Association Of Catholic Bloggers

On his way back from World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis said that folks who aren't perfect can be Catholics. Since he was a tad more specific in how he expressed the idea, we got headlines like this: "Pope Francis restates Catholic Church is for everyone, including LGBTQ+ people" (ABC News). This week I'm taking a quick look at the news, and a longer look at why I'm okay with being Catholic. Pope Francis and the News Being Catholic — Two Millennia of Wildly Improbable Survival Definitions — Acting Like it Matters Happiness, Lust, Sin and Making Sense Wheat, Weeds, and What Pope Francis Said Not 'Just Us' Sodom, Gomorrah, and Lot's Guests — or — Evil is Not Nice Responsibility More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Pope Francis: the Catholic Church is for everyone, including LGBT. A quick look at news, a longer look at why acting like I am Catholic makes sense.)

(From Farragutful, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.) (Interior of St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Florida.) One thing's certain. Well, actually, quite a few things are certain. Something that's certain about Saint Jude the Apostle is that he's not Judas Iscariot. Which may take some explaining. Then again, maybe not. In any case, "Jude" and "Judas" look like two different names in English translations of the Bible. But they're two ways of transliterating the same name, יְהוּדָה, Y'hudah, into my language's version of the Latin alphabet.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Jude, Saints, a letter, dead emperors and how Nero handled a public relations problem. Plus Elizabethan playwrights, chorizo and making sense.)

The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has learned that more than half of all Americans think evolution is real. Seems that 2016 was the tipping point. That's when my country, on average, decided to step into the late 19th century. Or stopped listening to Bible-thumpers. Or started learning about science. At any rate: More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Yesterday's headlines oozed acrimony, animosity and anger. So do today's. It could be worse. I could have been reading about a replay of Oxford's St. Scholastica Day riot. I'll get back to that.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I'm a Christian. I take my faith seriously. That's why I think part of my job is evangelizing. Which doesn't necessarily mean I'm an evangelist. For some folks, an evangelist is someone like Saints Mark , Luke and John . "The Evangelist" often gets added to their name. Saint Matthew is an evangelist, too. So are Saints like Augustine of Hippo , Francis of Assisi , Francis Xavier and Thérèse of Lisieux . 1 "Evangelist" has quite a few meanings. Merriam-Webster says it's a Protestant minister or someone who enthusiastically advocates something. Oxforddictionaries.com adds "...the writer of one of the four Gospels...." I don't know about the 'enthusiastic' part, but I think sharing what I believe is a good idea. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The "most disturbing image" gag in Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur comic depends on a fairly common misunderstanding of Catholic belief. The important word in that sentence is misunderstanding. Papal infallibility doesn't mean that. I'm none too pleased that Catholic beliefs are misunderstood by non-Catholics: and by some Catholics. But I can't fault a cartoonist for poking fun at cultural quirks I see as silly. Not reasonably. Besides, strips featuring the Church of Danae's "so-called holy scriptures" have given me pretty good illustrations of what I don't believe.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I like being an American, most of the time. I know that my country is far from perfect, but I'd rather be here than anywhere else on Earth. Living in Sauk Centre, a smallish central Minnesota town, probably helps. I really like it here. But it's no Brigadoon , unchanged and unaffected by the outside world.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I’ve been writing, furiously, for April. I am participating in the A to Z challenge , writing through the alphabet entire in Catholic, with a twist, of course. About a month or so ago, I created an editorial calendar with ideas for each letter that I could research and write about. The twist, is that I also want to provide a reflection from my point of view, that could be slightly different for the myriad of readers and bloggers participating (over 1,500). This is pretty daunting. How can you keep anyone’s attention for longer than a paragraph? How do you do it if the reader is wholly uninterested in organized religion, let alone Christianity and specifically, Catholicism. That’s my hook. That’s my twist. What does that mean? It means everything. It’s what being Catholic, for me, means. Kata- according to, holos- the whole.  According to the whole . It’s not, as  Eddie Izzard  (whom I do love, by the way) defines in his stand up: “Catholicism, we believed in the teac...

I hear so many people say, "Well, if you aren't getting fed at your parish - find another one." or they say, "If your priest distorts the Mass and the sacraments, then go somewhere else." I don't agree with this. If your priest is distorting the Holy Mass or the sacraments, do find a valid mass so that you can be fed, but make sure you come back to the parish where things may not just be "right" and do much prayer and penance for that Priest.  Do not abandon him.  He is precious to God, and what a great gift is given to God if he is turned back from the darkness! For at his hands how many more are touched and if he is obedient to the M agisterium, his obedience will beget good, faithful Catholics.  Pray many Rosaries for him, do penance for him, fast for him, ask God to put it in his heart to take up his Rosary again, for the Holy Rosary demolishes all heresies.   Once I went to Holy Mass (I won't say where) and the Priest was totally de...