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First Segment: 9 Words that Every Young Catholic Should Know!

I got a good question from @nishadshally on Twitter this week  It said “How do we react when people think that English is the Mother tongue of Christians all over the world?” The language of the Church has always been Latin, not English. Believe it or not, most languages that we have today came from Latin, especially the romance languages such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Some languages that aren’t really derived from Latin are mostly Asian languages such as Chinese, Korean, etc. Many of us studied foreign languages in school, you know Spanish, French, etc. I’ve always been home schooled, so I did things a bit differently; I studied Latin. Say what? Nobody speaks that language any more. Actually, that’s not true. Statistics show  that 6 out every 10 words you speak (that’s 60%) come from Latin. Really? Yeah.
Kent, you must have studied languages in school, right? Can you speak anything fluently aside from English? (I can’t speak anything fluently, but I know bits and pieces of several languages including French and Portuguese.)
Latin is really important to Catholics because for a very long time, that was the language that Mass was said in. You could go anywhere in the world and hear Mass in the same language. Now, Mass is said in the local language. If you go to Rome, Mass would be said in Italian, and since Italian is very close to Latin, you would be able to pick out the main gist of everything that was being said. If you know Latin, you will be able to pick up other languages pretty quickly. The nice thing about Latin by the way is that since no one speaks it, we aren’t adding new words. That means that you can eventually learn everything there is to know.
So since Latin is the language of the Church originally, that means that many of the words that we use in the Church came from Latin then, right? There are so many important words in Catholicism, but tonight I’ve picked nine that I think are some of the most important.
 Transubstantiation – The moment in the Mass when the bread and wine at the altar turn in to the true Body and Blood of Christ. It is no longer “just bread.”
Penance – This can mean two different things; it can either mean the restitution, or things we do, in exchange for our sins. Or, it is another name for the Sacrament of Confession, which also has a third name – Reconciliation. But they all mean the same thing.
The Good News – The what? What is the Good News, and is it really a Catholic term? Yes, it is. Put simply, the Good News is that “Jesus loves you and wants you to be with Him in Heaven.” In order to assure that you and I are able to be with Him in Heaven, He had to die on the Cross and rise again.
Contrition – We were talking about Reconciliation, so in the same vein, what does the words contrition mean? Well, contrition means genuine sorrow and the resolve to not do the sin again.
Grace – As Catholics, we hear this word tossed around a lot, but what does it mean? Grace means a personal sharing in the life and love of Christ; a connection with Jesus Himself.
Nihl Obstat – No, it’s not a saint or a priest named Neil. It’s actually a way to tell if a book that teaches religion is in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nihl Obstat is Latin for “nothing stands in the way” and is given out by a bishop stating that the catechetical information is true. What if a religious book doesn’t have it printed inside the cover somewhere – is it evil? No – it just might mean that the book doesn’t contain a majority amount of catechesis.
Novena – You might see that your parish is giving out copies of a prayer, especially this month. A novena is a special prayer that is said daily for nine days in a row. (Latin novem – nine) There are novenas for all sorts of things and all sorts of Saints; Divine Mercy, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Joseph.
Indulgence – An indulgence is a partial remission of the punishment we will receive for our sins after our death. In simple words that means that you might get to spend a shorter time in Purgatory. You can get indulgences by praying special prayers at certain times, or participating in First Friday or First Saturday devotions – but you must be free of mortal sin in order to get the indulgence.
Papal – This fancy word means anything that has to do with the Pope, or that refers to his job as the Vicar of Christ.

Second Segment: Three Clues on How to Pick Modest Clothes:

Summer is just around the corner here on the coast of Canada, but in some places, it’s already nice and hot. Nice and hot means that we ladies have to start picking new pieces for our wardrobe, am I right? This is sometimes hard though – ‘because you have to balance cute and Catholic, right? It can sometimes like its impossible, but it’s not. Here are three things to think about when you’re thinking of buying that cute new top: <Image#12>
Would you wear this in front of your dad? One of the 10 Commandments is to “Honour Your Father and Mother.” Part of honoring your father is making sure that you don’t dress immodestly, since it doesn’t honor him, nor does it show him respect. Kent, you’re a dad – how true to you think that this benchmark is?
Would you wear this in front of your priest? Of course not! Well, then my dear girlie – you have a problematic outfit on your hands. We have to respect out priests and their vows of chastity. It is not modest to show up to Mass in an outfit, that as someone eloquently put it, “shows us your toes via the top of your shirt.” When you wear these types of clothes, you are putting the priest in the occasion of sin – AKA possibly cause him to fall into sin, and you do not want to be responsible for causing a priest to sin. I think that priests appreciate that, right?
Would you wear this in front of God? Okay, here comes an uncomfortable newsflash – we are. When we go to Mass, we should always wear our best because we are showing our respect and love for God – and we can’t do that if we are wearing very skimpy clothing. Now please note that I didn’t give you a dress code – I simply said that you must wear your best clothes to Mass. No excuses for not going to Mass.

Third Segment: Twenty Questions Lightning Round!

Some time ago, I wrote a post that was a Catholic Sis version of the Twenty Questions game – so I thought tonight it might be fun to do a quick lightning round version. Okay, let’s go!
What are your favourite apps? – Vision Vocation Magazine, Pixlr Express, Discern It from Pauline Media which shares wisdom and encouragement.
Favourite subjects in school? – English and Social Studies.
Favourite Biblical prophet? – Jonah. Period. I love Jonah so much because he tried to run away from God and His plans for Jonah, and God just wouldn’t take no for an answer.
What’s one of your favourite Bible verse? – Romans 12:2 “Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Favourite boy band? – Newsboys! (Yes, I’m serious!)
What’s your favourite color? Pink!
Retreat must-have? – A journal. I have to have a journal so I can write stuff down in it so I can look at it later. And yes, I need a pen too.
Favourite quote? – “Be who you were meant to be, and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Catherine of Siena
Favourite Apostle? – St. Peter; even though he fell down in his faith in the Lord, Christ forgave him, and made something great of a simple fisherman.
What’s your favourite religious order? – Daughters of St. Paul!
Two books you’re reading right now? – Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly and I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris.
Cool fact about you? – I love to sing! All the time, everywhere!