+JMJ+ (Our loosely themed Catholicism 101 or What is Christinity series continues.) A Christian anthropology: what would that mean? Christianity does have a certain way of looking at man, at God, at the world, at reality. It is more than a way of looking but, yes, it is a way of looking. It’s a way of describing what reality is. And it is more than describing it. We describe it to think about it and to tell others about it, but we also describe it so we can do something with it or about it in an interior and an exterior way.
In honor of the International Day of Yoga I assumed one pose and that was: curled up on the couch with Miss Lucy Dawg, surfing the web, researching yoga for something I want to write and to further my understanding. I’m not ready to write in depth about it yet, but as a former new ager and one who studied yoga longer than I practiced the asanas, I’ll go on record to say, as I’ve said many times before: Yoga is emphatically NOT compatible with any form of real Christianity. Sure, you’ll find lots of Christians who will argue that it is compatible, and you’ll find yoga and other forms of occultism offered in many ostensibly Christian places by many people who are ostensibly Christian, even in religious houses where people are ostensibly consecrated to the Christian religious life.
Been a long time since I’ve posted here. Yes, I’m still alive. Yes, the blog is still alive. In my mind, anyway, even if I haven’t posted in a while. A death in the family and tending to family matters left me with not much time or energy for writing here or anywhere else. But things are getting better and I hope to be back to at least semi-regular writing and blogging soon.
In the meantime tomorrow is a very special day for me: the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary. If you aren’t familiar with the story of the Battle of Lepanto and the role of the rosary and the Blessed Virgin Mary in that battle, you can read more here and here.
Thank you for reading. I hope you’ll enjoy your visit. God bless you! :)
Update, Feb 3, 2020:Decided to make this post a bit more presentable since it’s been getting views recently. It looks happier now. I’ve learned a thing or two about posting since 2012. (What’s that, Miss Lucy Dawg? Oh, really? Well, yeah, I guess I still do have to learn a thing or two. Smarty.)
I posted a brief version of my conversion story on the About Me page a while back. But during a conversation here on the blog someone (Hi, Lauretta!) asked me what drew me to Catholicism. I don’t know if she knew what she was letting herself in for, but I wrote a few paragraphs by way of reply and thought I’d share that reply in a post of its own (slightly edited because I can’t ever just copy/paste anything without editing it and because it’s a post now and not a reply). Bear in mind that even though this goes into more detail than the About Me page does, I’m still leaving out a lot. I didn’t go into all the various false paths and blind alleys and dead ends I wandered into along the way before I found Him Who is The Way, the Truth and the Life. So without further ado, here’s the story of my conversion, take two. (Hey, wake up, the post is about to begin!)
Since the HHS Mandate was foisted upon us, I’ve been told many times that I can be a Christian all I want…as long as I keep it to myself and limit it to worship inside the church building. But is that what it means to be Christian? Yes, worship on Sunday (or daily for those who go to Daily Mass) is part of being Christian. But can we reduce Christianity to that one hour on Sunday (or seven hours a week for the Daily Mass attendee)?
This is My Body, which will be given up for you
For me being Catholic Christian is what I am at the very heart of my being. Catholicism shapes my thoughts and desires and I seek to live my faith through every moment I am alive; even when I fall short of that goal, the goal remains. Saying that I’m free to worship in the church building on Sunday but not free to live according to the teachings of Christ and His Church is absurd. The whole point of attending Mass and receiving grace in the Sacrament of the Eucharist is to be enabled to bring the light of Christ out from within the gathering and into the world where darkness reigns, for Christ to act upon me and make me into a new creation, to fill me with new life. A participation in His Divine Life. But what I’m hearing from various people is that I should keep that light within the sanctuary, that it has no place out in public where — horrors! — someone might see it!
I don’t demand that others be Catholic Christian. I don’t demand that they talk about atheism in the privacy of their homes but never around me. I listen to atheists preach at me nearly every day of my life. They witness to me, they evangelize me, they try to convert me. I fully expect them to come to my neighborhood, knocking on doors and inviting folks to the local atheist potluck supper and tent meeting any day now. And will I tell them to keep their un-worship to themselves? No! I won’t!
Truth is, I ‘d like to see what kind of party they throw. I might even take a covered dish.
EWTN’s The World Over focused last week on the HHS Mandate, not surprisingly (see video below or watch on YouTube). I finally got to watch it tonight (as I type this, as a matter of fact). Make no mistake: this is not merely a Catholic issue. Everyone’s freedom and liberty and right to conscience is about to go out the window if this mandate is allowed to stand. Goodbye, Liberty, Hello, Brave New World. Unless we stand up and speak out and say NO NOW!
If you don’t want to listen to the Newt Gingrich segment, watch the first segment with Michael Warsaw, CEO of EWTN which is suing over this outrageous mandate, and then fast forward to Fr. Sirico of the Acton Institute, and then watch the Rep. Chris Smith segment. Then learn more and share all of this with friends and family. United we can make a difference!
I haen’t seen a movie in a theater since “Sherlock Holmes” was playing. But tonight I splurged and went with friends to see The Rite. I’m going to wait until I’ve had a little time (to think, read, pray, pray, and, oh, did I mention, pray?) before I try to write a more in-depth review. I want to do justice to this film. My first impression? It’s good. I want to see it again. I’ve been doing some research tonight and downloaded the book. Look for the actual review in a couple of days (give or take one or two).
Rating The Rite
In General: 5 Stars for a Ripping Good Romp That Made Me Jump (for scaring the you-know-what out of me and making me throw my popcorn on the ladies in the next row).
Representing Catholicism: 4 Stars and Better Than I’d Expected (and the priesthood was unexpectedly respected!).
Taking Evil Seriously: 5 Stars for The Conversations and Soul-Searching Provoked (and inspiring me to an even deeper commitment to resisting the devil and his culture of death with all my heart and mind and to my very last breath).
Well, I’m not a catechist. Not yet, anyway. But I’ve been grousing about the deplorable state of catechesis in our parishes for a long time now and my theologian friend asked me today, “Why don’t you do it?”
Do what, I said.
“Be a catechist. You could even train catechists.”
Since conversion is one of the main topics of this site, I thought I’d spend some time reflecting on what that that process or journey really means. As Scott Hahn says, conversion cannot be reduced to merely changing religions or denominations, but refers, rather, to change of heart. (I believe it was in his series on the Gospel According to Saint Paul. The link takes you to the audio files and some PDF’s at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.) Jesus begins His public ministry echoing the words of John the Baptist: Continue reading “Conversion as change of heart”→
This week I’ll be 13 years old. In the eyes of the Church, that is. I was received into the bosom of Holy Mother Church at the Easter Vigil thirteen years ago after forty years of wandering through various deserts. Deserts of new age philosophies, teachings of self-proclaimed gurus–the usual claptrap embraced by rebellious pseudo-intellectuals like myself. I admit, I thought I was pretty sophisticated, educated and pretty darned smart. I thought I knew too much to be a Christian, much less a Catholic. Continue reading “Thirteen Easters Ago”→
You may not have thought of doubt as a virtue before, but it occurred to me just now, as I sat here struggling to insert a small image into my last post and doubting that I would figure it out before Good Friday services began at my parish, and then doubting that I remembered the Holy Week service schedule accurately, then checking on the web and realizing that my doubt was correct–I’ve already missed the Good Friday service. Sigh. And the ones at nearby parishes begin in ten minutes. And I use the term “nearby” loosely. Sigh again. So I think I’ll refill my coffee and write some more. There’s still time for you to save yourself by running for the door. Or slamming your laptop shut, as the case may be. Continue reading “The Virtue of Doubt”→
Catholic Heart and Mind 