Category Archives: Me

On statues, slavery and genocide

This is a post initially written as a Facebook reply in defense of my beloved wife’s post on her Timeline in which she agrees with the pulling down of slave-owner’s statues. She compared them to statues of Hitler. I initially disagreed with her (without posting as such because publicly disagreeing with one’s spouse is not always advantageous. 😉 ) But then I thought about it. I briefly contemplated what it must feel like to be property. Therefore I reconsidered and now I agree with her.

For anyone who thinks that the comparison between slave-holders and Nazis is harsh; let me remind you that both slavery and the Nazis’ “Final Solution” fundamentally dehumanized people. One difference is that slavery has been with us for 1,000s of years and perhaps we’ve become somewhat “immune” to its horror. The ancient Romans and Greeks practiced it, various Asian cultures did so, as well as Arabs, sub-Saharan Africans, and indigenous American peoples like the Aztecs. Desensitized may be the more proper word. It’s been with us for so long that we overlook the abject horror over the “thingification” of people, reducing them to objects of work and drudgery, no more, and subject to the absolute and capricious will of another. Say what you want about how this or that society may have ‘reformed’ slavery by giving slaves some rights and protections; still, the reduction of a human person to that of a chattel object, to be bought and sold like a thing is a grave evil. Another difference is duration: if you were sentenced to a Nazi concentration camp, you’d be dead within days or weeks. Rare was anyone who survived longer than a few months. You might survive the Soviet Gulags longer (I don’t know; I wouldn’t want to experience either to find out.) So there is a difference in degree and duration: condensed in the intense, short, horrific, and barbarous term in a death camp versus being spread out over arduous, barbarous decades as a slave. Destruction is destruction, the human person becomes a dehumanized thing regardless of whether it’s quick and painful, or slower and prolonged. People can debate forever which is worse. Which is stupid, both are evil and shouldn’t be done. To think that one is worse implies that the other is not so bad. 

The Nazi Death camps are an aberration in human history. Including the Turkish genocide of Armenians, the Soviet Gulags, and the Chinese Communist “Cultural Revolution” and later prison systems; such an organized, systematic, intentional destruction of human beings have been comparatively rare in human history. And as seen in the above examples, it has been restricted to our advanced, enlightened “modern times” and its secular, republican, and democratic forms of government.

As a result, we see that comparing slavery to Nazism can be initially off-putting with a knee-jerk reaction of “You gotta be kidding.” But once you dwell on and contemplate the horror that slavery is, you can see why statues of slave-owning individuals can be seen by some to be on a par with seeing statues that glorify Hitler (or Marx, Lenin, Mao, or Margaret Sanger; the latter being the white supremacist, racist, pro-Eugenics founder of Planned Parenthood.)

One issue I have is the mob violence associated with the pulling down of statues. Even so, I have to stop and think whether I would willingly participate in the pulling down of a Hitler, Marx, etc., statue. The answer is that I might consider it. Whether I’d follow through, depends. But the thought would cross my mind as I may see in the spontaneous act of destroying symbols of evil a morally good action that transcends other human notions of propriety. But I would have to evaluate the action in terms of whether the ends-justifies-the-means. For impure acts can never be used to achieve a good end. Would this “spontaneous act” be an “impure act”? Could the removal of statues be done in other ways that do not provoke the hardening of positions thus increasing division? The political change wrought by violence usually envelops and devours the violent. Recall the French Revolution of 1789, the European revolutions of 1848, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1950s-60s.

The other issue is the indiscriminate selection of statues targeted, which implies either a fundamental ignorance on the part of the mobs doing the action or a hidden agenda. Recently, a Frederick Douglas statue in Rochester, NY was allegedly vandalized. He was a freed black slave and abolitionist. The monument to a black Civil War regiment in Massachusetts was vandalized. A U.S. Grant statue was torn down (the Union General in the Civil War, and US president immediately following it and de facto military governor of the South due to Reconstruction.) Why pull theirs down? (Unless white supremacists are sneaking in and taking advantage of the chaos and doing their evil, but it does seem that other racially-motivated groups are also taking this action. I don’t know, but if, in fact, these other “racially motivated groups” are infected with Marxism, then I can see the basis for their indiscriminate targeting. Marxists typically seek to erase the past to better reconstruct a new society. Nevertheless, it would impact my decision-making in whether or not the “spontaneous act” is impure and would I take part.) How about statues of St. Junipero Serra and King St. Louis IX? Never. Opponents of their statuary are blindingly ill-informed as to who they were and what they did. They were powerful forces for good concerning the people they cared for or governed. What about the statues of Washington and Jefferson? Granted, they were slave owners but given their fundamental contributions to American history, they can be given a pass. “What?!?! But, they owned slaves!!!!” No one is flawless, we are all sinners and have done worse if not evil things. Including slavery. If you have ever initiated or cooperated in dehumanizing or objectifying another, such as maltreating employees or staff, then you relegated them to be like a slave. Perhaps Washington and Jefferson and some others can be demoted in the pantheon of Saints in the American Civil Religion, but deleted (or ‘canceled’) from our history? Never. In some circumstances, the entirety of the life of a person must be weighed and evaluated and viewed in a proper, comprehensive context. Good and bad, warts and halos. To focus on slavery is too narrow a vision. The unfortunate consequence is that entire swaths of human history would have to be “canceled” because slavery was a part of the social fabric. Slavery, despite its evilness, should not cancel out other elements of the persons’ life or that of an entire culture. Too much of what makes our contemporary cultures would be lost. Does this mean I am contradicting myself, given my equating slavery with Nazism, etc.? No; there was little else of virtue that Hitler, the Turks, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Sanger have done to merit being “given a pass.” Their evil was pure and unadulterated and they did nothing to cause anyone to reconsider their evil in any “proper, comprehensive context.” Washington and Jefferson did, even if you disagree with their politics.

I think we have lost sight of the bigger picture. People on both sides of the political spectrum have lost the concept of the entirety of an issue; and the value of a perspective that differs from their own. Everyone is looking at things with blinders on and not taking a step back and empathizing with our brothers, who may diverge from us in appearance and outlook but are still our kin. (Perhaps it related to the first part of my earlier post, “Two Theories on the Ending of the World”, the serious part on conspiracy theories and the “why’s” of their popularity, and decidedly NOT not the more humorous second half that blames aliens. Read it to find out more.)

My wife inadvertently caused me to think and challenge my initial superficial reaction in that because it’s mob violence it’s wrong. Wimmin! And I agree with her. The statues, at least some of them, should go. But so should statues of Marx, Che Guevara, Margaret Sanger and others of similar ilk. Should they be removed by a popular “spontaneous act?” No.

So there.

 

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Servant of God Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.

Today begins the First of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation, and this one is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Servant of God Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. It runs from June 20 — June 28, 2020.

I will not post this every day as the intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just post a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post on my other blog, Sober Catholic (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you. In short, Bob was a guy I discovered online in the early 00s. He was the founder of the St. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City. He ran several websites that are profound and deep in their knowledge of Applied Catholicism. A few years after I joined Facebook I found him on there and I decided to connect with him. From him I learned a lot, and it was the information on his websites that started to direct my thinking of Catholicism as something more than liturgy, sacraments and prayer. I had known that, but he (along with some other sources) gave some concrete form to my thought. You’re really going to have to read that post on Sober Catholic to learn more about him and his work. He died on August 30, 2019.)

The original novena site is here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation I: to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin (June 20 — June 28, 2020)

“Getting Started:

Begin each novena prayer with a time of quiet prayer. You may find it helpful to pray some repetitions of the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner), a decade of the Rosary, the Chaplet of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, or a time of spiritual reading or lectio divina that will prepare your mind and your heart for the prayer to come. This could be a time for a daily examen, where you consider your actions of the day and how they relate to God’s call in your life.”

General Intentions: For the redemption of structures of violence, oppression, exploitation, and despair with beauty, goodness, mercy, and peace. Reparation for sins against life.

The First Work of Justice and Peace: Live simply and justly in solidarity with the poor and marginalized and be a good neighbor. Make no war on them, rather, be one with them in spirit, truth, and love.

Act of Caring for Creation: Pick up trash in a public place.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. + Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples. Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for those who serve the poor and who accompany them in their journeys; may we who keep this sacred commemoration experience the joy and love of the grace of your Son; may His most Sacred Heart, together with yours, pierced with sorrow for the evils of the world, be a sure refuge of hope in a time of trouble for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

The Magnificat of Mary. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for He has looked with favor on His lowly servant. From this day all generations shall call me blessed.

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name. He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of His arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of His servant Israel for He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.

Dorothy Day: Dorothy Day, friend and partner of the poor, guiding spirit for the Catholic Worker, home always open to the unwanted, early, often lonely, witness in the cause of peace and conscience, eloquent pattern of gospel simplicity, Dorothy Day, disciple of the Lord, may we continue your gift of self to the needy and your untiring work for justice and peace. Help us to follow your example and dedicate our lives to the creation of structures of beauty and goodness, wisdom and mercy. Amen.

Peter Maurin: Peter Maurin, Holy Fool, teach us to give and not to take, to serve and not to rule, to help and not to crush, to nourish and not to devour. As we create a new society within the shell of the old, remind us that ideals and not deals, creed and not greed, are what makes humanity humane. Amen.

Prayer to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the U.S. Catholic bishops.

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon
has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty;
it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxy,
and reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war,
and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption,
grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary… Glory be. . .

Thoughts for the journey. Today many swords pierce the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Injustice, oppression, violence, war, murder, the rape of Creation — all these and more are sins and structures of sin against justice and peace. We know that within our hearts are the seeds of the problems the world faces.

This redemption begins in my heart and your heart. It all starts, as they say, with the man — or the woman — in the mirror.

If we want to see a better relationship of Christ and the world, we must ask first about our own personal relationship with Jesus. Is he the Easter Bunny? Someone who makes us feel good, but who is remote and not really involved? A cultural construct? A topic in a religious education course?

Or is Christ a living reality in my life?

We are in this for the long haul, and it will be a long haul. We will not wake up on the 82nd day after 81 days of nine novenas and discover that we have prayed and worked ourselves into a new world of justice and peace that cares for Creation as God intended for all of us. There is much more work and prayer to come.

If we think we can do this in our own strength, we are wrong.

If we are going forward in the work of justice and peace, the place to start is with an examination of our own lives. How do my sins of omission and commission create and support structures of injustice and oppression? How do I participate in and profit from the social sins and unjust wars of this age? What must be redeemed in my life so that I live in solidarity with those our society has pushed to the edge and further, into the abyss? How can I change my life so that I promote peace, rather than demanding war? Can I end (or minimize) the ecological harm I cause to Creation by my lifestyle?

Have I abandoned Christ for secular saviors? Do I bury myself in the busy-ness of life and ignore God’s call?

As you pray these novenas for the next 81 days, let this be a time when your personal relationship with Christ blooms and flowers. Our prayer for everyone who takes up these novenas is that their hearts will be open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves each and every one of us. He gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He lives today and is at your side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free you. OK, I am paraphrasing Pope Francis here, but I think the point is clear: the journey of justice and peace is a journey with Christ.

If we are to change the world, each of us must begin with himself or herself as we ourselves become the change we wish to see in the world. That change is the fruit of the Spirit that grows from our personal relationship with Christ.

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin:

Dorothy Day was an early advocate of women’s rights who wrote for radical leftist newspapers in the early years of this century. She was a bohemian as they said in those days — but when she looked in her heart of hearts, she found it empty. By the grace and providence of God, she found our Lord and was baptized into the Catholic Church. Thus began a journey which led to the founding of the Catholic Worker movement, together with Peter Maurin and the other first Workers.

It’s clear from their writings that both Dorothy and Peter experienced a tender and intimate relationship with Christ. This relationship was the source of all that they were able to do for the cause of justice and peace. Dorothy was not a stranger to activism; for years she had struggled in the streets as part of the great social battles of the first years of the 20th century — women’s suffrage, the 40 hour week, the right to join a union, justice for workers.

Peter Maurin, a French peasant who came to the United States via Canada, taught that it was a great blessing to assist the rich in coming to the assistance of the poor. Too often, “never the twain shall meet,” and certainly, in this day and age, communication between the poor and the rich is as bad as it has ever been. Communication requires that each person who wants to be heard and understood must see and hear the “Other” as a human person. It’s not easy, and it takes practice.

The program that Peter and Dorothy offered to the world was direct, personal involvement with other human beings. They called us to open houses of hospitality, to engage in clarification of thought so we would understand what needs to be done, and to found agricultural communities as the seeds of new villages. They believed in the importance of the Eucharist, the Rosary, and many traditional devotions — because their work responded to their lively interior relationship with Christ. They were suspicious of the imperial State. They wanted the Catholic Worker movement to be an organism, not an organization, that drew its strength from the Eucharist and the real presence of Christ in the lives of the workers.

As the United States empire entered a time of great triumph, they called for establishing the seeds of a new society within the “collapsing ruins of the old. ” They taught that the poor should be fed by Christians, not by large government bureaucracies. Peter wrote many “Easy Essays” — short little works, almost poetry in their simplicity, each one packed with intense theological concepts about the human person and how we relate to one another in community. He also reminded us of the nobility — and the necessity — of manual labor (something we’d often like to forget in this day of convenience and instant gratification).

Dorothy and Peter worked to create and live structures of beauty and goodness. In the midst of the slums of New York, they provided hospitality to the poor while working for social justice. They learned that the works of mercy and the works of justice and peace are one and the same, different aspects of the same journey, all going the same direction.

Long before it was a theological mantra, the “preferential option for the poor” was a living reality in the life and work of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. They were informed critics of current events, prophetically looking for the truth in the signs of their times, and finding Jesus in the poor, rejected, and marginalized.

Their example inspires us today to consider how we can ensure fair distribution, subsidiarity, economic opportunity, justice, and food security for everyone everywhere. As we open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to the Spirit’s guidance, we can discern our response to the signs of these times. We then can see the structures of sin that bind us in poverty and war, and name the demons which oppress us.

We can buy farms and dedicate them for the purpose of raising food for the hungry. We can organize microenterprise co-operatives in every city to provide opportunity for the poor. We can look at our own individual situations, and adopt lifestyles of simplicity and frugality, rejecting the culture of materialistic conspicuous consumption in favor of a life of living simply, that others may simply live. We can minimize our use of fossil fuels and thus remove one of the major causes of war. We can buy our food directly from farmers, and stop funding the destruction of the family farm community. We can discern the cry of the widow and orphan in our own neighborhoods, and be the hands and feet of God in relieving distress and creating justice. We can open our own hearts to the reality of life in Christ, and embrace him as savior and friend.

Dorothy Day used to quote St. Catherine of Sienna — “All the way to heaven is heaven.” May this be our prayer, in Jesus’ holy name.

Caring for Creation

Our act of reparation during this 9 day novena, and going forward, is to pick up trash in a public place. You won’t have to look far, but I think there are extra blessings for picking up trash in low income neighborhoods. Trash is endemic everywhere. It is a sign of our careless attitude towards the gifts of this Earth that God has so freely given us. Much trash is useful — many items can be recycled or repurposed, but often we think only of our selfishness and do not take the time or the care to do the right thing by Creation and reduce our impact on the planet by recycling. Examine your conscience! Do you sin against God’s Creation by your casual attitude towards waste? Now is the time for actual works of penance, which is why we pick up trash in public places.

Courtesy: Bob Waldrop, St. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House

…

(I’m, back. Thank you for reading and praying. Just a few thoughts of my own, here, on some of the language Bob used, particularly referring to the US as an “empire,” within a pejorative context. Well, it is painful, but the United States IS an Empire. While an Empire in and of itself is not a bad thing, ours is costly. Excessive tax dollars are spent on maintaining a military presence overseas we can hardly afford; money that could be spent domestically on infrastructure, healthcare, education and other things. In my thinking, there is little reason why we should still be maintaining military bases in Europe. They can potentially defend themselves. NATO served its purpose as the defense of the West against any potential Soviet/Warsaw Pact invasion; after the fall of the Communist alliance NATO should have been mothballed and the European nations taken upon themselves some form of collective defense, if needed. While engaging in military action against terrorists might have seemed a good idea in the early 00s, in reality continued action in the Middle East has only served to create more terrorists. I’m uncertain as to the solution, but the way things are going there and domestically, I think we should cut our losses and our troops recalled. )

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Willing to be ridiculous to obtain the miraculous, so please help

I tried posting this on LinkedIn either as a stand alone post or a profile description, but it exceeds the maximum length for either. Then I remembered that I have two blogs and so I decided to make use of them for this personal matter. The post title is an allusion to a famous quote of Mother Angelica, the Foundress of EWTN. She said, “Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous. When you have God, you don’t have to know everything about it; you just do it.” This kind of post sounds ridiculous, and proper people with proper concerns about proper appearances probably wouldn’t bother, but I am looking for the miraculous, and so be it. (However, I know quite a bunch about what I’m looking for, so there’s that…)

In this time of pandemic, with the relevant health concerns, (or scares, depending upon your POV) I am considering a career change. I hinted at my day job on a prior LinkedIn profile description (now edited out in favor of the current transitional one) but I would now like something different. What have I done for a living? Nice that you should ask: I am currently laid-off (due to the pandemic) from a thrift store chain where I received used goods at an outdoor remote donation center. What was a temporary job “until something better came along” has endured for over six years now. So, loyalty and perseverance are expressed character traits! I found that I actually enjoyed the work, hard as it was at times given the need to work in all types of weather and dealing with all types of individuals. I found the diversity of people and their offerings interesting, especially when they talked and told stories about themselves or their goods. I’d often wonder about the history of unusual or odd donations. Also, during periods in between receiving and sorting/stocking duties I found plenty of time to read and think, which assisted my enduring for 6 years. I even got a great idea for a novel which I have been puttering with.

My company is considering reopening next week (June 1st) in an upcoming “Phase.” Although I do welcome the opportunity to return, I have also enjoyed staying safe at home these past few months. I have health concerns which render me susceptible to COVID-19, although my health care professionals think I’ll survive. But given the impermanence of unemployment insurance, generous though it is, work is a need for personal dignity, economic sustainability and independence. I find myself wanting something that can make better use of my past professional, academic and general life-skills. And thus I am pursuing a career-change. I am seeking a remote (telework, “work-at-home”) position in what might variously be called “content creation,” or “freelance copywriting” or “copyediting,” in other words, you have a site or product that needs words, well, I got loads of ’em and I know how to use them, too! Another position that I would be interested in is chat-based customer service. After completing training on your company’s products and services and assimilating appropriate knowledge, I can serve customers who have issues and problems in a chat interface. (I prefer the written word to the spoken.) I use a Mac, hopefully this is not an impediment to any proprietary software.

If you’re interested, or have job leads, or even advice and prayers, please email me at the addresses found here: MY CONTACT INFO. You can also reach me through LinkedIn; my profile is Paul Sofranko on LinkedIn. The “About Me” page on my busier blog tells much. I am diligent, loyal, and possess a great work ethic. Salary is negotiable, I’d prefer flexible hours, or if fixed hours, then afternoons through evenings (i.e. “second shift.”) I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you for considering me, I do appreciate any interest.

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Testing WordPress

Some time ago I downloaded the WordPress app for my smartphone in hopes of using it as an aid to blogging. I already used it for a post on Sober Catholic and it worked just fine.

Now I’m using it here for a test post to see if I can blog while offline and save as draft. It worked, the post was saved locally. I can edit it later and post it online.

I have no Internet at work unless I use mobile data, which I do as little as possible due to cost. But I do have plenty of downtime in between my duties; normally I read but with the addition of this app, I can now blog. Even if I keep them as drafts until I get home, this can be an improvement in my blogging efforts. Many times I get inspired at work to blog about this or that, on here or on Sober Catholic but by the time I get home, meh. The stuff remains as semi-legible scibbles on note paper (there’s a nice stack on the coffee table of things to eventually put to digital ink.) For those who may want to point out that over a year ago I consecrated my blogs to the Blessed Virgin Mary and thus I should be posting madly away, just a couple of things: “Nature vs Grace,” and maybe the consecration is working out just fine, measuring it by productivity is incorrect as “productivity” is a Protestant virtue. 😉 But now I can happily blog away. Just whip out my phone, write a draft, edit as the day goes on, and post it upon connectivity. (Oh, great. Another blowhard online using up electrons.)

One thing I enjoy about the WordPress app is that, along with the ability to totally manage and administer multiple blogs (or just one), you can comment on other people’s blogs as long as they are also using WordPress. Either a self-hosted blog using WordPress software or hosted on wordpress.com. This adds a social function to blogs that may serve as a limited means around proprietary social media like Facebook, et al. For those who enjoy using Facebook, etc., to vent, rant, philosophize and pontificate post observations on things, this can be a way to liberate yourself from the possibility of censorship with its accompanying restrictions and problems. Just start a blog. Get your friends and cohorts to do the same. Post your rants observations. Follow each other’s blogs. Comment on each others’ posts using the “Conversations” feature. Let the fun begin.

The mobile app is available in the usual app stores; the desktop version from here.

(Note: this was written on the smartphone app and slightly edited later at home. Possibilities…)

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

November!

November is just a few hours away in my time zone on Earth and it’s my favorite month. Sometimes referred to as the “Month of the Dead” because the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1st) and the Commemoration of the Souls of the Faithful Departed (known also by the shorter name of “All Souls Day” and falling on November 2nd) occur with it; not to mention cultural practices involving dead people by others sharing this globe. It is also a month of devotions for Purgatory.

I just love it. It’s a reminder of our mortality and that we are only here temporarily. Eventually we’ll die and wind up somewhere for Eternity. We are all living “In Exile” here (nice name for a blog. Hmmm.. 🙂 )

It’s also the month my Mom died in 2005. An event that was a tragic part of a series of events alienating me from my blood family. It brought the month into a clear focus for me and spurred me to explore its wonders. It opened up for me the vistas of death and beyond. On death as a passage and the gate through which we pass to our destiny.

Sometimes I yearn for death; not as an escape from Earthly problems but just as a desire to go Home. November helps me to ponder that and be reminded it isn’t time yet (I think) and I have things remaining to do down here.

I just have to do them.

 

 

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Alive for another year!

This blog remains alive for another year. (Seriously? You call this, “Alive?” ONE POST in the past year?!?!?!)

I almost terminated it last year due to inactivity along with no clear idea as to what to do with it. Well, I had some ideas, I just never followed through with them. (Turning it into a newsy, opinion blog was never one of the ideas. Too much noise out there as it is, no one needs to hear more of it from me.) But my hosting provider offered a coupon equal to the domain registration fee, and I took it and as a result whoever reads this got treated to one post about dead squirrels.

This year they did the same, but I waited a few days until I paid for the whole hosting account as well as the domain fees for Sober Catholic and my wife’s site Artist4God. And the coupon disappeared. So. That takes care of that. But then I heard a little voice saying ‘Try Customer Srervice Chat. Ask what happened, and maybe they’ll give it to you.” I did and they did and here this thing is for another year, and perhaps beyond.

Why? Good question.

This has got to be the oldest continuing blog with no sustained, continual purpose. It’s even had several name changes.  Dribs and drabs of direction and points, but….

I was going to download the posts and transfer some to Sober Catholic, perhaps edited, and in looking over a bunch I thought, “Darn, I’m good sometimes!” (Tongue, inserted in cheek. Wink.)  So, I’ll ponder and plan. (Again.)  (Oh, I think I had the idea at one point to turn this into my primary “social media” outlet, rather than use Facebook, et al. Use this and reshare where needed. That’s worth revisiting.

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Thoughts on social media

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about my use of social media (Facebook, etc.). It has come to my sad attention that it distracts me to the point of not getting enough done with regard to my blogging and fiction writing.

I have insufficient discipline. (No freakin’ kiddin’. Ya think?)

Or, even if I have the discipline, (name one day, dude) I do not use it effectively.

For example, I have something interesting to say. (Hey, it happens.) I post it on Facebook or wherever rather than on here or perhaps Sober Catholic. What’s up with that? These blogs cost money, I should use them rather than free platforms. Especially if and when the platforms collapse and become defunct (Remember Friendster or MySpace? At least, their initial versions?) all your stuff disappears into the digital void. And now something called MeWe is making the techie news.

The potential for collapse is an issue on another front. I follow, to the best of my ability, the ideals of Distributism. One of the fundamental principles of that very Catholic economic and social philosophy is that you own the means of production. “Own it or be owned.” The platform on which you share your “content” is a means of production.

I do not own my accounts on the various social media platforms. Someone else does and they use the “content” to make money. Fair enough, that’s the cost of a “free” platform. I do own this blog and Sober Catholic. (Well, actually I rent the domain names and the servers the blogs are hosted on. But essentially it’s the closest thing to ownership, short of building your own web servers and hosting your “content” on your own machines.)

Recently I ran across several chapters in the Imitation of Christ that seemed to be speaking of social media. I know the concept didn’t exist 500 years ago when Thomas a Kempis wrote his masterwork, but as is typical with Catholic inspirational works, it is timeless and applicable everywhere, everytime.

So:

Book 1 Chapter 8 “Do not open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things.”

Book 1 Chapter 10: “Shun the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, beven though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.

Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another’s conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.
Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.

When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.”

Courtesy: Catholic Treasury

There are a few other nice snippets in a few later chapters, as well as Scripture quotes that can be interpreted as cautioning us on the use of social media. Truth be told, any spiritual wisdom or advice on interactions with other people can me attributed to social media usage. (Wow, insightful.) But the simple fact that social media empowers people to share their viewpoints with audiences in the thousands (millions, even if you discover that lucky ‘viral’ quality!) causes me to consider its use.

This post is odd considering that just a little while ago I invited people to Connect with me on MeWe! So I have to include that in my cogitations. Incidentally, the mere fact that I feel the need to share with you my thoughts on this is perhaps part of the poison of social media. Like this is interesting to you. At least I don’t post photos of my breakfast nor share “check-ins” of where I am. 😉

So. What to do what to do how to discipline. Cogitations for my pondermatic. Sundays and Mondays are my days off; I can blog when I am not attending Latin Masses and gardening or going on daytrips with the missus. Posts can be scheduled for later in the week if needed. I can spent worknights writing and maybe dabble in more blogging.

I can try restricting social media for once-in-a while checkins. “No Facebooking or MeWeing until I blog or write!”

😐

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Mass of the Ages

Today I went to a Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (also known as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”) It was a Missa Cantata, or “Sung Mass.”

I had some idea of what to expect; I had gone to one (also a “Missa Cantata”) before, perhaps 15 years ago. I had no clue then as to what was going on. This time I was better informed from prior study.

I loved it, although I still didn’t quite understand everything. My knowledge of Latin is about what you’d expect: my only sources of it are EWTN Masses and Looney Tunes cartoons. 😉

Adding to my lack of adequate comprehension was that much of the Mass is silent; the priest says most of what he says quietly, unlike the Ordinary Form of the Mass (the one you’re used to.) I tried to follow along in a missal the parish had but was largely unsuccessful. I had been advised by numerous people that I should dispense with using a missal for the first few times I attend an EF Mass; I should just “experience it,” to “take it all in” and basically treat it (at first) like a devotional, such as a Holy Hour. Then, once more familiar with the whole event from just observing, find a missal and follow along. So, for the next few times I go I will ignore the missal.

The priest is offering the sacrifice on behalf of the people; we observe and unite our prayers to his. The offering of the Mass is between him and God, we are present but in a less participatory role than in the OF. I may have said this with less than precise terminology. If in error, I will accept charitable correction. But this is what I believe I’ve gleaned from my study and observation. The Mass is a sacrifice, the priest offers it, we observe. The OF Mass has altered this understanding, and I think the manner in which it was done has been detrimental to contemporary Catholicism. The emphasis seems to have shifted from worshiping God to the Mass being some sort of communal celebration about us.

Anyway, it was a transcendental experience; despite my newness to it I sensed that something was different, something otherwordly was taking place. A kind of awesome mystery. I felt completely detached from the outside world, something that rarely ever happens to me at an Ordinary Form Mass. I can just imagine the experience after I am more familiar with it.

This is the “Mass of the Ages,” the Mass the Catholic Church celebrated for centuries prior to Vatican II. I felt somehow connected to those who had celebrated it before… not just ordinary priests and laity, but saints. This is the Mass that St. Maximilian Kolbe offered.

They say that Vatican II created a rupture in the continuity of tradition between the contemporary Church and the one of ages past. I will not comment on that but it is apparent that we lost a lot. Although I will not become bitter, angry and resentful over “what we lost,” for I well know what those emotions can lead to, I will develop a much greater interest in the liturgy and its importance in life. I already have to some great degree taken the liturgy to be something more than something done on Sundays or how you pray. I do live a fairly liturgical life: from taking a keen interest in the liturgical seasons and deriving a personal connection or life application from them to praying the Divine Office. The liturgical year contributes to the ebb and flow of my life, almost like the temporal seasons and their connection to growing things.

I will be attending the Mass in both forms. My wife shows little interest in the EF. That’s all right. I like a good OF Mass said with due and proper attention to the rubrics. (The OF lends itself to abuse.)

I will blog about this more over the coming weeks.

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Connect with me on MeWe!

I won’t bother going into details, but Facebook (perhaps you’ve heard of it) has been getting into trouble recently. Actually, for a number of years there have been controversies about the place. People have been trying to discover and develop alternatives to it for almost as long as there have been issues. Google came close with Google+, but apparently it hasn’t been the “Facebook killer” it was touted to be (and there is reason to think that it wasn’t intended to actually “knock off” Facebook, but the tech press is as believable as any other.)

But now, with recent allegations of privacy and trust breaches, there may be a tide of members emigrating from Facebook to a rival. Enter MeWe, a social network that’s actually been around for about four years, but until now been populated mostly by “early adopters” (techie people who try new things before anyone else) and segments of the population that have been targeted by Facebook for various offensive behaviours (gun enthusiasts, anti-vaccination advocates, and privacy-conscious folks amongst others.)

MeWe touts itself as a “privacy-focused” network, where there are no ads, no tracking and no BS. (I wonder why they don’t like people with Bachelor of Science degrees. Oh, well, to each their own.) In short, they’ve set themselves up as a counter to Facebook. If you’re used to Facebook, it may take a little getting used to the different site navigation, but it is learn-able if you have a little patience and just click on things to see what happens. There are also help Groups for people with questions.

I joined MeWe about three years ago but never really did much with it as I tolerated the recurring issues with Facebook. Besides, everyone I know is on there, and there are a number of Groups that are informative for my interests. My activity came and went, depending upon my attitude.

But what was a trickle of memberships is apparently turning into a gusher. At least based upon the number of my Facebook friends who have made the move. And so I have been spending quite a bit of time these past few days on MeWe, hunting down people I know and exploring Groups.

So, here is your invitation to connect with me on MeWe! Here is the link to my profile on MeWe.

I hope to see you there!

NOTE: This is a slightly edited version of a post on my sobriety and spirituality blog, Sober Catholic

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Happy Birthday, Mom

I had a annual ritual on my defunct blog about the Four Last Things of wishing my Mom a “Happy Birthday.” Today would have been her 102nd. The fact that she led and lived a full life doesn’t minimize her death. (“Well, Paul, she did live a long time.”)

Born January 20, 1916, she married my Dad on April 15, 1937 (before that became Income Tax Day here in the USA) and she passed away November 7, 2005. In between she served the Church in her capacity as a teacher’s aide and later secretary at the parish school. Oh, she also raised 5 kids. I was the fifth. Mom and Dad needed to practice on the first four before they got to having me.

Her death hit me rather hard, despite being expected. “Anticipatory grief” does not prepare you for the real thing. At least, it didn’t do so for me. Being treated like garbage by several members of my family (one in particular) did not help.

As usual, it is a day of melancholy for me. I miss her, but I also am grateful that my Catholic faith tells me that our relationship isn’t dead, just because she is gone from the world. I believe that she is in Heaven. Perhaps she is in Purgatory, but I feel she passed through quickly, as much as the passage of time has any meaning there. As a result, I feel as if I can still connect with her through prayer and the Mass. And I long for the day when we can be reunited. My usual disclaimer, I’m not being morbid or suicidal, I just long for the day when I can go Home.

Over the years I’ve tried to spiritually develop so that my yearnings for Heaven are proper, that is I desire to get to Heaven to be united with God and not just so that I am reunited with my lost loved ones and God just happens to be there, too. That takes God for granted and that Heaven is just a perpetual playground or wonderful endless happy family reunion with Christmas and Easter dinners and picnics all thrown together.

Yearn for the face of the beloved, and all else will fall into place, as well. Trust in God.

NOTE: This post was pieced together from several posts about my Mom’s birthday. Feelings of hurt and melancholy still remain.

Are you a creative Catholic? "The Catholicpunk Manifesto" is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone, perhaps yourself, who might like Catholic devotionals for alcoholics? Please take a look at my books! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)