Category Archives: Commentary

White Fragility On Display

Posted on 10 September 2020 by

As soccer returned to play this summer, I noticed a consistency in the players’ expressions for racial justice. In every game, players take a knee before the kickoff, and many black players raising a fist. Given the reaction to a … Continue reading →

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Bishop Barron On Pope Francis On Evangelii Nuntiandi

Posted on 23 August 2020 by

I check the site Where Peter Is every so often. A voice of sanity in the Catholic blogosphere. A balm to the “Qatholic” alternative, as another gorilla blogger likes to term it. Mike Lewis wrote of Bishop Barron’s visit to … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Evangelii Nuntiandi | 2 Comments

Vote Center, Day 2

Posted on 3 August 2020 by

As a practice run for the November elections, our county auditor and team have set up a three-day presence at three vote center locations in our county. I’ve been moved off the second-shift ballot processing team for these three days. … Continue reading →

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Another Infection

Posted on 2 August 2020 by

It’s not an appropriate time to suggest, “I told you so.” Maybe it never is. When I saw the headline in my news feed, “D.C. pastor tests positive for coronavirus,” I was seriously thinking, ah, I hope it’s not him. … Continue reading →

Posted in Church News, Commentary | Tagged | 1 Comment

Years On, 5, 12, 32, 48

Posted on 27 July 2020 by

My wife reminded me that five years ago today, we left Iowa in the rear-view for the Pacific Northwest. What a five years it has been. Looking back on the closest thing I have to a diary, the personal posts … Continue reading →

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Church Vandalism

Posted on 27 July 2020 by

I heard a rumor of a parish in our deanery having some experience with vandalism. I’ve read more about it in social media. My Catholic friends have varying views. Some see it as the godless left taking out its frustrations … Continue reading →

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On Pastoral Conversion

Posted on 23 July 2020 by

News of this document appeared on my facebook feed. I noticed more commentary on the use of four prepositional phrases in the title: The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, evangelization | 2 Comments

Is It Fear?

Posted on 21 July 2020 by

Msgr Charles Pope pulls the fear card in his latest NCReg essay here. I read a link posted by a social media friend. From his intro: My pastoral concern is that we as a nation and as a Church have … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | 4 Comments

PPP, Clickbait, and the Church

Posted on 12 July 2020 by

A number of my Catholics friends are steamed about the usually-reliable Associated Press for its notice to the world that “the Church” applied for and received $1.4B in small business loans. It helped keep me in employment, so I have … Continue reading →

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Disappointment

Posted on 7 July 2020 by

I was speaking with a liturgist colleague recently, sharing our experiences and perceptions of the return to worship. She has found the reopening with limits to be very much wanting. I shared the same. Certainly I understand intellectually the limits … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Liturgy, Parish Life | 3 Comments

Another Bump In The Road

Posted on 2 July 2020 by

We’ve breached the halfway point of the Christian calendar year. The young miss quoted me some social media thingy about a person who went into a coma on Christmas Day, woke up yesterday and wanted to be caught up on … Continue reading →

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Celebrity

Posted on 30 June 2020 by

I have hesitated to comment on one of this month’s Catholic news items. A read a second treatment in the NCRep a social media friend linked. I’m fine with women taking the lead on this discussion. #metoo impacts them and … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | 1 Comment

If It’s About A Symbol, Let’s Start With Money

Posted on 25 June 2020 by

Frustrating things in 2020: having a lion’s share chunk cut out of my church ministry by a virus seeing the same Catholics whine about sacraments when they wanted to shut down viri probati in the Amazon and other places hitting a wall … Continue reading →

Posted in coins, Commentary, Sports | Leave a comment

Down With Junipero?

Posted on 23 June 2020 by

I notice Californian statues of the saint are toppling. There is controversy connected with the man, as noted on the wiki here. Opposition to his ecclesiastical recognition was well-known as Junipero Serra was making his move up the ladder of … Continue reading →

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Racism In Oakland

Posted on 22 June 2020 by

I saw this piece in my morning news feed. (I wonder how the magical all-knowing google knows to connect me to a combination of racism and Catholic.) In an emotional, 13-minute video posted on Facebook on June 14, McAleenan, who is white, … Continue reading →

Posted in bishops, Commentary | Tagged | 2 Comments