What's Wrong with IVF?

I was recently disheartened/disappointed to see that "Fuller House"(the reboot of my beloved 90s show, "Full House") chose to include a storyline involving IVF. I saw it coming when the adult version of middle-daughter, Stephanie, revealed in an earlier episode that she would never be able to have kids. Several episodes later, Aunt Becky is pushing Stephanie to a fertility doctor and then the show writers take it a step further with Stephanie looking for potential "baby daddies" despite the fact that she's currently in a relationship....😒

Hence the inspiration for this blog post in which I explain what IVF is and the reasoning for why I along with Catholicism is not in favor of it.

What is IVF?
IVF stands for In-Vitro Fertilization, a process used to assist women with getting pregnant involving isolating and then fusing together egg & sperm samples in a petri dish then injecting the resulting embryo into the woman's uterus.

Sounds wonderful at first glance, right? For women who suffer from infertility, they now have a way to become pregnant and have babies, yay!?!

Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

 IVF is actually offense against the virtue of chastity. How so? The Church teaches that every sexual act has 4 ends: total, faithful, fruitful, and free. Additionally, children should be seen as a *gift* and not as something to which a person is entitled. Hence, it is wrong for a woman to try to force a pregnancy through artificial means. Infertility is a cross that some women must bear, a suffering to be sure, but one that they may choose to unite with the Crucifixion of our Lord who promises to give us the grace to carry whatever cross(es) He may permit in our lives.

Ultimately, children should be the fruit of the loving union of husband and wife who give themselves fully to each other in the sexual act.

For more information, check out these helpful links:

• http://chastity.com/question/what-is-the-official-position-of-the-catholic-church-with-regard-to-in-vitro-fertilizatio-0  
• https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-hardest-teaching-of-them-all
• http://www.popepaulvi.com/

Vulnerable Reflections

As with the majority of my blog posts, I'm not really sure as to the purpose of what I'm about to write, but I sense the Holy Spirit (or is it myself? Still trying to figure that out) calling me to share and be vulnerable.

Where am I on this journey through Catholicism? As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm so very far from holiness, even with all the knowledge that God has given me, I'm still so very weak and seek escapism through my vices - television, snacking, "fun drinks", Facebook, etc. Why can't I just go ONE day without sinning or clinging to my vices???

Admittedly, I am a creature of comfort - I never deny it, I am very attached to my routines and my pleasures. It's ironic, I am so quick to denounce sex-for-pleasure, yet I'm realizing that I have my own pleasures to which I'm attached.

Attachment/detachment - always been an issue for me. For so long, I struggled with developing emotional attachments with other people, mainly men (and no not necessarily in a romantic way). Praise be to God, I seem to be finally overcoming that tendency, but now, I'm attached to my routines/habits, especially watching and interacting with the FB live stream of Catholic Answers Live from 5-7 every Monday-Friday.

From what am I escaping? Oh just the stress/anxiety of being 26, still living with my parents, single, unemployed, fear of not being taken seriously, having desires that go unfulfilled, HATING all the unknown, constantly feeling insecure. Hence why I loooove Facebook so much! I never have to worry about my appearance (if my hair is straightened, if I'm wearing makeup, what outfit I'm wearing, etc.) and I've found a community of like-minded people who understand me and share my interests in apologetics, chastity, Catholicism, etc.

In real life, I rarely feel as though I "fit in", living in a suburb of Chicago which doesn't have EWTN radio (instead it has Relevant Radio), hardly anyone has ever heard of my beloved Catholic Answers Live since RR doesn't broadcast it and no one seems interested in apologetics. No one understands my love of interacting with Catholic Answers everyday with their FB live stream...

Although then again, I have over 500 friends on FB and yet never get into the triple digits of "likes" of any of my posts. I know I know, I shouldn't care about how many "likes" I get, but it's more the principle -- that I feel so ignored, that all my posts both on this blog and on my personal FB seem to be in vein, go unnoticed.

What am I doing with my life???? Where is God leading me?? Is there something I should be doing that I'm not doing? Why can't I just be normal?

Not sure if any of this made sense, but ultimately, this is where I'm currently at in my Catholic journey. I accept and embrace all the Church's teachings as true, it is ME who is wrong, NOT the Church, yet I still sin, still struggle with escapism and vices, but I long for Jesus and Heaven...

What's Your Journey?

As you may have noticed, I re-titled this blog to "Journeying Through Catholicism" in light of my gradual realization that religion, holiness, and even life in general is not a one-stop destination, but a continual process, a journey. For non-Catholics, I genuinely wonder what their ultimate destination is? To where specifically are they journeying?

My journey is growing ever closer to Christ, attempting everyday to become more like Him, to better living out this Catholic faith. Trying to find a balance between living for Him and figuring out what God wants me to do, how He wants me to serve others.

My favorite place to walk - Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve

Lest anyone think that I have already "arrived" at perfect holiness, let me assure you of how far I am, how much of a journey I still have as I struggle against my pesky habitual sins and attachments. Yet, I pray that I will never ever deny the truth that God has revealed through Jesus and the universal (Catholic) Church He established. I may fall into sin, be overly attached to comfort, but my prayer is that I may at least guide others to grasping a better understanding of all the teachings and beliefs of Catholicism, which is the goal of this blog.

What's your journey? Please feel free to share in the comments below as I would love to get to know YOU, dear reader. Wherever you are at in your life, whether you accept Catholicism or not at this point, know that you are dearly loved and always in my prayers 🙏♡

Prayer Hacks

Switching things up a bit and sharing some prayer tips and my daily routine of prayer 😊🙏

Margo's typical prayer routine:
*I sleep with my phone on "airplane mode" so I'm not distracted by any notifications upon waking up nor tempted to check Facebook, Twitter, etc.*

• 3 "Morning prayers" 
• Morning Offering - O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart: for the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for all the intentions of our bishops and all apostles of prayer and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. Amen
• Prayer to the Holy Spirit - O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore Thee. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do...give me Thy orders. I promise to submit myself to all that Thou desire of me and to accept all Thou permit to happen to me. Let me only know Thy will. Amen
• Direction of Intention - My God, I give Thee this day. I offer Thee now, all of the good that I shall do and I promise to accept for love of Thee, all the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner pleasing to Thee. Amen. (attributed to St. Francis de Sales)

• Prayer for Priests - Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, who has entrusted the work of Thy redemption to priests as Thy representatives, I offer Thee through the hands of Thy most Holy Mother Mary, this present day, whole and entire, with all its prayers, works, and sacrifices, its joys and sorrows, for Thy bishops, priests, deacons, and those preparing for the priesthood, I pray especially for __________; protect him Lord and make him holy. Give us truly holy priests, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love, who seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of souls. And Thou, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests, bishops, deacons, and seminarians from dangers to their holy vocation, and with the loving hand of a mother, lead back to the Good Shepherd those unfortunate priests, who, unfaithful to their exalted vocation, have gone astray. Amen. (credit to www.adoptapriest.org)

• Magnificat Missal Morning Prayer (shortened version of Liturgy of the Hours)
• Daily readings from Magnificat followed by an applicable reflection included in the Missal

• My usual go-to prayer for when I see intentions on Facebook & Twitter is the Memorare. 
• I try to pray the Angelus at noon & 6 PM
• Anytime after 4:00 PM - I pray the Magnificat's Evening Prayer (again a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours)  
• Divine Mercy Chaplet during the 3:00 hour on Friday's
• Pray various prayers while showering (weird? I figure if I'm cleaning my hair/body, might as well also use the time to clean my soul...)

• Night prayers:
• Prayer for Daily Neglects - Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all its love, all its sufferings, and its merits. First, to expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life. Glory be to the Father....Second to purify the good I have done poorly this day and during all my life. Glory be to the Father......Third, to supply for the good I ought to have done and that I have neglected this day and all my life. Glory be to the Father...
• Healing Prayer at Bedtime - Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go back into my memory as I sleep. Every hurt that has ever been done to me --heal that hurt. Every hurt that I have ever caused to another person -- heal that hurt. All the relationships that have been damaged in my whole life that I'm not aware of -- heal those relationships. But, Lord, if there is anything I need to do -- if I need to go to a person because (s)he is still suffering from my hand, bring to my awareness that person. I choose to forgive, and I ask to be forgiven. Remove whatever bitterness may be in my heart, Lord, and fill the empty spaces with Thy love. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
• Prayer at the End of the Day - Jesus Christ, my God, I adore Thee and I thank Thee for all the graces Thou have given me this day. I offer Thee my sleep and all the moments of this night, and I implore Thee to keep me safe from sin. To this end, I place myself in Thy sacred side and under the mantle of our Lady, my Mother. Let Thy holy angels surround me and keep me in peace, and let Thy blessing be upon me. Amen (attributed to St. Alphonsus de Liguori)  
• Evening Prayer to Our Lady - Mary, my dear Mother, I thank Thee for the special protection Thou have provided to me throughout this day. Obtain for me the grace of being always faithful to my commitments. Let purity and sacrifice be my daily bread, humility and obedience my comfort, the tabernacle my relaxation, and Thou, dear Mother, the school where I learn to practice every virtue. I cannot praise Christ while I sleep, so offer Him my heartbeats as fervent acts of love. Keep me free from any act or thought that could dishonor His regard for me, and give me Thy tender motherly blessing. Amen
• Prayer on Going to Bed - Visit this house, we beg Thee, Lord, and banish from it the deadly power of the evil one. May Thy holy angels dwell here to keep us in peace, and may Thy blessing be always upon us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
• Goodnight, Jesus - Goodnight, my Beloved; I rejoice at being one day closer to eternity. And if Thou let me wake up tomorrow/in the morning, Jesus, I shall begin a new hymn to Thy praise. (attributed to St. Faustina) 
• Protect us O Lord as we stay awake, watch over us as we sleep, that awake we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep rest in His peace. Amen

What are some of your prayer hacks/tips?

Truth Determined by....Emotions?

Emotions. We all have them, all experience them, what to do about them? Ignore them? Indulge them? Or is there a balance?

I propose that us humans strive to find balance between our emotions and what we hold to be true and real. All too often, it seems that we (myself included) get so caught up in our emotions and feelings that we lose sight of our ability to reason. And this has led to our culture of Relativism, where reality and truth are determined by what feels good to each individual, while ignoring the law of non-contradiction (meaning ignoring that the differing beliefs contradict each other and ultimately cannot all be true). For example, when it comes to God, Christians proclaim that Jesus Christ is God, while Muslims perceive Jesus as only a prophet and reject that God exists as a trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- how can both beliefs be correct? And then atheists/agnostics/secularists reject God altogether. Yet, ultimately, stripping all else away -- Jesus is either God or not; it is impossible for Him to be God for some people and simultaneously not God for others. This cannot be determined by feelings though. Feelings change (quite quickly at times *ahem mood swings*) and if I based reality on my feelings, chaos would ensue.

As humans, we are created with an intellect and will and must strive to order both towards the good. But what is "good"? Hence why God exists outside of ourselves, He transcends humanity, and IS existence itself. As such, He is the measure of what is good; He doesn't change and only wants what is truly in our best interests. As St. Augustine once wrote "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord". It is only in God that we find fulfillment. Notice how often you may be left with a sense of emptiness after a pleasurable experience -- our hearts yearn for the infinite, selfless love of God and we must not let our emotions interfere. We must train our emotions the way athletes train their bodies.

Now, all this is coming from someone who has struggled with emotions for most of my 26 years of life. I remember, as a teenager, being drawn to television shows such as Everwood and The OC which were chock full of emotional experiences for the characters - now I honestly do not enjoy either show anymore -- partially because I'm no longer a teenager and partially because I've learned to overcome my strong emotions. I still get emotional quite often yet I try to recognize my emotions and not give into them - it's tough, I don't always succeed, but I never forget what place emotions have in my life.

So my challenge for YOU, dear reader is to seek truth, but please don't allow your emotions to cloud that search. Catholicism does not always feel good but what keeps me going is acknowledging that I cannot stop truth from being true; I could walk away from Catholicism at any moment, yet I would only be hurting myself, as the old saying goes, it's true "whether I like it or not".

Until next time, may God bless you ❤

Catholicism and.....Criminal Minds?!?

With the early, shocking demise of my beloved Chicago Blackhawks from the Stanley Cup playoffs, I've recently have returned to an old favorite television show to "binge watch" -- Criminal Minds, currently finishing up its 12th season (which I have not yet watched; I stopped at the end of the 11th season and am now starting at the beginning watching all the episodes; I'm up to the end of the 3rd season).

I typically avoid television shows and movies that involve blood, gore, violence, etc. So how the heck is Criminal Minds one of my favorite shows? Alas, it's because of the familial aspect to the show's ensemble cast of characters: the profilers of the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit (BAU). It's the well-crafted character development that has drawn me in and I more or less tolerate the violence. It's also the critical analysis, the studying of the minds of criminals in figuring out the reasoning behind their decision to commit murder. Although the show has the usual liberal slant, I do enjoy catching glimpses of selfless love shown by the characters.

I recently watched an episode where the unsub (BAU term for "unidentified subject"...the bad guy) happened to identify as gay, which, thus prompted this blog post (shocking I know, right? Margo getting fired up about homosexuality?! lol) The gist of the plot was that the 20-something-year-old man's murders were fueled by his Christian father's wrongful hateful attitude towards his son for "being gay". *sigh* Now, I do have to say that other episodes of Criminal Minds have treated Christianity quite fairly. However, this particular episode unfortunately played the "Christians believe homosexuals are dirty" card. NO NO NO! People who find themselves romantically/sexually attracted to members of the same sex are not "dirty" -- the ACTION of gay sex is indeed dirty -- but that doesn't mean the people committing that act are evil; they're misled. They're searching for love and settling for affection that will never fully satisfy their longings.

My other thought is finding it interesting that the whole point of Criminal Minds is to critically analyze cases in an objective (non-biased) manner. So why isn't homosexuality treated in that manner? Why can't homosexuality (the action, not the person) be considered wrong/harmful? Why do the rules seem to change when it comes to matters of sex??

(Pre)Christmas Thoughts

Almost Christmas (or CHRISTmas as I prefer to emphasize those first six letters); almost time to celebrate the birth of our Lord. Yet, in my family (two older sibs, both unmarried) I have to be ultra careful to avoid mentioning Jesus and more or less treat it as the secular holiday to which it has been reduced 😔. 

One of my biggest struggles during this time of year is fighting the temptation towards envy. Oh how I yearn for my family to all be on the same wavelength, for us to pray together (to see my father pray at all would be a miracle! He's Catholic, attends Mass on Sunday's but is otherwise private about his faith life). 

I'm lonely. I know Jesus is always with me, but having to suppress my love of Him, not being able to express myself, feeling like I'm the weird sibling, the baby of the family, the seemingly perpetually unemployed. What do I have to show for my strong devotion to our Lord and the Catholic faith? 

Yet, as my seminarian-friend, Ryan so eloquently writes, "My life is not the thing by which I measure whether or not I can or should be merry. The fact that in the midst of the darkness caused by all the nonsense I face, a light that I didn’t ask for and don’t deserve continues to shine is the reason and source of my merriment. The ‘period’ at the end of the sentence of my woes is precisely this: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. God is with us. God is for us. God is in us. Emmanuel. Jesus. The savior, the king, the lover, the friend.  Jesus."

Year after year, Jesus provides the grace I need to get through this season. Thank You, Jesus! Yet, I long for a Christmas that I don't dread, a Christmas that I can fully embrace as the celebration of God becoming man, becoming a newborn baby, out of total love for us. A Christmas where I don't have to hear His name taken in vein over and over again. 

This this is why I yearn for Heaven so intensely: so I can finally forever be in the company of everyone who does love Jesus, where I don't have to hide my religion or feel bad about it. 

Happy (almost) birthday Jesus; please open the hearts of ALL people to Your wondrous love!