My attempts at blogging have been few and far between for quite some time now. The reason is simple. This is the Catholic venue at Patheos, and my blog is called Public Catholic. But I haven’t been a particularly good Catholic. Instead of finding comfort in my faith, it has been a source of angst. Instead of bringing me to Jesus, the behavior of my religious leaders sent me back through the fundamental questions of what do I really, all... Read more
I am taking today to pray for peace in the Ukraine. I want to invite everyone who might read this to join me. I’m going to pray the Rosary. The Rosary is a wonderful prayer, full of power and grace. When I pray the Rosary, I know that literally millions of people around the globe are also praying it alongside me. I consciously join my voice with theirs. I join my intentions with theirs, with the endless list of intentions... Read more
I oppose abortion for one reason: Abortion kills a living child. That’s it. I don’t have any other reason for opposing abortion. If abortion didn’t kill a living child, I would not oppose it. In fact, if abortion did not kill a living child, then opposing it would be wrong. But I do not just oppose abortion. I am pro life. That means I also oppose the misogyny, violence and discrimination (both legal and social discrimination) that leads to abortion.... Read more
Give to Caesar what belongs to caesar, and give to God what belongs to God. Jesus Christ. American Christians have been led by self-seeking, power-hungry fallen clergy and light-weight professional “apologists” of both the political right and the political left into the bizarre heresy of rendering unto Caesar that which is God’s and calling it righteousness. The practice of conflating one’s political opinions with Jesus Christ and following up by proclaiming that everyone and anyone who has a different political... Read more
I guess it’s time for me to do what I often do, and make everybody on both sides of a contentious issue angry with me. The argument in question is the one concerning Pope Francis’ recent directive concerning the Latin Mass. When Pope Benedict first issued the directive allowing broader celebration of the Latin Mass, my reaction was … Ok. I have zero problem with people who want to hear the mass in Latin. I don’t get it myself, but... Read more
Words are prayer. Music is prayer. Work is prayer. Love is prayer. Suffering is prayer. Joy is prayer. Everything you do, every use you make of this great gift of your life is either a prayer … or a curse. You decide which it will be with each action, thought, purpose you take. You are your own prayer … or you are a curse. You decide. Read more
I’m guessing that the Catholic bishops were surprised by the public reaction to their plan to excommunicate the President of the United States. I say that because they’ve been making a lot of huffy statements that they never meant any such thing. The new truth, according to some of the bishops, is that all they were doing was putting together a document on the Eucharist that would reaffirm its significance and meaning in Church life. They never, nohow, no way,... Read more
I debated about posting this video here. I’ve decided that those of us who love the Church, and who are not going to run away and leave it, need to see it so they can understand a bit of what is actually going on under the floorboards of our faith. This is a video of Fr James Altman, ranting and yelling because Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit asked him not to make a speech to a group in his diocese.... Read more
The following is a very short, off-the-cuff list of Catholic politicians that the Church did NOT excommunicate. I’m sure if I researched, it could be a lot longer. So far as I know, none of them favored freely available abortion. Adolph Hitler. As dictator of Germany, Hitler initiated World War II which killed between 50 and 60 million people and is responsible for the holocaust which murdered 6 million Jews, as well as homosexuals, Gypsies, the elderly, mentally ill, and... Read more
The Catholic bishops voted to move ahead with a document that could lead to excommunicating pro choice Catholic politicians, including President Biden. As a matter of principle, I have no objection to withholding communion from pro abortion politicians, assuming that it is done based on incontrovertible evidence that this is in fact where they stand, and that it is prefaced with a long period of private and compassionate discussion and attempts to deal with their viewpoint in better ways. This... Read more
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