St. Agnes of Cinders

sifting through the ashes

[holy-ghost-heretic]

To threaten exclusion is certainly effective to discourage dissension, but it plays on fear. It’s effective to gain compliance, but it is terrifying to those poor people underneath. Jesus never led by fear—except possibly to correct the religious leaders who wielded power and control and terrorized others. This is NOT Jesus’ design for the church. This is NOT the astoundingly good news of the gospel. This is NOT the heart of God. God is NOT a Bully

God is NOT a Bully… Though Some Christians Are (via holy-ghost-heretic)

[agnesofcinders-blog]

Abstinence

It pains me to see when other Christians talk about how welcoming they are and of how being gay or trans is ok, but then turn around and speak so badly about sex. Especially immediately post-Orlando. If your path is celibacy or abstinence that is between you and G-d. Don’t attack a person’s ability to love or a person’s bodily functions because of some old patriarchal rules regarding the ownership of bodies. I think that by carefully observing the flow of emotions and passions in your body and soul you can determine whether you are acting in such a way that is contrary to your (not Human, but your) nature or whether you are acting in sync with your nature. I think that being in sync with your nature is similar or the same as being in sync with the universe around you and being in sync with G-d. It may not be identical but it is a tool we can use to help us understand our place. Which isn’t to say things that are hard to do are contrary to one’s nature and being absolutely lazy is in sync. Work and effort can be rewarding and expanding and help us grow. Falling entirely into a reactive pattern of behavior where you only follow impulses may not be helping you very much. But it is for you to figure out and decide. I am sure that G-d doesn’t care whether you have sex inside or outside of marriage. What matters is kindness, consent, truth, being a good person. Sex, like eating or speaking, is a morally-neutral act. It’s the context and content that defines it.

[carazuri]

When Jesus first appeared, he appeared to two women, during a time when female testimony was illegitimate, and he asked them to testify to his return. That’s huge – the biggest news in the universe, and two women, whose word was not considered trustworthy, were instructed to carry the news. That, to me, is the most important vision of equality that Christians can have – that is the affirmation that women are equals, that we are valued in the eyes of Christ, that we are necessary to the Gospel story. And that is the lens through which I interpret everything else, as that is the eschatological tale I believe God is weaving.

Dianna Anderson, Ask a Feminist (via carazuri)

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MINISTERS, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES, THE FIRST CHRISTIANS WERE WOMEN!!

(via filmsfoodandfandom)

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(via faithandmagick)

And there's another thing here too, that fits in with Jesus' whole thing: again and again he gives power to those who lack it, uplifts those with less, admonishes those who are cruel or powerful.

[achristianqueer]

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:24 (via achristianqueer)

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

The response by some of my Catholic fb friends (probably not for long, though) to the Orlando shooting has been disgusting and disheartening and full of victim shaming for them being at a gay nightclub, and I think probably the final straw of me remaining Catholic. But... I also deal with scrupulosity majorly and even though I know my mental health is suffering greatly by being surrounded by such screed, the fear of leaving the "One True Church" (TM) is paralyzing me into inaction. (1/?)

(2/2) Any advise on how to deal with scrupulosity leaving the Catholic Church? I love the Mass and the music and I do have a few really good friends I go to church with, but I’m afraid of losing most of them if I leave. I hate that I must choose, but I also hate that I hate myself even a bit after hearing that I’m intrinsically disordered.

Hey there, dear. To start with, I can assure you that the One True Church is not Catholicism or any human denomination, but the Body of Jesus Christ himself. God will follow you to any church community you find to worship God in – for wherever any two or more are gathered, Christ promised he would be.

Many LGBT make the choice to stay within the Catholic church, and that is totally valid! But many (including myself) also leave because of its un-affirming stances, and that’s good too. If attending a Catholic church is harming your relationship with God or your ability to see God within yourself and love yourself, then I think it’s very courageous of you to seek a community elsewhere. It’s never easy for anyone to leave their old church, and I can’t imagine what it would be like while dealing with scrupulosity. But God loves you, and God will be with you as you make this journey.

One thing you could try is taking it slow – if you can bear to still be in the environment and have the time to go to two worship services on Sundays, maybe keep attending Mass while also visiting new churches. That way, you’re not “quitting cold turkey” – do you think that would help you?

When it comes to Catholic friends you have, those who care about you deeply will keep being your friends. They’ll want what’s best and healthiest for you. So don’t let fear of losing them stop you from doing whatever you need to do.

Now, I do not have OCD, so if anyone with OCD and who particularly experiences scrupulosity can help anon out further, please reply to this post saying so. Anon, you can also check out our OCD tag – if you look at the notes on the posts in that tag, you’ll see folks volunteering to chat with anyone with OCD, so you could reach out to them.

Good luck, anon, and peace be with you! <3

[agnesofcinders-blog]

Anon (and others!) please feel free to get in contact with me to talk about this. I grew up Roman Catholic and experienced SO MUCH SCRUPULOUSNESS and crashed and burned my way out only to find my way back eventually, but it’s different this time. I call myself Catholic again and it is as much in defiance against the terribleness that Catholics commit as it is a recognition of the potential beauty within the Church (not the human institution but that of God). I’ll admit it has been hard to pray after Orlando, not because my faith was shaken but because horrible people also call themselves Catholic or Christian.

[agnesofcinders-blog]

Praying and grieving for my queer family. I'm being especially quiet in my Catholicism for the moment, because it is important for me to not be defending those who would misuse the name of G-d to oppress and destroy. Catholicism and Christianity does not have to be terrible, that is the idea behind this blog, but in many cases it is and as such should be criticized. I'm praying for the Orlando victims, their families, and queers everywhere. Holy St. Mary, pray for us. Please help my family to understand. Please heal the church and the world.

[agnesofcinders-blog]

(Also I capitalize things and use very intentional language but that's mainly because I care a lot about the Names of things and less because of propriety)

[sullengirlalmighty-deactivated2]

i read a blog post i think on patheos a few years ago about that “piss christ” thing where some guy peed in a jar and then put a crucifix in it, and everyone was so angry, but the blog post was like “this literally does not matter, you’re an idiot if you think you have the power to defile jesus” and tbh that’s had a bigger impact on me than like, any other theological writing i’ve ever consumed. so that’s why i never bother to capitalize god or jesus, and also i’m lazy and need to appear sufficiently aloof.

[galesofnovember]

I read this book a few years ago called Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality and Mortality and the author was SO into Piss Christ and the importnat theological lessons of Piss Christ and I think even went so far as to be like, “every church should have a print”.  

But his theological argument is that people struggle with “incarnational ambivalence”  and that it’s related to a fear of death. He suggests and even did this kind of wacky study that being offended by the image of Jesus having bad breath or diarrhea is related to having a theology that isn’t very mature or robust.  Or that people should spend more time pondering Jesus having diarrhea so that we can more deeply understand the nature of the incarnation and God’s love. 

[agnesofcinders-blog]

I'm p sure sacrilege and the sacred aren't so far apart

[agnesofcinders-blog]

Slightly mysterious, a personal thought

Sometimes it seems G-d doesn't answer prayers, when you are begging from the depth of your heart in suffering what you need and nothing happens. Maybe this even means you turn away from the faith. But maybe G-d just acts in Their own ways, that suffering might have been necessary to give you the ability to see and respond to suffering. That maybe brings you closer to G-d then you would have been in the first place. No, I am not and will never say that your suffering is right and just and the will of G-d. I do not know the will of G-d. Perhaps this long road has been simply to teach me exactly that I do not know the will of G-d and instead understand myself to be a servant of love. One of my longest-and-deepest-held prayers is being manifested this week and again and again all I can think is of my humbleness, how tiny I am. This long and painful road taught me love and peace and power I otherwise would never have accessed, and all I can do is say thank you, thank you. And even deeper I become in my steadfastness of love and doubt, criticism and faith. Pray for me, please. Life changing stuff is happening this week.

[diannaeanderson]

No Christian can evade this responsibility [to the poor]. He cannot say the poor are in poverty because they will not work, or they suffer because they are lazy. Having come before God as nothing and being received by him into his Kingdom through grace, the Christian should know he has been made righteous (justified) so that he can join God in the fight for justice. Therefore, whoever fights for the poor, fights for God; whoever risks his life for the helpless and unwanted, risks his life for God. God is active now in the lives of those men who feel an absolute identification with all who suffer because there is no justice in the land.

James Cone, Black Theology and Black Power. Seabury Press: New York, 1969. p47. (via diannaeanderson)

[agnesofcinders-blog]

I cried at mass today because Jesus is really beautiful and because the Holy Spirit is really weird and because I'm a huge nerd who loves G-d

[themanxxreview-blog]

Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man - there never has been another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them as “The women, God help us!” or “The ladies, God bless them!”; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows pungency from female perversity; nobody could guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything “funny” about woman’s nature.

Dorothy Day, Catholic social activist and journalist (via themanxxreview)

[agnesofcinders-blog]

My little altar. On the left is a St. Joan of Arc holy card, which I hope will be joined by cards for St. Therese the little flower and St. Agnes of Rome. On the right is a St. Lazarus candle for my upcoming surgery. The two small bottles contain holy water and exorcised salt, and the crucifix is a St. Benedict crucifix.

[janothar]

Voicing doubts is not only legitimate in the Talmud, it is essential to study. To a certain degree, the rule is that any type of query is permissible and even desirable; the more the merrier. No inquiry is regarded as unfair or incorrect as long as it pertains to the issue and can cast light on some aspect of it.

- The Essential Talmud by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

[agnesofcinders-blog]

My blog St Agnes of Cinders, Patron of Doubt is a personal symbol (and not a real saint) to basically remind myself of specifically this and to study my faith accordingly.

[agnesofcinders-blog]

thank you <3

you’ve got a wonderful username, btw

[broadsmiles]

“For me, prayer is an upward leap of the heart, an untroubled glance towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and love which I utter from the depths of sorrow as well as from the heights of joy".

—St. Thérèse of Lisieux

[wild-freedom-with-a-dash-of-sal]

What’s everyone’s favorite prayer?

[autijacen]

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.

[songllama]

same

[moderncatholicwoman]

The Apostles’ Creed

[that-devout-catholic-woman]

Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I know it’s more of a collection of prayers but it’s still my fave. That and Hail Mary.

[apenitentialprayer]

Technically a poem; “O God, my whole occupation And all my desire in this world of all worldly things Is to remember You. And in the Hereafter, it is to meet You. This is on my side, as I have stated. Now You do as You will.”

[and-also-with-yall-deactivated2]

Not sure there’s a name for it… “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.” It’s a prayer written by St. Augustine dating back to the fourth century, and probably the most beautiful and selfless prayer I’ve ever heard.

[agnesofcinders-blog]

The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary