Welcome to day 6 of 68 days of me trying to change for the better spiritually, emotionally, physically, and intellectually. It’s a journey I’ve chosen to walk and you’re invited to come along as you read this journal of my journey.
Physical
I woke at 5:00 AM and began my workout at about 10 minutes after. I only climbed to level 5 again during the apex style workout. I’ll probably stay at 5 until the weekend and bump it up to 6. If you have no idea what I’m writing about here, check out my previous post.
Spiritual
I had an early morning coffee meeting so I didn’t get to my prayers and readings until later in the morning. Inspired by the Gospel for today, I wrote (reposted) this poem.
My day was going well spiritually and emotionally until I met Luce. Who is Luce? She’s the official Vatican “mascot” for the Jubilee Year 2025. I’ll admit, she’s cute and my 9 year-old daughter will probably want to get her hands on one. But what about the rest of the world, the Catholics who aren’t 9 year-old girls? Do we really need a “mascot” for a Jubilee Year?
The USCCB website states that: ““Luce” will also serve as the mascot of the Holy See’s pavilion at Expo 2025, which will take place in Osaka, Japan, from April to October 2025. The Holy See pavilion — which will be hosted inside of Italy’s national pavilion — will have the theme “Beauty brings hope,” and display the 17th-century painting “The Entombment of Christ” by Caravaggio — the only one of his works housed in the Vatican Museums.“
“Beauty brings hope.”
Beauty does indeed bring hope. Luce is cute but meaningless. Caravaggio’s work, pictured above, even though flowing with sadness at the death of Our Lord brings hope. I’ve seen this image in real life. I’ll never forget it. I was brought to tears at the Cleveland Museum of Art by simply being confronted with the image (at nearly 10′ x 7′ it’s a tremendously moving piece). Tears of remorse. Tears of sadness. Tears of joy and tears of hope. Unfortunately, Luce doesn’t do that for me. I doubt she’ll do that for my daughter or anyone else.
When I look at these two images above I am again moved to tears. These are tears of mourning over the state of our Church. Maybe I need more time for reflection on these things but today I feel abandoned by the Church. No, it’s not just these images. It’s the ridiculous Synod, the disenfranchisement of those who love the TLM and more reverent forms of worship, the boomer priests and bishops who won’t let go of their 60’s liturgies and catechesis, abuse, celebrity priests, and so much more, and let’s not forget this. Anyway, spiritually it wasn’t a good day… until this evening when we prayed the rosary together as a family for our intentions and for the upcoming election. Here’s more kooky images from Church events…
Intellectual
My Spanish studies continue to go well. I’m very interested in the new podcast that I found that teaches about the grammar and syntax of the language as opposed to simply learning words and hoping to put them together coherently.
I can’t tell you much about my reading from the Summa of the Summa as I haven’t done that yet. I hope to get to it before bed this evening.
My left-handed cursive continues to progress. I didn’t think it would be this difficult but I did notice today that I’m gaining more fine motor skills and dexterity in my left hand. Hopefully by the end of this I’ll be able to write with the left hand almost as well as I do with the right hand. That shouldn’t be too difficult a task since I don’t write in cursive much with my right hand!
Emotional
Aside from the whole Church thing listed above it was a pretty good day emotionally. I had a good meeting early this morning for work and was able to get a lot of my other work done during the day. I helped a friend understand some insurance paperwork and spent time with the family this evening. I also took some time to get my table ready for the final coat of epoxy tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading! How was your day? Making changes in your life too? Let me know in the comments and let’s get better together!
The A.I. generated title is pretty much what we have come to expect. The image too is what I’ve come to expect, except this appears to be completely unrelated to the writing unless you count the weird tattoo. Okay, look A.I., most humans have 10 fingers and 10 toes, I’m not sure what you are trying to tell me with these images of a multitude of fingers…
James M. Hahn, Author 