Chapter 2 of Laudato Si starts out as sort of an “in-house memo,” He knows that there are those who don’t believe in or just barely tolerate (using the original definition of the word here) religion. In spite of what many, many people believe, science, religion, and yes, the environment are all connected to each other. It’s a relationship as old as faith and reason. (And yes, they actually work together.) He hopes that the encyclical will show how having faith... Read more
Being Pro-Life to me means going beyond saving the unborn babies. It also means having compassion for criminals (which means no death penalty), making sure that single mothers find work, education, supplies, and babysitters so that they can take care of their children, and caring for the terminally ill (no euthanasia). In Laudato Si, Pope Francis, in this encyclical, takes the idea of being pro-life and puts it on a global scale. Part 5 of Chapter 1 talks about the quality of... Read more
The first part of Chapter 1 of Laudato Si talks about the everyday pollution we deal with as well as the more unhealthy stuff that can be found everywhere. “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” (Paragraph 21) Pope Francis links this to what he calls a throwaway culture. starting with something as simple as throwing away paper instead of recycling it. This entire chapter then goes into detail about... Read more
I’ve been a regular volunteer at my parish’s Vacation Bible School for a couple years now. I love working with kids, even if they can be exhausting. There’s just something about kids that makes me smile. Summertime is a popular time for retreats. Unfortunately, these retreats are often expensive, so for the past couple years, Vacation Bible School has been the closest thing I get to a summer retreat before I go off to volunteer for my local Awakening... Read more
One of my friends from college asked me this question recently in regards to Pope Francis’s latest encyclical Laudato Si. “No liberal, democrat millennial is going to read the encyclical so why in the world did he highlight the saving the environment (even though Catholics take care of it most) and not something else? There are so many lax Catholics and young Catholics who are missing something: The teachings of the Catholic Church. Why couldn’t he highlight that? Why aren’t things... Read more
The word “catholic” means “universal” and it always makes me happy to know that no matter where I go, I’ll find a church. It might take some driving, but there’s at least one Catholic Church in every state in the US and in every country. But what’s even better than that is that I know that I am never alone. Even though I consider myself to be an introvert, I feel lonely very often. I may not feel comfortable... Read more
If you missed Elizabeth Scalia and Tod Worner’s round table discussion on Relevant Radio’s “A Closer Look with Shiela Liaugminas,” they have a podcast of it on the Relevant Radio website. You may hear me calling in at some point. Read more
There’s been a lot of talk about identity lately. My friend Emily Allen recently commented on the “trans” issues and I raised the question “How exactly do we identify ourselves?” Some identify themselves by the race or gender or sexuality of their choice. Others identify strongly with their career choice, the place that they live in, or the things that they love. This post will look into how I saw myself in the past, how my identity has changed over... Read more
I’ll admit that while I like sci-fi shows and the occasional horror movie, creature features aren’t usually on my radar. I came into Jurassic World as a casual fan of the franchise, having only seen Jurassic Park and vlogs that ripped the sequels apart. Critics are divided on whether or not this is a good movie, so I wanted to see it to form my own opinion on it. Right off the bat, I’ll say that this movie isn’t perfect, so... Read more
Emily Allen is a Catholic writer currently working on a collection of poetry inspired by John Paul II’s Theology of the body. She loves the Catholic Church, her husband, being Polish, the Office, and mac and cheese. “What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all these things and He might weep when they are gone.” ~St. Catherine of Siena To what degree do our physical attributes... Read more
Monique Ocampo Writes
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