Lent 2013 and St Ignatius Loyola, Reading, PA

So it's been a while...hard to believe I've been away from this blog for a month.  I think that's because things aren't going exactly as planned.  They never do.   Indoor archery season is as busy as you make it.  And I've packed it full this season.  It's fun, but isn't leaving me time for bowling and roller skating.  I'm good for my 52 activities...

I've been sticking it out at the same church except this week, which is going okay, I guess.  I'm starting to recognize some people.  I'm trying not to get too frustrated with Father Fire and Brimstone.  Sometimes he's rather insightful.

Catholic Schools week was a little weird.  He had the many parts one body reading to work with, and somehow the homily was about human trafficking.  I know it's the obvious choice, but I would have gone with something like "some of your are good at spelling, some at math.  We all have different gifts..."
But after that hour of strangeness, there were fireworks.  In January.  And they were awesome.  It's going to be hard to top that on my list of 52 church related activities.

This week took me to the Reading Archery Club and, because why not, St. Ignatius Loyola in Reading, PA.   It's got the modern church vibe down: Seating in the round, bright stained glass.  10:30 mass was full with hard to find parking.   There were kids running all over the Narthex.  They could grab worksheets out of kid level brochure  holders.  This week's theme: It's not easy to be good all the time.  The homily was standard first week of Lent fare.

I was pretty psyched for Lent a month ago.  Now I'm not so interested.  I thought going to mass on Ash Wednesday would help.  It didn't.  So, ironically I'll be trying to limit TV and internet time and hope it opens time for other things.  Reading.  Piano.  Running.  Boring things like cleaning and sleeping.

At both masses, there was some chatter about the pope.  For no particular reason, I had been thinking about John Paul II and World Youth Day.  The next morning, I heard the pope gave his  two weeks.   In Latin.  Turns out five years of Latin are practical for more than reading poems about war.

I got a book for Catholic Athletes while at St Ignatius.  Seemed appropriate.   I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but there are only male athletes on there.  Until next time...

the next crazy idea...

Last year took me to 52 churches and to two half marathons.  This year, I'm trying to do 52 church related things and, well, keep going to church.  I've been every week since finishing up the first year of this project back in October.  Now I'm scared to stop going.  Sure there have been weeks where I have stuffed church into over scheduled weekends, but I still went.

I've gotten a lot of advice over the past year, much of which was that you just have to pick a place and go.  So I have. Is it perfect?  No.  Is anything?

On the other front, I am done with half marathons.  (I say that, but we all know I'm a liar.  A bunch of people have their runDisney pictures up on Facebook, and I want the Mickey medal.)  The thing about training for a half marathon is, and I'm about to sound really stupid, is that it takes a lot of time.

So in the spirit of exploration and checking out the great big world, I'm planning on 52 activities.  What's the Catholic Equivalent of Zen and the art of Archery?  I'm going to find out.  (Maybe I should read that book again.)  Bowling, mini golf, roller skating.  I might even break out the Jane Fond and Richard Simmons VHSs.  

Did you know Athleta has free classes?  I tried kicking things off with Barre Class in December, but it was sadly canceled.  This past weekend, they had kettlebell class.  It was me, Lauren, and a bunch of personal trainers, one of whom wanted to eat hemp for the protein.  It was fun and exhausting.

Turns out church is an excellent marker of how good your work out was.  You sit and stand and kneel and walk around, and suddenly you realize how far away your butt really is from the pew.

I'm open to ideas.  Keep in mind that I am the most wonderfully clumsy yet coordinated person you will ever meet.  Any activity requiring any amount grace (ie not a ball sport) will result in a funnier post.