Posted by Webster My friend who has fallen away from the Church was making light of my conversion some months back. He said, “You just wait, Webster. When they see you want to get involved in the parish, there’s no end to what you’ll be asked to do.” My friend doesn’t know me that well, I guess. Because to get involved—as many hours a day as possible—is one big reason why I am Catholic. I thought of this Sunday morning... Read more
I left off last time with my friend Blaise Pascal throwing me something like a complete game shut-out and a no-hitter as well. Frankly, this guy was starting to get irritating. His immense knowledge of Scripture was the capper. The fact that he wasn’t even breaking a sweat was especially galling. That’s because I thought I was really knowledgeable about the Bible. I had never read it cover-to-cover, but so what? Since I was old enough to remember, Sunday School,... Read more
Posted by Webster Saturday night, Katie and I saw an exhibit at the Cape Ann Historical Association in nearby Gloucester, Mass., home port of the Andrea Gale of “Perfect Storm” fame. I’m not a museum goer; Katie lured me with the promise of a photographic show on “Churches of Rural New England.” The word I didn’t take into account was rural. The cover image for the catalog (left) was typical of every image in the show: Each church photographed by Steve... Read more
Posted by Webster I’ve fallen behind in my series of posts on the TV series that for two years, 2003–2005, reminded me again and again why, after 40 years in the wilderness, I was meant to be a Catholic. Even though I wouldn’t become a Catholic until 2008. In a catch-up frenzy, here are brief summaries and quick thoughts about three episodes in the middle of season one. Season 1, episode 12, “Jump” Rocky, the little boy Joan took care of... Read more
Posted by Webster Last night Katie and I took our friend Joan to see a creche collection that has been 45 years in the making. Tom Petitte, FSM, received an 11-piece nativity set from his parents when he took his vows as a Marist brother in 1964. Today his collection fills four classrooms in a parish education center in Peabody, Massachusetts. That first 11-piece set is at the bottom center of this photo: the Holy Family, three Wise Men, a... Read more
As a relatively new convert to Catholicism (Class of 2008), friends have asked me the following question, “How could you join such a scandal-plagued institution?” My answer has been something along the lines of what St. Peter said to Our Lord in the Gospel of John (6:67-69) when, Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come... Read more
Posted by Webster I love reading the list of saints each day. Most of the names sound so exotic. Today, the roll of honor is: Victoricus, Trason, Severin Ott, Sabinus of Piacenza, Practextatus, Pontian, Pens, Melchior Sánchez, Martin Lumbreras, Lucas the Stylite of Chalcedon, Ludolf van Craeywinckel, Maria Maravillas de Jesús, Johannes Laurens, Hugolinus Magalotti, Gentian, Fuscian, Fidweten, Eutychius the Martyr, Daniel the Stylite, Pope Damasus, Cian, Barsabas of Persia, and—finally, in reverse alphabetical order, a name that doesn’t sound at... Read more
Posted by Webster Earlier today, I posted the current membership roll. All are welcome to join the discussion, and if new readers leave a comment, they will be added to next week’s roll. (Late breaking news: Turgonian, a student from the Netherlands with an exceptional blog, “Epigone’s Eloquence,” has joined the YIMCBC. Welcome, Turgo!) I think we’re all finding Chesterton pretty heavy going, but I think you’ll agree that that’s more a function of his style than of his content. In... Read more
Posted by Webster The YIM Catholic Book Club will be meeting this evening to discuss chapter 4 of Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. Drop in if you have a few on-line minutes to spare. (And here’s a secret: You can drop by Friday morning, or Friday afternoon, or even over the weekend. Just drop us a comment to let us know you were in the house. . . . Because psssst: It’s not a real book club.) The YIMCBC membership roll has... Read more
Posted by Webster To set this world spinning the right way round, I think we Catholics might need to do just one thing: Start going to confession again. Then take our kids to confession. Once a month would be OK, once a week even better. Don’t believe me? Listen to me brag about my fourth-grade CCD class. I’m sure you could change the world if you could just get your kids alone to go to confession, as my fourth-graders did today.... Read more
Why I Am Catholic
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