"A Humble Servant's Catholic Blog"

It's a pretty safe bet that most of us do things without thinking. We have our habits and our routines, our particular personalities that shine through in our words and actions, and our core beliefs which shape how we respond to things and direct us in our actions. We also have past experiences which have shaped the way we see things, affect who we are and can influence the way we live our lives. But how many of us take time to think about the message we are sending to others by our choices, actions, behaviors, responses, etc...? I'll go out on a limb here and say that most of us don't think about it, and I'll be that first to raise my hand in shame. We all do things unconsciously that send a negative message to others that we don't intend to send. Worse yet, sometimes we do things intentionally to send a particular message, yet we don't realize it's a negative or wrong one, or don't realize what that message really says about us. For examp...

Well, for starters, no, it isn't. "Veil" is the wrong word altogether, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the traditional Catholic discipline where women assist at/participate in Mass with their heads "covered", to use the words of the old Canon. You see, the old Canon Law 1262 § 2 stated that women " shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed ", but there was never a specification as to what that cover could be. So, the more appropriate question would be: "to cover, or not to cover?". But to answer my own question, again, no it's not the question. I think a better question would be, " why DON'T you cover? " or " why DO you? ". But, since " veil " has a nicer ring to it and it's a familiar term to many, I went ahead and used " veil " in my questions. A little background before going further: In 1983, the Church released a new Code of Canon La...

The Church teaches us that modesty is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit...one of the “perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , paragraph 1832) We also learn that “Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love . It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships ; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled...It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet ." (CCC 2522, emphasis mine) Modesty is directly tied to purity, which “requires modesty” and is “ an integral part of temperance ”...“ refusing to unveil what should remain hidden .” (CCC 2521) Not to offend any of the ladies...BUT...why is it that MANY women I know or meet feel the need to show off their cleavage, thighs, shape-li-ness, etc...? OR maybe it's not so much they feel like the “need...