Just Plain Catholic

Two things:

First, I said when I launched this blog that I wasn’t sure how often I’d post. I do now, and it’s apparently about once ever four months. I was an early adopter of the blogosphere, but it’s been more of a challenge since about–oh, around the time I moved to Green Bay, seven years ago. I’m still working my way through it, but I want to keep the dialogue going. I know I’m starting over (yet again) in terms of building an audience for this, but I had the biggest audience when I wasn’t actually that concerned about how big it was. I just need to get back in the groove of posting daily (more or less). I’ve got three blogs going where I want to stay active (why? Because they’re cheap, and if I’m not constantly multi-tasking, I’ll die; the voices in my head have made that very clear), and I just need to schedule time for blogging every day.

To some extent, I’ve kind of been working through the question (for several years) about what to say and what not say. It’s generally accepted that whatever you put out on The Internets is all of one piece. There’s no private me and public me; there’s just…me. I’ve always made it a point to be circumspect when it comes to things going on behind the scenes at work, my mood on a particular day, etc., both out of respect to my employers and basic common sense. I’ve ended up with a sort of blogging paralysis, since most of the things that happen to me happen either at work or at home, and tend to involve relationship with other people. Common sense predates the Web, so the same rules apply there as everywhere else. They don’t always get applied, but they apply.

A few years ago I made a Facebook comment about the cruel, cold radio biz and how people end up suffering because of corporate decisions, and people assumed I was talking about my workplace (“What’s happening at Relevant Radio? Are you OK?”). I actually wasn’t; I’d seen some close friends and former colleagues lose their jobs due to downsizing. That woke me up to the fact that it’s best to be specific or to be silent; I think there are times a cryptic comment can cause you as much trouble as an inappropriately personal one.

It really comes down to basic common sense; if I don’t say anything in a post or comment that I wouldn’t say on the air (or in person, for that matter), I think I can generally keep myself out of trouble.

See, that wasn’t so hard…

Second, as I’m trying to restart this thing, I’m going to shut down the comments; if you’d like to weigh in, I’d LOVE for you to do that; some see me at the Facebook page for my radio show. We’ve got a nice little community there, and it’s growing every day. Like us(!), post, and enjoy the conversation. It’s Facebook.com/Morningair.RR. The comments here are 99.9% spam; I moderate them, but that usually means I end up reading 100 messages from spambots for every one I see from an actual human being. I prefer the real people. Mostly.

Matthew 25:31-46:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations 15 will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’

And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I think it’s fascinating that the ones Jesus knew–the sheep, who met the physical needs of the poor–didn’t recognize him; and the ones Jesus didn’t know–those who ignored the needs of the poor–thought they knew him, and assumed he’d recognize them.

I’ve just been invited to a screening of this film:.

It’s an inspiring story, has a GREAT cast (Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz, Ellen Burstyn) and , and you really can’t go wrong with adorable nuns in Converse All-Stars. Overall, I’m (cautiously) optimistic. I’ll post a review after I’ve seen it.

Since retiring my former blog, Meet Joe Convert, I’ve experienced some twinges of regret here and there. I had horrendously neglected the blog, but it also meant a lot to me. I started the blog in 2002, after I’d been on the path to the Church for several months. I posted anonymously because I hadn’t told anyone at work and figured it wouldn’t go well when I did (and I was right). I think I really should have shut the blog down at the point I was ready to identify myself publicly as preparing for Confirmation; it would have stood as a chronicle of an important period in my life, and I could have started another one (or…not).

The longer I kept the blog going after that point, the less clear I was about why I was still doing it. There was really a point where that a temporary season in my life had concluded and the next phase had begun; that would have been the best time to retire the Joe Convert blog. Like a naturalized citizen, I’m just as Catholic as the next guy (provided the next guy is Catholic, I guess). Conversion is how I got here, not who I am.

So, here we are. I make no promises or predictions about how consistently I’ll post or how long it will be going, but it’s a place for my brain-stuff when it comes to faith. My tech-related brain-stuff already has a home (www.TechHamster.com); Just Plain Catholic is sort of like the chocolate to Tech Hamster’s peanut butter, and together Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of my interior life. Scary, I know.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis laid out the basics of the faith–the things we should know and must believe in order to be Christians at all. For the purposes of this blog, “Mere Catholicism” is my starting point, and the foundation, my posts. The Church is very clear on what that minimum is (assent to dogma as expressed by the Magesterium, and observance of the precepts of the Church). We’ve even got a user’s manual as Catholics; the Catechism tells you everything you need to know. in other words, I’m going for the simplest and clearest definition–also the most definitive–which is the Church’s own, rather than my (or someone else’s) interpretation of it.

I’m not saying that I’m right–in fact, I’m saying just the opposite. I hope the things I say, both here and on the air, accurately reflect Church teaching. If situations do arise where it’s my word vs. the Church (or anyone’s vs. the Church) when it comes to doctrine or authority, the Church wins. That’s really the point of being Catholic.

Both in terms of my own conversion and that baseline for what makes us Catholic, my focus is on what comes next–in my journey of faith, and yours–with less of an emphasis on how we got here. By the way, I’m not dissing either apologetics or vigorous debate; I’m just saying that that won’t be my focus here.