So here I am, sitting in the clean and light-filled kitchen of my new apartment in Southern California, basking in the blessing of engaging in the simplest of pleasures that I had denied myself in the worst of the hoarding. Making breakfast. Doing dishes. Taking a shower. Doing laundry, and hanging the clean clothes in an empty closet. Sleeping stretched out on a bed with clean sheets. Sweeping the floor. Seeing the floor. This week has been a glimpse of heaven,... Read more
Catholic Spiritual Practices: A Treasury of Old & New Edited by Colleen M. Griffith & Thomas H. Groome Paraclete Press, 2012 This time of year, our thoughts often turn to the good things that come in small packages, the gifts that have the power to surprise us, to contain more than they might promise at first glance. Catholic Spiritual Practices, a slim volume published by Paraclete Press for Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center, is just such surprise... Read more
I haven’t been Catholic in Ohio all that long—only two out of the 16 years I lived here. And my Catholic experience is limited geographically to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. But now that the trajectory of my life is flinging me precipitously (though blessedly, blessedly!) west to Los Angeles again, I want to name some of the things I’ll miss most about being Catholic here. If you live in the archdiocese, cherish these. If you’re passing through, make their acquaintance.... Read more
Really, I tell you, never, never, never count God out. Yesterday, while I was bewailing the uncertainty of my future and being lectured by Dr Phil in the Sky, the band of angels who are my family and friends were tying up the last loose ends of a conspiracy to get me not only a home, but Home. Next Friday I will wing my way out of Ur . . . or Egypt . . . or Dayton, Ohio, and... Read more
I’ve been dreading this Advent, usually my favorite season. In a time ripe with promise, all I could see was loss. But then God answered my prayer—with a big fat stupid No. Over at the Patheos Atheist Channel (a concept that still makes me giggle), blogger Bob Seidensticker has been engaged in a long and, to him, frustrating attempt to convince believers in general (and Christians in particular) that they are deluded, because prayer doesn’t work and miracles can’t be... Read more
Responding (belatedly) to a Patheos roundtable on giving thanks for those who nurtured our faith, I am—as usual—overwhelmed by the possibilities. In my 62-year dance of reversion, just about every person I’ve encountered has given me reason to believe. Like J. D. Salinger’s Seymour, I have been blessed by those who’ve touched my life: “If or when I do start going to an analyst, I hope to God he has the foresight to let a dermatologist sit in on the... Read more
Could Black Friday become a feast day of the New Evangelization? In this post from December 2010, I may have been on to something. _____ Tis the season when Christians collectively bemoan the commercialization of the holy day, reminding ourselves of the importance of turning away from the retail rat race and putting Christ back into Christmas. Yesterday, though, while tuning one ear to the Christmas muzak playing in one of my favorite coffee establishments (as it has been... Read more
My lady parts, what’s left of ’em, are feeling mighty marginalized this morning, after waking up to the news that they did not get invited to the Grrrrrl Power party that reelected President Obama. Being respectable card-carrying feminist lady parts, activated in the 1960s, they are astonished to learn how far the mighty have fallen. “WTF?” they are asking. “Didn’t we already fight this battle? Didn’t they hear us roar in numbers too big to ignore that women are more... Read more
On the eve of a contentious election, pondering the explosive nexus of faith and politics. Please to remember The Fifth of November Gunpowder, Treason, and Strife . . . Back when I was in my Anglican interim, I loved commemorating Guy Fawkes Day. A haunting little historical nursery rhyme, bonfires, the burning of effigies, and children in raggedy clothes with ash-blackened faces accosting householders, begging A penny for the Guy!—what’s not to love? I had a vague notion of the... Read more
My Journal of the Council by Yves Congar, OP Liturgical Press, 2012 Even as my arteries and my religious views harden with age, I remain a daughter of Vatican II. The first session of the council was officially convened on my 12th birthday in 1962, and the fruits of the council were the single most important influence on my faith formation. As I’ve written here before, I still consider myself a Catholic of the John XXIIIrd Generation, and proud of... Read more
Egregious Twaddle
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