I used to volunteer at the Unity Kitchen. I still don’t know if the Unity Kitchen was the official name of the soup kitchen in the basement of a church downtown, or if that was just Pastor Tony’s nickname. Everyone else called it “the soup kitchen” and she called it “the Unity Kitchen.” We would help put food together and then serve it, then do the dishes if there was time, and then a car would take us back to... Read more
Today is the Roman Catholic feast of Saint Augustine, who was an African man with an African mother, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at most of his icons– and of Saint Moses the Strong, whom nobody could whitewash. Most paintings of Augustine make him look like he’s from Scandinavia, but Moses looks Black. Saint Augustine said of money: “The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. When you possess superfluity, you possess what belongs to... Read more
Want to hear a true crime story? This is one I didn’t know about, and it took place right in my neighborhood. You’ll find out why I learned about it just this week when I’m done telling it, I promise. As my veteran readers know, I live in a scruffy poor neighborhood that used to be middle and upper class, back when anybody in Steubenville besides the odd Catholic celebrity had money. This was an affluent place to be... Read more
I don’t like blogging about the presidential election very much. I want to write about other things. But there’s something very important that I have to say first. If I don’t make this absolutely clear, I think I’m committing spiritual abuse. And if I don’t correct the mistakes I see being made by other Catholic internet personalities, I feel that I’d be letting them get away with spiritual abuse. So I want to state without question that you will not... Read more
I’m going to have to write about abortion again. I don’t like writing about abortion, because when I do, people from both sides of the issue call me horrendous names and remind me that I’m fat and unattractive. But I just can’t let a conversation I had this week go by without comment. Before I write about abortion, I always feel I need to specify a few things, just to get them out of the way: –I believe that it... Read more
I found out today that a baby had died alone. It was all over the news after I got back from running an errand. Parents from downtown Steubenville are accused of leaving a two-year-old child alone in his crib from two in the morning until noon over the weekend. At noon they found him dead, and then the mother went shopping. The judge asked if that mother had any other children, and the answer was yes. She had eight... Read more
A reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship... Read more
I was going to write about the Virgin Mary today. It’s the Solemnity of the Assumption and I wanted to write one of my weird interesting local color posts about honoring Mary in Steubenville during the pandemic. I still hope to do that, after we pray along with our livestream Mass. But I’m going to have to take a moment to talk about my least favorite topic in the world. Ironically, it’s become the topic that I am most famous... Read more
Hi guys, this is not a real blog post, this is just my monthly reminder that Steel Magnificat and my family run almost entirely on gratuities. I get a tiny paycheck from Patheos for clicks in the United States, which probably won’t even be a hundred dollars this month, and the rest of my living is tips from satisfied readers. Some people tip sign up to tip monthly at the same time like a Patreon, and some people just... Read more
I was at the bus stop with Rosie. Someday, when this is over, I will take her on field trips to Pittsburgh to see the zoo and the dinosaur museum. Now, we go on field trips to the grocery store every so often, carefully masked and stinking of hand sanitizer. It’s the only trip out of the house we have. The grandmother of the Baker Street Irregulars came out of her house with one child. She shouted “Hi, Miss... Read more
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