Ordinary Old Catholic Me

The Boom Has Been Lowered and I Can't Help Offering My Thoughts

It was another eventful week in the Catholic Church. As one friend said to me today, "It's exhausting!"  That certainly is true, but it is also something we have to reckon with as the faithful whether we like it or not. Pope Francis took a step, which was somewhat expected, regarding the status of the Traditional Latin Mass. It was a bigger step that many had anticipated. It basically erased the actions of two prior Popes and restricted the Latin Mass, the Extraordinary Form in a serious, and some feel, draconian way. I add my puny comments to the plethora of those that have flooded the internet this past week. 

Final Thoughts About George Mackay Brown and the Choice of Catholicism

I have so much more to learn about this poet extraordinaire who happened, by the Grace of God, to choose Catholicism as his faith on the earthly road to heaven.
I am glad I have learned what I have, and he reminds me of the majesty of its universality and the fact that God comes to us daily in the Bread of Life. He IS the Bread of Life. We must remind ourselves always of that. 

George Mackay Brown and the Forces that Formed Him

Continuing with a discussion of my discovery of a poet and short story writer, George Mackay Brown and marvelling at how he found his way to Catholicism. I intended that this be the final second part, but I got even more interested in him, and want to do a third part, next week. I am so glad I have "met him". I hope you are too. 

Giving George Mackay Brown His Due

I love it when I find something and someone new who intrigues me. Today, is the first part of two on the poet and short story writer from the Orkney Islands (Northeast of Scotland) named George Mackay Brown. Naturally, there is a Catholic connection. And while some might say that Brown lived an ordinary life in a small place, in fact even that place was extraordinary and its impact on him also. And that impact gave us his creative legacy.
 

Faith, Understanding and Just Hanging On

So, I read a really small article related to the scientific method. It reminded me of the phrase, "Faith Precedes Understanding" which brought me to the related phrase "Faith Seeks Understanding" and which led to the various considerations of the next half hour. 

Hell is Well Paved, Alas

In part, the decision of the USCCB to create a "teaching document" related to Eucharistic coherence and the teachings of the Church got me thinking about the phrase, "Hell is paved with Good Intentions".  Here's my take on things. 

How My Cat Reminded Me of the Goodness and Love of God

Real life meets faith life. My Tortoise Shell Cat does a really vindictive thing and reminds me of how we behave in relation to the God of the Universe and how He somehow still loves us. 

If I Could Go Back in Time

Need Inspiration? Think of a time during the life of Christ, pre and post Resurrection to lighten the load of the world, He who took our sins upon Himself. I have my favorites. Go back in time to your own. 

Let Him Speak

Father James Altman of La Crosse, Wisconsin's St. James the Less Parish has become a vocal advocate for the teachings of the Catholic Faith by calling out Catholics in politics who visibly vary from it. However you view him, religious, non-religious, left, right or in no category, why should he be silenced while other clerics so clearly veer in their views from 2000 years of teaching of the Church. Let him Speak!

Beware the Atheistic Moment

Sometimes it feels like things are so difficult, you can't pray. You are not sure you even believe anymore. This is the Atheistic Moment. The Devil is like the Jabberwock, of whom a child might be afraid. Beware the Devil and his temptation of you to despair.