The Death Penalty is Wrong Because Killing is Wrong

Last updated on: November 20, 2020 at 2:28 pm By Mary Pezzulo

Last night, the United States committed another federal execution. Orlando Hall, a rapist and murderer, was put to death by lethal injection. This happened after a stay of execution was overturned by the United States Supreme Court. One of the justices who voted to overturn the stay was the newest supreme court justice, a Charismatic Catholic and darling of the pro-life movement, Amy Coney Barrett. Of course she’s not the only Catholic on the Supreme Court; Justice Kavanaugh ruled to... Read more

I Dreamed I Went Swimming

Last updated on: November 19, 2020 at 12:47 am By Mary Pezzulo

I dreamed I went swimming with all of my friends. I don’t exactly have friends. I have people I know and love to interact with online, but in Steubenville I keep to myself most of the time. When I woke up I didn’t know who these people were. But in the dream, we were old friends, talking and laughing together. I dreamed my friends and I were all staying in a great big fancy high-rise hotel. We met in the... Read more

The Late Autumn Tin Cup Rattle

Last updated on: November 18, 2020 at 11:30 am By Mary Pezzulo

Hey guys, this isn’t a real blog post, this is just my monthly reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, depend almost entirely on tips. I get a very small paycheck from Patheos based on clicks in the United States, and the rest of my income is gratuities from satisfied readers, or readers who just feel like being nice. Think of it as tipping your Doordash driver, or a magazine subscription where you get to pay whatever you think... Read more

A Fine Time for Crackpots

Last updated on: November 17, 2020 at 8:34 pm By Mary Pezzulo

I am aghast at just how bizarrely people are behaving right now, especially in the Church. As a Catholic blogger, it’s practically my job to be aghast at my fellow Catholics. But this past few weeks has been especially off the wall, in an exhausting way. I’ve been marveling for ten days straight at Taylor Marshall’s rants about how the election was rigged. The best thing I can say about his rants is that he has a jaunty taste in... Read more

If You’re Going to Give to the Needy…

Last updated on: November 17, 2020 at 2:33 pm By Mary Pezzulo

It’s mid-November. Advent is beginning in Orthodox and some Eastern Catholic churches; the rest of us won’t be far behind. And it’s a week and a half before Thanksgiving. This is the time when many families, churches and other communities are especially focused donating food and other necessary things to the poor. This year it’s going to be more important than ever. There are far, far more needy people this year, and the pandemic has made circumstances much more... Read more

No, Christmas is Not Canceled

Last updated on: November 16, 2020 at 2:39 am By Mary Pezzulo

The War on Christmas seems to get earlier every year. It seems that today, a nice round forty days before Christmas, Doctor Fauchi appeared on television talking about social distancing and how we’ll all have to be extremely careful during this surge in coronavirus cases. A vaccine won’t be widely distributed for some time yet, and even as it’s being distributed we’ll have to take care. Jake Tapper morosely replied “Christmas is not going to be possible.” And the internet... Read more

Good Night, Good Morning, Good Heavens

Last updated on: November 14, 2020 at 1:07 pm By Mary Pezzulo

It was late Friday Night. I was in bed, reading. Many people with fibromyalgia have trouble sleeping, but in my case I’ve always been a night owl anyway. Add to that the recent time change and election night anxiety, and my sleep cycle was a mess. It was almost three o’clock in the morning when I finally got sleepy. Michael was asleep on the spare bed in the Junk Storage Room, which we refer to as “the study,” so my... Read more

Flying a Kite in Balnibarbi

Last updated on: November 13, 2020 at 9:37 pm By Mary Pezzulo

The citizens of Laputa, according to Gulliver’s Travels, lived on a flying island with an adamantine bottom. The citizens of Balnibarbi lived below them, on the ground, and they were the subjects of the King of Laputa. If the citizens of Balnibarbi threatened to revolt, Laputa would throw rocks down on them, or block out the sun and rain by hovering over them, or even fly low enough to crush the rebellious city to death. This didn’t always work. If... Read more

The McCarrick Report: The Vatican Owns Up To Enabling Abuse

Last updated on: November 10, 2020 at 10:14 pm By Mary Pezzulo

Today, we finally get to see the long-awaited McCarrick Report, a massive public document released by the Vatican describing the sins of former Cardinal McCarrick and the sins of those who covered up or ignored his abuse of men and boys in minute, nauseating detail. It’s going to take a long, long time to work through this report and its ramifications. Religious and secular news outlets from all sides of the political spectrum are reacting in shock. The information... Read more

To Believe In A Better World

Last updated on: November 10, 2020 at 4:23 am By Mary Pezzulo

I still can’t believe we beat him. It’s coming at me in waves. I keep relaxing a little more each time I think about it, as though I’m lying down sinking further and further into an impossibly soft mattress after not lying down at all for 4 years. I think many Americans feel the same. Oh, Donald Trump is still in office and there’s no end to the mischief he can get into. He’s filing lawsuits right and left, all... Read more