Lessons Nine, Ten, and Eleven

I have finished Convert Instructions!  Next step is a conditional baptism, conditional confession, and first holy communion.  I'm excited!  At my last lesson I picked up a Roman Missal, which I am also super excited about.

Quick note:  check out Dyno-Mom's blog!  She's coming out with a book soon and I'm super excited for it!

I guess I'm just super excited all around this weekend.  It is Christmas, so that could account for most of it.
By the way, Merry Christmas to you, dear reader!  I hope you're having an excellent holiday.

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Lesson Nine:
The Holy Spirit and Grace
"Where the offense has abounded, grace has abounded yet more" (Romans 5, 20).
A.  The Holy Spirirt
The Holy Spirit, symbolized by a dove, comes from the Father and the Son like love from the heart.  He is the mutual love of the Father and the Son.
B.  Grace
110.  How many kinds of grace are there?  There are two kinds of grace, sanctifying grace and actual grace.
C.  Sources of Grace
117.  What are the principle ways of obtaining grace?  The principle ways of obtaining grace are prayer and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.  

"It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
But you say that's exactly how this grace thing works"

Lesson Ten:
The Virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit
A.  Virtues
121.  What are the three theological virtues?  The three theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity.
B.  Gifts of the Holy Spirit
This chapter has so many good lessons in it, I will most likely post a whole entry on it Monday, after Christmas.  For now I will list the beatitudes as I consider them too important to be left out - as a lot of things are in this lesson, actually...
129.  Which are the eight beatitudes?
The eight beatitudes are:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
3. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
6. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Lesson Eleven:
The Catholic Church
136.  What is the Church?  The Church is the congregation of all baptized persons united in the same true faith, the same sacrifice, and the same sacraments, under the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff and the bishops in communion with him.
The Church is the mystical body of Christ.

~~~

A small note on the difficulties of forgiveness:
I had to call Sears Repair for a second time yesterday to fix my washer, which was broken by my last roommate.  Everything that had happened until this point had been quietly piling up in the shadows, waiting until  my resolve was the weakest to fall over and trigger my emotions.  The pile - being rather high - did some damage and I found myself seething after hanging up the phone.  I was angry that, after everything else, I couldn't just move on.  It was as if - through this broken machine - she was mocking me (which is ridiculous), keeping me from traveling forward on the path of forgiveness and emotional health.
I broke down and posted a rant on another journal about it.  This didn't help because it was, in effect, the wrong thing to do.  However, I decided to keep the journal up, hanging my anger to dry [read dissipate] on the clothesline of the interwebs.  Perhaps I will remove it at a later date.
What I learned is that it's going to be a while longer before I am healed.  The journey through hurt is a long and arduous one, but at the end I will find strength and a new - better - me.
The difficult part is remembering to pray when I'm traversing a crevasse in the icy path.

"It's not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive with the restart"

 Quotes from the song Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons