Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
I am tardy in offering congratulations on this venue to my friend, Fr. Bryan Dolejsi, for his appointment as Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Seattle. This is apparently the first time in over 20 years that a priest has been appointed to this position. When I met Fr. Dolejsi, he was brand new out of the box; he had […]
» Read moreOn July 20, 1969, man first set foot upon the Moon. On July 20, 2011, the last flight of the last Space Shuttle is heading to a close. Perhaps appropriately, the (hopefully temporary) ending of the US manned space flight was aboard Shuttle Atlantis. It certainly gave me a sinking feeling. But the project that took us to the Moon […]
» Read moreIf I had to guess, I’d say you’ve never heard of Rev. John Corapi, SOLT. I first saw Fr. Corapi on EWTN, preaching a series of TV programs on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He is a dynamic speaker and a gifted teacher. His talks helped me to understand some of the more impenetrable language and dense wording of […]
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Enter RUMOUR, painted full of tongues. (Henry IV, Pt. II) It appears that due to Fr. Sacco’s continuing ill health, we will have an interim pastor at our parish of Saint Rita. Here is what I’ve been able to cobble together from various Internet sources about the man who will shepherd us starting Friday, 1 July (the Solemnity of the Most […]
» Read moreIn the past week, I’ve learned of Mister Harold Camping, president of the Protestant Family Radio, and his prediction that the Rapture will occur on May 21st of this year. That’s today. Didn’t happen. There are two pretty compelling reasons why it didn’t happen. The first is this: the theologicalculus Camping uses is just plain silly. Jimmy Akin does a […]
» Read moreSome meandering thoughts on the day. Today is several days rolled up into one. It’s the Second Sunday of Easter, with its readings of “doubting” Thomas. Blessed Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received […]
» Read moreAs part of my Lenten reading, I have been devouring Pope Benedict’s book Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection. This passage on the atonement appears on page 232: Again and again people say: It must be a cruel God who demands infinite atonement. Is this not a notion unworthy of God? …[I]t becomes […]
» Read moreRecently I found an app that allows me to run WordPerfect (may it rest in peace) on my MacBook. This opened up a whole world of previously unreachable writings that I had doggedly saved, even though I had no way of opening up the files and actually reading the contents. Until now. The following is an essay I wrote back […]
» Read moreI‘m still processing these past days, but here are some initial impressions. A Time of Thanksgiving From the first of July until the end of November I was unemployed. I’d had a few interviews, but nothing all that promising. When I was called in for a second round of interviews at a major law firm in Seattle, it was an […]
» Read moreFrom the Vatican Information Service: Dear Cardinals,Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,Members and Consultors of the Vox Clara Committee, I thank you for the work that Vox Clara has done over the last eight years, assisting and advising the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in fulfilling its responsibilities with regard to the English translations of liturgical […]
» Read moreToday I resolve to listen to the Ninth Symphony, and probably the Third as well. You should too! Yesterday evening I attended our parish Advent Reconciliation Service. I arrived late, having had to walk up the hill from downtown, and of course I ended up dead last in the longest line for confession. It gave me some additional time to […]
» Read moreToday at Mass, two odd things happened. First, I should mention for those not Catholic that today’s second reading at Mass was from the Epistle of Saint James, specifically 2:14-18. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has […]
» Read moreI‘ve always liked Penn Gillette. He’s an intelligent and thoughtful guy, and (dare I say it?) a gentleman in an age where that is increasingly rare. Mr. Gillette is, of course, an avowed Atheist. I think that makes this particular call to arms even more insistent: “How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is […]
» Read moreIt has been some time since I’ve posted here, and longer still since I’ve posted regularly. For this, I deeply apologise to you, my one loyal reader. My only excuse is this: it has been a trying time, and I’ve been working long hours. In the past few months, I’ve spent weeks at a time out of state. I’ve been […]
» Read moreFor all the words of encouragement and well-wishes and most of all the prayers, thank you. I start Monday. Full medical/dental/vision/401k. Good pay. Bonus program. In a room with three other writers. Ground-up company that has enormous financial backing, impatient customers, and enough backed-up work to keep us in kippers through June. Thank you. Deo gratias.
» Read moreWell that went surprisingly well. We chatted about 45 minutes, and he ended by asking about my availability. Considering what his time’s worth, I think he’s already out several grand on me. Sue the receptionist told me that these things rarely take more than fifteen minutes. The really bad ones don’t last fifteen seconds. He’s apparently leaving for Belgium tomorrow, […]
» Read moreI‘ve got an interview this afternoon in downtown Seattle. The job is scriptwriting for GPS-tagged video for cross-country luxury tour buses. Crazy job. Fair pay.
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