Little Happies -- It's Good to be Catholic

Hey there, friends! And welcome back to Little Happies, the happiest little link-up on the planet. Proven* to be happier than an antelope with night-vision goggles. So sit back, relax, maybe write a Little Happies post of your own, link-up, and enjoy!

*But not actually proven.

So, I'm currently in Johnson City visiting in-laws with the husband. But that didn't stop me from prepping this a few days ago. I reflected a bit on some of the little joys of the faith and came up with this special list for ya. So, this week's Happies are brought to you by Catholicism. What's not to love?

--one--

This song.

Have you heard of PJ Anderson yet? He's relatively new to the scene, Catholic, living in Nashville, and totally rocking at writing beautiful, holy music. This one's a favorite of mine, especially for Adoration. The often repeated line, "It is you, it is you, it is you that my heart wants," is exactly what I need to say more often to Jesus.

--two--

It's only in the past few years that I've come to know and love Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. 

You've heard of him right? 

He was an American Archbishop known for his very relatable preaching and his work on radio and television. If you've never seen him in action, I'd recommend heading over to youtube right now and just watching a few of his old recordings. Prepare to be sucked in.

Recently, I was reading this article that popped up in my facebook newsfeed, "The Curse of Broadmindedness" and was finding myself nodding in agreement through the whole dang thing. What a perfect reflection on our need to stop all this "to be intolerant is to be un-loving" nonsense, on our need to be "tolerant of people but intolerant of ideas," on our need to escape the "curse of broadmindedness" in our world today. I was thrilled to see a Catholic author -- who I assumed was just some young, spry thing, maybe writing this for a grad school class or something -- really attack these modern-day issues. So I honestly had a pretty good laugh when I discovered, after having read/skimmed the whole thing, that the author was actually Ven. Fulton J. Sheen. BOOM. The Sheenanator strikes again. (And don't ask me how his picture and name at the top of the article didn't catch my attention before I read it. I somehow just missed the obvious on that one.) How did he write something way back in 1932 that is still so relevant today? I suppose it's because broadmindedness is not a new issue, but I was still shocked by how his reflections still resonate with us in the present day. He truly was a great man.

That was a big buildup for the actual Little Happy here. While I pretty much love everything the man ever said, my favorite Ven. Fulton J. Sheen quote is:

"Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn." 

:)

--three--

Then there was this kinda weird but definitely fun BuzzFeed quiz:

Who Should Be Your Patron Saint?

I got St. Juliana of Nicodemia, who was secretly Christian and when her parents tried to force her to marry a pagan man, she said no and they killed her. But before they did, she spat at Satan and poured molten lead on her torturers. Then her fiance got eaten by a lion. Ummm... WHAT?!? This is supposed to be my patron saint? What does that even mean? Ha!

Alright, now it's your turn! Take the quiz and tell me who you get! Hopefully their story will be a little cray like St. Juliana's and we can all laugh at who our patron saints should actually be, according to BuzzFeed anyway. 

--four--

The Catholic faith also gives us C. S. Lewis, who wrote the above quote and made me feel a bit better about some of my suffering. Thanks, C. S.!

--five--

And finally, you know what else is really neat about our faith? It's universal.

No, literally, the word "Catholic" means "universal"!


While I realize that's no Little thing, there are just a few Little Happy things that spring from it:

The fact that I can enter a Catholic Church anywhere in the world and still feel at home.

The fact that all I have to say is "I'm Catholic" and with that comes my whole beautiful belief system.

And the fact that I have Catholic sisters across the country who support me and understand me better than most simply because we share the faith.

Yes, my friends, it's good to be Catholic!

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