thought it would be wonderful to write a little entry on the happenings in my life.
Second Sunday are of great importance to me, for it is when the Dominican Laity Chapter I am a part of meets as a whole community. (Which that in part is one of the pillars of the Dominican Order) This month was different than normal because it was the first time I did not have a class for formation. Which was strange a little bit for me, but reminded me in two month time I will be promising myself to the Rule of St. Dominic for three years. That brings a joy to my heart!

The Chapter I am in this month started a new on-going formation, which is the Scott Hahn Genesis to Jesus lectures. I am excited to see what is to come of this. (More details of my opinion of this on-going formation in later entries)

Another thing for this month is something I am quite happy about with the community, a friend of mine is discerning if he should join the Dominican Laity. It is great to see young adults like myself coming into this community. Please I ask for all of your prayers for my upcoming promise and his discernment into the Dominican Laity.

While at the meeting two other of my friends, Camille and Emily were discussing with me about how we really need to get our little book club going. (For we were suppose to meet up and discuss "Hail, Holy Queen" by Scott Hahn, but scheduling became an issue) So, we decided that we would meet at Emily's house on November 15th to discuss that month's book, "Tuesdays with Morrie", for which I nominated.

"Tuesday with Morrie" was a book I was exposed to during my senior year thanks to a teacher. This book truly helped me understand the rights of dignity of Life as I reflect on it now, before I just thought it was a sad story that would make me cry at the end. So, I am going to have a great time discussing this book with Camille and Emily, but also of course I will post our little review on here and maybe we three will make a blog that deals with the books we decided to read, but that I do not know will happen, but it is an idea.

Yesterday was interesting for October 10th, 2011 was not only my cousin's birthday but was mark of my four years working for Kroger. It is difficult to understand that it has been four years, it does not feel like it has. I thought I was marking two years, not four. But it seems my job finds it not a great mark in life, but oh well.

Tuesday morning after coming home from work I watched my new favorite series (for which I hopes goes on for another season than just one) "Saints Alive!" This episode was Saint Gregory the Great. I find it interesting that so much of what he went through is parallel to what modern culture is now. I would like to quote this episode by Saint Gregory the Great:

"The eye of the icon is not only the eye with which we see God, it is the eye with which God sees us and thus loves us."

"We are called to live in our Lord's Real Presence where ever we are or whatever we are doing."

"When a girl ceases to blush she has lost the charm of her beauty."

"The Holy Spirit, is our personal guide."

"The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind's eye. In it we see our inner face, how spiritually beautiful or deformed we are, how near or far we are to perfection."

On a final note, before I went to bed I started (well re-started) a list of the books I have and the books I want. I only got to writing all the Catholic books I own and want. It is amazing I own thirty-eight books (six which are written by Dominicans) and I would like to own thirty-two more (well there are more but I could not remember the titles or the authors).

But, that is just my religious books, and I know I have secular books, but for what I can see with this list I am making I have kept an even balance between the secular and religious. Hopefully maybe next time I will make an entry with the list of books I would like to own.

God Bless,
Nikita

Our Lady of the Rosary and more...

Saint Dominic being given the Rosary by Mary, Mother of God and Jesus

"When we pray, we are not doing God a favor. He is gracing us with the awesome privilege of communicating with Him." -Fr. Mabura

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which for Church is a Memorial, but for the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) is a feast day. In the Liturgy of the Hours the explanation for this feast day is summarized as such:

"This commemorative feast was established by Saint Pius V (Dominican) on the anniversary of the naval victory won by Christian fleet at Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the help of the holy Mother of God whose aid was invoked through praying the rosary. The celebration of this day invites all to meditate upon the mysteries of Christ, following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was so singularly associated with the incarnation, passion, and glorious resurrection of the Son of God."

Though that is the reason for this feast day, for me this feast is a reminder of the great power of praying the rosary. The rosary for Dominicans as I have been told many times, is our sword. In the opinion of this baby Catholic and novice Dominican, while the sword is the Rosary, the shield is Scared Scripture and the armor is the scapular.

What is the rosary, for many they condemn it as a worship to Mary, in turn that is false, we HONOR our MOTHER by praying for intercession to her. The rosary is in turn recalling of Jesus' life through the eyes of His mother who in turn He gave to us to be our Mother.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's 20s Group (website ) Gospel study, which is discussing the coming Gospel reading for Sunday. This Sunday's reading is Matthew 22:1-14,

"Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, "Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."" Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'the feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. God out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Many are invited, but few are chosen."

We (20s Group) split into two small groups, and so though I have no clue what group 2 spoke about, I do know what group 1 talked about. Group 1 main focus was really on was our intital reactions, which took us away from the discussion questions a little bit, and I actually liked that because it shows truly the depths of the Word.

I would like to share with all of you my thoughts on this parable that I discussed within the group. My intital reaction was on the wedding garment, for why would the king cast this one guest that does not have a wedding garment into the darkness?

Well, I and most of the group found the wedding to a metaphor to the invitation to Heaven and this one guest was a person who I would consider ritualistic Christian (Catholic and non-Catholic), the wedding garment is based upon their external and internal holiness, for which this one person only believed because they were going to church or were considering themselves Christian that it would not matter of their holiness.

This one guest refused to wear holiness, they turned themselves away from God, which is something else that we felt this parable was speaking of, how your free will to not love God or to seek holiness (or as I said my Granny old saying, "Go to church on Sunday, and cuss on Monday") is the guest without a wedding garment.

But the question came up 'if God loves us so much that He would still cast us out into the darkness?' that is a very good question, and the answer I gave and others gave were amazing thought out and compelling. In short, is it not true that God loves all His creatures, even if they are good or bad, but it is in turn our free will, He casts us out because we ourselves casts ourselves out.

When you read the parable and how the king speaks to the guest, he says 'my friend', if this is truly a man whom the king hated would he had called him 'friend', so that in turn shows that it is the guest who has done the damage.

My final thought about this parable and well all the parables is that we will never truly know the full meaning of any of them until we come face to face with God who created us. What I do believe is that each time you read the parables you were find something new that will add to your intital thoughts of the parable, kind of like building upon a foundation.

God Bless,
Nikita

Quotes from my Facebook Profile and few more

I thought this could be interesting if I pasted on my blog the quotes that I have on my facebook profile. Question I have for you all is which of these do you like the most and why? Comment please, this will be fun!

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."-Margaret Mead

"In my many years, I have come to the conclusion that one worthless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress."-John Adams (1735-1826)

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen." -Hebrews 11:1

"Will not be judge by the color of their skin, but the content of their character." MLK 63'

"It is not my fault, I voted for McCain!"

"And Love is the Key." -Jerry Goldsmith

"A person is a person no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss

"Roger do you know what they call the middle of a song." -Bennie, the Cab "I don't know....A BRIDGE" -Roger Rabbit

"Why do you get so cold when you are old? I am fatter than ever, yet the wind blows right through me." -Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle

"Oh, doctor, you've struck a nerve!" -Fred Astaire in "You Were Never Lovelier"

"Won't you ring dem(them) bells....haven't had a chance like that in years, I had to try it." -Bing Crosby in "Bells of St. Mary's"

"What's wrong with a priest wearing a Bandanna."-Father Andre-Joseph LaCasse OP

"Our cinder ash from life can be wiped away and have a happily ever after." -Narrator from HBO Series: "Happily Ever After"

"You believe this guy? Come on, Ninja kick the damn rabbit. Do something.-Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Movie.

"Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza." -Michelangelo from TMNT the Movie.

"Parents just should not lie to their kids." Guardie Quote

"You bid me burn your letters. But I must forget you first."- John Adams

"What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 - 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington."- John Adams

"I must intreat you, my dear Partner in all the joys and Sorrows, Prosperity and Adversity of my Life, to take a Part with me in the Struggle." -John Adams writes in a letter to Abigail Adams on July 1st, 1774

"You have forgotten who you are and so you have forgotten me." -Mufasa in Lion King

"Simba, let me tell you something my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past are up there, watching over us....So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I." -Mufasa in Lion King

"Before sunrise, he's "your" son." -Mufasa in Lion King

"Nice house, nobody home." -Mother Superior Regina and Sister Huebert in Nunsense.

"It's all GEEK to me." -J.R.

"I will remember to bring my geek dictionary and translations." -Nikita

"Best of luck on the next tests. It is good to spend time with the Lord, and I'm sure he is calling on all the mathematician patron saints to help you with study!" -Father Thomas Blau, O.P.

"If, by supporting the rights of mankind, and of invincible truth, I shall contribute to save from the agonies of death one unfortunate victim of tyranny, or of ignorance, equally fated, his blessings and years of transport will be sufficient consolation to me for the contempt of all mankind." -Marchese di Beccaria

"Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?" -Narrator from Beauty and the Beast

"Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will." -St. Thomas Aquinas, OP

"When we are whom we are called to be, we will set the world ablaze." -St. Catherine of Siena, OP

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?" -St. Maximilian Kolbe

"And finally, everything worked out just fine! Christmas was saved although there wasn't much time! But after that night, things were never the same! Each holiday now knew the other ones name! And although that Christmas got out of hand I'm still rather fond of that skeleton man. So many years later I'd thought I'd drop in, and there was old Jack still looking quite thin! With four or five skeleton children at hand playing strange little tunes on there xylophone bands. And I asked old Jack,''Do you remember that night when the sky was so dark and the moon shone so bright? When millions of small children pretending to sleep, nearly didn't have Christmas at all so to speak? And would if you could turn that mighty clock back to that long faithful night? Now think carefully Jack, would you do the whole thing all over again knowing what you know now knowing what you knew then?'' and he smiled like the old Pumpkin King that I knew, and turned and asked softly of me, ''wouldn't you?''" -Hidden Ending of Nightmare before Christmas (Santa Claus speaking)

Blessed Raymond of Capua

Blessed Raymond of Capua, OP and St. Catherine of Siena, OP

Today is the feast of Blessed Raymond of Capua, OP. This Dominican friar had a great role as the spiritual director and confessor of one of the Doctors of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena, OP. Blessed Raymond was born in Capua, Italy in 1330. It was when he was at the University of Bologna (the place where one of my Dominican Patrons was born and died, Blessed Diana) where he was to know of the Dominicans and then he would join the order.

There are other things he is well known for, such as he was a biographer for not only St. Catherine of Siena, OP, but also Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, OP. He was also know for being Master-General of the Order in 1380 until his death, if I am correct in 1399 in Nuremburg, Germany.

For what I have learned about him, he learned much by St. Catherine, even though in the beginning he never wanted to take on the task as being St. Catherine's spiritual director and confessor, but then meeting and listening to St. Catherine I think the Holy Spirit really helped him understand who this pious woman was, a great instrument of God's as was Bl. Raymond.

For more information about Blessed Raymond of Capua, OP check these two sites: Patron Saint Index and Brief Biography of Blessed Raymond of Capua

God Bless,
Nikita

Dislike not writing

I have kind of have been on hiatus since last Thursday. It was not that a lot was going on, it was more that I have been busy with life, well what my life consists of.

One of the biggest things is being a caregiver for my great-uncle. What most do not understand is the problems I have at times with being a caregiver, I never want to sleep, I am too worried he will be yelling for me, or even Granny and I will not be able to hear them. So for the past few days I would try to get at least three hours, only I think Friday did I get six or eight hours. (But that was after staying awake until 6am or 8am)

What I should make clear is I took this on because I live here and since I love them I never thought in the back of my mind that I should not do this. No, they are not only family, but humans who need comfort and love especially at this time of need.

Christians are called to help those who are most vulnerable, which these two are. But, there is one thing that I forget, I need to take care of myself and live my life. I have noticed that at times I overwhelm myself with things and I ask for everyone to please pray for me, I hate asking for prayers for me, when so many others need prayers, but if you all any room in your prayers keep a little one for me.

This entry was not to just be about ranting and venting, but also an update on what has been going on or what I think is interesting. First thing is first, most of you know about Charlie Sheen, who has lost his poor marbles (which makes me think of the movie "Hook"). But, do you know that his brother, Emilio and his father, Martin have teamed up and rallying around the country promoting a film called "The Way"? You have not,well you are in luck, I have a the link for the trailer:

I learned about this film after watching Raymond Arroyo's "World Over" on EWTN. This film is really going to be known if the word gets out, because big production companies did not back this film, it is a HUMAN story, which they do not like. Which if you notice some of the newer films some of the fewer are really HUMAN stories.

Another thing that has become a part of my life thanks to a dear friend of mine is "The Dreamer" (look at picture above). It is such a great story too! The one thing I have learned by reading this series is sometimes it is bad for American History Majors to read something like this. Why? Well, you get hook with a character by their attitudes and lines that you forget in history they died in battle or hung or etc. I was reminded after reading the latest page this past Friday. I literally just sat there in shock with myself really that I would forget that important part of what I knew of the wars of the Revolution. But, I truly do recommend this series to anyone who loves a good historical/modern story. The Dreamer

Well, right now that seems to all I would like to write about, hopefully I will get into a better mood later today after prayers and then write another entry.

God Bless,
Nikita