Unearned Luck

Photo by  Andres Siimon  on  Unsplash “‘Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again’” -John 8:10-11 “Maybe you missed some of the conversation. In talking about the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. If one is a so called Catholic but rejects that teaching, that one is a protestant or heretic, you choose. Read John Ch 6. Look up heresy.” -@DeaconWaugh on Twitter “Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him” (Can 751). Heresy is “the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt.” If a Catholic does, in fact, deny or doubt the Church’s teaching on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, then th...

Photo by Ewelina Karezona Karbowiak on Unsplash The monthly meeting occurred, and, like has happened for the past four or five months, the discussion focused on the problems with the United States and the Church using Anthony Esolen’s Out of the Ashes as a starting point. This month, though, the participants were charged with finding a solution. Beginning with Ireland’s referendum vote on May 25th, within three minutes and after a question about the lack of quality catechesis being ultimately to blame for the direction that vote took, the discussion switched to school shootings. How each person responded was predictable, since it was how each person has always responded. The gentleman, who blames the media and the pervasiveness of electronic devices, blamed the media and the pervasiveness of electronic devices. The gentleman, who blames the atmosphere of children’s competitive sports, blamed the atmosphere of children’s competitive sports. The gentleman, who shows up o...

Photo by Tom Roberts on Unsplash Masks are how we protect ourselves or so someone said a long time ago. We wear masks, so others won't come to know the person we perceive ourselves to be. "I don't want you to discover the monster I truly am, so I will pretend to be a jewel around you." That's how it often goes, right? Social media is a great place to observe this. No one ever posts who they really are. The vast majority post who they would like to be. A few post the monsters they believe themselves to be. All of them want someone else to acknowledge the illusion as reality. For example, a Catholic on Twitter tweeted a list of the saints to whom he prays at the end of each rosary he prays and that was it. He didn't ask for feedback or a response of any kind. Why? How are his personal prayer habits relevant to me? Doesn't this seem to violate Christ's injunction to close the door of your room, when you pray ( Matthew 5:5-6 )? Was he trying...

Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash I greatly appreciate Fr. Matthew Schneider's (@FrMatthewLC) brief reply to my post, There Is No Secret To Reverse Parish Closings , via his Twitter account on May 11. As before, I wish to address the four points he raises in his reply, then move to a discussion of a larger topic. I greatly respect Fr. Schneider and am eternally grateful for his priesthood and the beautiful witness it is to the world. I will now address his Twitter comments very briefly. 1.     Fr. Schneider first addresses his writing style, describing it as "brief & with catchy headlines to hopefully increase readership." Alright. Increasing readership is an admirable goal for one devoted to evangelizing the masses via Twitter, but shouldn't a little more thought be given to what is being offered to them? While it may be important to form Catholics to evangelize the world, the issues raised in my earlier article requires evangelization and catechesis of t...