Ep 65 | Holes in My Preps – Thoughts From The Loo

It's storm season, and we had the potential for large hail, high winds, and tornadoes…It made me realize I've got a few holes in my preps.#LettieLoo #thoughtsfromtheloo #prepping #preps #storms #tornadoes #shelterinplace

I have felt a calling this year to go back to the Church. I have found that I am not the only one who is in this boat, either. There is a large group of people I know who are in the same boat. Some of us are coming back to the Catholic Church. Some are starting their journeys as Catholics. Some are other forms of Christian. It doesn’t matter which denomination, we all feel this calling.

I can’t exactly explain it, but something clicked and is pulling me to Church. I’ve always said bedtime prayers with Little Man, and now Bug. We don’t always say Grace for meals, just at holidays. I haven’t been to an actual Mass in person is ages. But…that doesn’t matter.

I’ve made it a priority this year to once again say my daily Rosary (p.s. I highly recommend joining in with Holy Family School of Faith and their daily Rosary meditations). I find that the best time for this for me is when I wake up in the very early hours of the morning. I will pull up their website and play that day’s Rosary, praying along with them.

I have also found Fr. Mike and his Catechism in a Year podcast. He is spending the year reading through, and explaining, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I truly enjoy his explanations of what he reads each day, and I’m also finding myself learning A LOT that I did not know beforehand. Fr. Mike and the Catechisms (as Squatch refers to the show) is played while I’m in the kitchen making breakfast each morning. Then, while we’re sitting down to eat, I play the daily mass I have found on YouTube that I enjoy from St. Thomas the Apostle West Springfield.

After breakfast, Squatch reads aloud from a devotional we picked up at Hobby Lobby. He then goes ahead and reads his own personal devotional. Now, Squatch is not religious. He was not raised in any one particular denomination. As a Catholic, it has not been the easiest, but we have worked through a lot of the kinks in our religious lives. And I am so pleased to see that he is coming into his own with religion, and support him in whatever path he chooses to take.

The only thing we are missing…a church home. There is a church right around the corner from our house. I decided to attend Mass with Bug Saturday night, as Squatch and Little Man were in Illinois on a quick trip to visit with Squatch’s family. Now, I went not planning on receiving Communion, as I have not been to an in-person Mass in ages, and because it has been almost 5 years since my last Confession. I had looked up on the parish cluster’s website to see when Confession is, and it is listed as being at the same time as the two Sunday morning Masses (Does the priest make himself available half an hour before Mass? I’m not sure how this works) or by appointment. So…yeah…No Confession for me, meaning no Communion for me.

I bundled up Bug and drove over (it took me the same amount of time to warm up the Dreadnaught, buckle Bug in, drive, park, unbuckle Bug, and walk up to the church…as it would have if I had just walked over there.). Walking in to the vestibule, there were two women ushers at the front who welcomed us, and I was able to chat with them for a bit before Mass to get a bit of a feel for the church and the parish overall. As we walked into the nave, I felt at peace immediately…the smell of incense was heavy in the air, and I LOVE the smell of incense in church. There were about 20 or so people sitting around the pews and they were praying the Rosary. I found a seat at the back and sat with Bug, then joined in with the rest of the group to finish praying (I was there for 4 out of the 5 decades). The silence of meditative prayer once we finished was beautiful, and actually brought me to tears.

I heard the quiet chime of bells from behind me in the vestibule, and everyone stood for Mass to start…and the guitar lady jumped up and started strumming. You guys…there is no place in Mass for the guitar lady. The awesome guys from The Catholic Talk Show discuss this in their “5 Ways to Fix the Novus Ordo.” “15 Things That Need to Stop Happening During Mass” is another great episode. The rest of the Mass I was just completely torn. The priest…I couldn’t understand a dang word he said. They did ring the bells when raising the Body and Blood of Christ, which I love. There was no Agnus Dei or Panis Angelicus. When it came to the Sign of Peace…No one shook hands. They waved across the aisle to each other or flashed “peace” signs.”

I left…so uncomfortable and just deflated. I spent the rest of the night contemplating whether or not I should attend Mass at the other three churches in our cluster, or if I should try one of the other clusters in the area. After Squatch got home yesterday, we discussed it all, and came to the conclusion that this cluster will not be for us. Even if the culture at one of the other churches better fits what I’m looking for…if I cannot understand the Indian priest, that’s a whole other problem. So, I’m going to check out Wednesday morning Mass at a different Church. This one has a school, and a ton of programs, especially geared towards children under 5 (so AMAZING), so I’m enjoying the fact that they are family friendly. I will know Wednesday morning if it will work out or not.

Now…the downside is that this Church is 15-20 minutes away. BUT…from what I’ve seen, they look to be a better fit for me and what I want. What I REALLY want is to attend the Latin Mass. Unfortunately, we have to go about 2 hours or so to get to one. That is just not feasible for us at this point in time. So…I keep on going with what I’m doing, and will continue the search for my Church home.