Wow. Touching.

So the lady who is always at inquiry laid out a pamphlet of common Catholic prayers at every place this week. I already had one, and said so- so she instead got out a blessed medal of St. Benedict and gave that to me instead. I gave her a hug and nearly cried- then she talked about what it actually meant, how it was the medal used in exorcisms.

Tuesday- almsgiving

it specifically references Matthew, chapter 25, regarding how Jesus said we can get into heaven.

"Ask yourself, 'Do I really believe this?'"

Yes. But I only believe it because it is what Jesus said- I'm still at the stage in my faith journey where I must take everything in faith, and I don't yet know it fully. I have not yet fully internalized things; I don't feel them to my core. However, I feel them, and I can know them- the rest will simply come in time.

Leah said that RCIA, once the actual classes start, will be a bit more structured. That's good- the ladies in inquiry mean well, but the questions they tend to field, I've already asked after and gotten my answers. And when I bring up a serious question, such as baptism in the extraordinary form, they have no good answer. Probably something that I'd be better off asking both one of the priests, and the RCIA instructor about directly. Fr. Patrick just seems more approachable, out of all the ones I've seen say Mass. He's the one who is most energetic in his sermons; he also seems a little more down-to-earth, while still being respectful and... sacred, for lack of a better term, when he says the Mass.

The last Five About Fasting

"Have you had that temptation yet? Can you laugh at it?"

Yes, I have, and yes, I can. Unfortunately, I don't do so often enough, and occasionally succumb. I find it works amazingly well; ridiculing that temptation makes me less likely to give in to it.

RCIA was interesting- we had a gentleman from the RCIA proper join us, and he was able to better answer the Scriptural Protestant (I feel terrible for not remembering her name) and her specific points addressed. Not that the ladies don't do a good job, but they don't always answer the question that is asked- it's as if they're expecting us to be asking a different question that they are ready to answer.

Five About Fasting again

"Is there some behavior you, or maybe you and everyone in your class, could give up for the rest of today, or this week, or even all of Lent? What behavior would that be?"

Well, I'm not currently in classes, so that point isn't applicable. I think I'll give up wasteful spending- when I'm not that hungry, I won't buy a big meal. When I have other commitments for my semi-hard earned cash, I won't splurge and buy more Warhammer minis. This will be made easier on me by my hours getting cut at work- now I'll have less idle money to spend on things I really shouldn't be spending them on.

RCIA inquiry tonight- I'll be able to ask about the washing women's feet business that Leah wouldn't explain. I'm not always happy with the answers they give, which honestly will usually drive me to research them myself. To explain my comment- they will often answer the wrong question; when asked about the Ashes on Ash Wednesday they explained the use of the ashes, not the symbolism behind them, even when asked several times. (I have since found several lovely sites explaining such things.) Leah lamented about the state of knowledge the Church was currently in, where such things were no longer everyone's knowledge, and I can definitely see that being a problem, though I don't have enough experience to make such a claim.