Ordinary Old Catholic Me

Final Retreat Thoughts

Three episodes about what I took away from my Ignatian Retreat and I know I haven't captured it. But maybe my little reminiscence will lead you to an online retreat (I do highly recommend Fr. Ed Broom at St. Peter Chanel Church; just check You Tube for a taste of it) or something more intense as the one that I did. 

More Retreating.

I realize as I tell you about my time at the retreat and how it affected me that my words are so inadequate. But maybe there is something here that touches you as the experience touched me. 

Retreat Day 2 July 24

Though I was compelled to record this installment on my cell phone I hope you get the flavor of my experience of and thoughts about the second day of my late retreat.

Here I Am Lord, Lead Me, Don’t Let Me Go

I hope it's ok. I hope it will be interesting to you, and maybe instructive, to hear about my recent attendance at an 8 day silent Ignatian Retreat. It was a deep experience, the fruits of which I hope I can carry with me into the world for the long haul!

No Salvation Outside the Church? Part Three

This is heady stuff, mystical stuff, but this Ordinary Catholic likes the idea of the hermeneutic of continuity on this subject. Lumen Gentium. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Can your family member currently outside the Church be saved? Yes. But as always, cooperation with Grace is the key!

Father Forgive Them They Know Not What They Do

This week and weekend has been a busy one. Today's episode was sparked by seeing a few clips of The Passion of The Christ, and how some things today, remind me of human cruelty, and sin that still we must fight.

No Salvation Outside of the Church Two

Boy is there a lot to consume about this subject. My goal is that you dive in as well with your own study and search for the truth. Catholicism from the beginning has offered the way to Salvation and somehow it becomes real in reading the history especially the Fathers of the Church. I hope it intrigues you as it does me!

Extra Ecclesium Nulla Salus?

That's Latin for No Salvation Outside the Church. The phrase was a bit scary for me as a child as both my parents seemed outside, and the details of how this seemingly unfair result were not then vouchsafed to me. I went outside for a while myself and then when I came back, I began to explore the dogmas and the doctrines. A few years ago a famous Bishop said that Christ and the Church were the "privileged" way and reignited an old fire storm. And what is is to be Catholic today is ever on the front digital pages. It is worth looking at, I'm thinking. 

The Acid Test of Belief and Courage

A small episode with a homeless man at my parish had me considering, "What would I do if the Eucharist were threatened?" Do I really believe that the bread and wine has been transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ such that I would risk my very life to preserve it?
 

The Deep Seep of Sin and All that Jazz

Who'd have thunk that seeing a 40 plus year old movie would have me thinking about how bombarded we are by the idea of there being no real sin, and the obstacle to any of us to not falling onto the wayside as chaff? Well, so it was. I don't know if you're having the same sense of things. But if you are, you are not alone.