A Body Manifesto!

I have been thinking a lot about body image lately. It seems more and more the media is trying to tell us what beauty is, but it doesn't resemble what real women look like. I love Dove and their campaign for real beauty, and Creighton picking it up (and me being a model for them!) I also love songs like "More Beautiful You" by Johnny Diaz. These things are encouraging real women to love themselves for who they are. Even Glamour is getting on the bandwagon and starting to use models of all shapes and sizes in their pages. So, here it is, a list, no a Manifesto! of the things love about my body.


I love my hair! Everything to the color, to the way it looks, I have great hair.
I love my eye color. It is an amazing blue that is really, really blue. I get more compliments on my eyes than any  other part of my body.
I love the way my eye crinkle and get lines around them when I smile.
I love my claves. They are strong and muscular and look good in heels.
I love my butt, it may be small, but it is mighty!

There it is: the things I love about me. I think it is a good idea for every woman to make a list of what they love about themselves and look at it often. As Johnny Diaz said, There could never be a more beautiful you!

I'm Just Sayin'

"We can show that Catholic worship does indeed have a place where believers accept Jesus into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior. When the Priest lifts up the host and says, 'This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,' the entire congregation confesses, in words from Scripture (see Mt. 8:8), 'Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.' And then we go forward to receive Jesus into our hearts--His body, blood, soul, and divinity."

 --from "Reasons to Believe" by Scott Hahn

"Lord, I am not worthy to receive you...

This is an entry from my journal from last summer, but I wanted to share it. This is something I was thinking about in Mass today.

June 15, 2009

So, my favorite part of the Mass is right after the Our Father and the Sign of Peace. We sing the Lamb of God and then kneel one more time before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest raises the Body and the chalice containing the Precious Blood and says "This is the Lamb of God. This is He who takes away the sin of the world. Happy are those who are called to His table." And we reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed." This line has, recently, really started to stick out to me. There is no why that I am worthy to receive that Body of our Lord into mine. I am a sinner who, despite her best efforts, will never stop sinning. Yet, Christ says it doesn't matter. Seek forgiveness and you shall be forgiven. He loves us even though we are not worthy of Him. He gave us His Body and Blood, not because we deserve it, but because He wants us to be with Him. This is why I could never really belong to another Christian denomination. Maybe another church has better youth-oriented worship. Maybe another church has more engaging sermons week after week. But, the fact of the matter is that no other church believes that the bread and wine is no longer bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can I abandon a church whose core belief matches my core belief? The Church has its problems, just as any human institution will, but I will stick by it and pray for the betterment for all. I also think that this is a good prayer for every day. I have been asked before if I have "asked Jesus into my heart." Yes, I have. But I also think that it's important to remember that we are not worthy to have Him there. It is only through His grace, His words that we are even remotely worthy.