tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39222352012-02-16T07:41:38.211-06:00Conjectures of a Bytey Guiltstander. Or, The Spiritual Autobiography of a 21st Century Man.DJnoreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-2000488732003-03-26T09:50:00.000-06:002004-06-09T01:03:18.690-05:00

My understanding of Christianity is that we are to strive for moral perfection while simultaneously understanding that we will never achieve it. The practical outgrowth of this truth is that we are to continually and constantly undergo conversion. Always striving for and achieving a better moral outlook, a more refined practice of the key principles of living a good life. Jesus neatly summed this

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-2000307902003-03-22T20:58:00.000-06:002004-06-09T01:02:13.786-05:00

I can't stress enough to anyone who wonders about the strange practices of Catholicism how utterly sane we are as a religion. I take as case in point the sacrament of penance. If you are a non-Catholic Christian, you probably believe that you can personally, in your own prayer, confess your sins directly to God and be forgiven. While I take no position as to how God feels about this, I guarantee

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-906917502003-03-14T00:11:00.000-06:002003-03-14T00:11:51.943-06:00

I'm trying to make an attempt at having a regular prayer life as part of my lenten discipline. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Hard to figure at first, but very rewarding. I can really use it right now. I'm having a tough time imitating the patience and gentleness of Jesus at work. Taking a break for the office of readings or the daytime prayers is a very good centering exercise. There's

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-904166122003-03-06T12:48:00.000-06:002004-06-09T01:01:28.740-05:00

I just want to make one thing clear. I'm not a good Christian. I don't want anybody going around accusing me of being a good Christian. As soon as that happens, it's like being one of those people with a religious bumpersticker. They invariably cut off atheists in traffic and give God a bad name. So let's be clear about this. I am not a good Christian. Which is not to say that it isn't my goal

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-903766642003-02-25T23:51:00.000-06:002003-02-25T23:51:18.000-06:00

I haven't posted in a while. I don't have much to say right now. It's not like I'm having a spiritual crisis or anything, but, most of the posts I've made previously came from "overflow". You know, when you're really feeling your faith. Lately I'm not feeling my faith. That's not a crisis, it's just a fact. My faith is present. It's not shaken (or stirred). But sometimes you don't feel it. I

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-903330192003-02-17T01:08:00.000-06:002003-02-17T01:08:46.746-06:00

The Eucharist is perfect because it is the perfect metaphor for the one who is truly present in it. It is real, living, yet essentially silent, inscrutable. And, like the gospel message itself, it is brought to us via the work of imperfect humans. It is otherworldly, yet it breaks through the silence of heaven by becoming true human matter. It can't be scientifically verified, but can only be

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-3903189102003-02-13T12:00:00.000-06:002003-02-13T12:00:13.883-06:00

I’ve heard it said that proclaiming some Catholic doctrines “mysteries” is an excuse we use when we can’t justify or explain a doctrine. This argument is used, usually, in a screed denying the doctrine in question. The correct view of course, is that God is, ultimately, unfathomable apart from revelation, so it stands to reason that the truth about him, at least partially, would be beyond human

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-903059952003-02-11T00:28:00.000-06:002003-02-11T01:26:58.000-06:00

There are many issues when you embrace the Church from a background that includes fundamentalism, agnosticism, and not a small amount of narcissim. But it all comes down to the Body and Blood of Christ, doesn't it? The Eucharist is the key difference between Catholicism and any other religion. The outrageous thought that God would gift us with his true presence every time we go to Mass. That

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-902690022003-02-03T00:25:00.000-06:002003-02-03T00:25:03.323-06:00

I have no idea what it means to be a contemplative, though I've read books about it to the point of frustration, but I do know this: one of the advantages of the Latin Liturgy is the opportunity to participate in a more intuitive, as opposed to intellectual manner. In other words, if I hear the English language being spoken, it is reflexive for me to attend to the meaning of the words themselves

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-902407512003-01-27T14:13:00.000-06:002004-06-09T00:58:26.306-05:00

Another factor in my conversion to the Church was the Catholic people I met. I’ve heard stories about parishioners who were either indifferent or downright unwelcoming to potential converts, and even of priests who told people “conversion” was an outmoded concept, and they should go back to their own church. I wonder if I would have been deterred or put off, had this happened to me. I’m afraid it

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-902163932003-01-21T20:00:00.000-06:002003-01-21T20:11:25.000-06:00

Before I was Catholic my politics were strictly Libertarian. Active for a while, merely philosophically after that. My politics were a perfect match for my lack of religious beliefs. Indeed, what other political philosophy can be held by a person (of general good will) who doesn't believe in truth? The libertarian creed of "The initiation of force, except in self defense, is the only political or

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-901713622003-01-11T11:10:00.000-06:002003-01-11T11:10:18.710-06:00

I used to have an inferiority complex when it came to interactions with pure materialist/atheists, because I thought they had the advantage over people who believe in God. Mainly because they had an argument that seemed more logical. We can’t see God, We can’t sense him, if we look about us in the world, we don’t seem to see his influence coming to bear. People of faith, to a materialist/atheist

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-901610152003-01-08T22:33:00.000-06:002003-01-08T22:35:13.000-06:00

Exactly nothing. I read stories about people who gave up family, jobs, and spouses to join the Church. All I gave up was misery and doubt and slavery to my appetites. It was the purest of gifts. I take the most joy in the fact that there isn't one thing I've ever done to deserve this gift.

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-901339982003-01-02T11:48:00.000-06:002003-01-02T11:49:47.000-06:00

DUH..... Yesterday was the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, NOT the feast of the Immaculate Conception. What I was thinking, I just don't know. Mea culpa.

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-901333942003-01-02T09:24:00.000-06:002003-01-02T09:30:18.000-06:00

First, one is struck by the contradiction involved in the protestant interpretation of the 6th chapter of John's gospel. Of all the times a literal translation would be appropriate, here is the most obvious. There is really no other way of reading the chapter except to conclude that Jesus really meant for us to eat his body and drink his blood. Second, the very fact that Jesus seems to be

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-900987562002-12-28T23:13:00.000-06:002002-12-28T23:13:11.393-06:00

One of the things Catholicism did for me was give me back Christmas. It seems that all of the really bad things that happened to me in the last few years before my conversion (and there have been some doozies) happened around Christmas. I began to hate the season intensely. Then, as part of my RCIA, I was introduced to the concept of the liturgical calendar. I had no idea before that there was

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-900674492002-12-18T10:49:00.000-06:002002-12-18T10:50:54.000-06:00

As if the incarnation itself wasn't audacious enough, I mean, the very thought of God himself becoming a man (as someone said once, it's so outrageous it must be true), as if that wasn't enough, he chose a human being to be the means by which he came into the world! God could have accomplished the incarnation differently, of course, but he didn't. He chose a woman to bear his Son. What kind of

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-900498252002-12-13T13:49:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:05:12.000-06:00

The problem with giving your long-held sense of autonomy to the church is that you have to give everything. Reserving to yourself this doctrine or that discipline is like not giving over anything at all. This is why it is so dangerous to one's salvation to be a child of the 20th century. I had my one or two little issues that, like Gollum and the gold ring, I couldn't imagine giving up and

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-900493682002-12-13T11:51:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:06:30.000-06:00

The Church demanded of me a decision, before she would take me in. I don't mean to say there was a ceremony at church where I had to assent to something, or a session in RCIA where I had to sign something. Though those things happened. What I mean is that in my reading and thinking and praying about whether to become one with the Church, it was made plain to me, by God, not by interior locution

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-3900490672002-12-03T12:38:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:06:14.000-06:00

One of the great surprises to me as a new Catholic was the wondrous sacrament of confession. The bane of most protestant converts; it was to me the most liberating thing about the whole process. Once I understood the nature of the Priesthood, and Christ's delegation of the power to bind and loose sins on earth, I realized the sacrament was one of the finest and kindest gifts God has given us.

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-3900490662002-11-24T20:13:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:07:05.000-06:00

When I was in elementary school, I would talk to God while I should have been trying to get to sleep. My conversations were by no means profound, I'm not implying that was a spiritual adept at 10 or anything like that; some kind of mystical prodigy wunderkind. No, quite the opposite. My conversations mostly involved crying out to a God I wasn't sure was there, asking him if he was. Questions,

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-848255482002-11-20T12:20:00.000-06:002004-06-09T00:52:12.483-05:00

While pursuing the historical issue as a preliminary step toward the Church, I had to deal with another issue almost as a foundation to any potential conversion. That was the issue of Truth itself. I had gone for many many years either believing that there was no such thing or just not caring. It is not surprising that I held either of those positions; it was almost mandatory to hold them for

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-847192082002-11-18T13:11:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:10:41.000-06:00

As I read what Catholics had to say about the Catholic faith, as well as non-Catholic sources not tainted by fundamentalist views, I learned that the Bishop of Rome can be traced right back to Peter. I learned that the Apostles did in fact receive authority from Christ to shepherd and rule the Church, and that the office of Apostle was passed down, and even more amazing, I found those last two

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-845423002002-11-14T14:58:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:14:31.000-06:00

“What do you want to be anyway [asked Lax]?” “I don’t know; I guess what I want to be is to be a good Catholic.” Lax replied, “What do you mean you want to be a good Catholic? What you should say is that you want to be a saint.” “How do you expect me to become a saint…I can’t be a saint. I can’t be a saint.” Then Lax said, “all that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-844761432002-11-13T10:01:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:18:22.000-06:00

To my great surprise, after I began to research the possiblity that the Catholic Church was THE CHURCH, I found that every single solitary thing I'd ever thought I knew about the Church was not only factually wrong, but quite often a deliberate deception or careless ignorant assumption. More than surprise, I felt chagrin. I'd been sold a bill of goods about God's true Church by people I trusted

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-844318432002-11-12T13:56:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:17:31.000-06:00

Reasons I became Catholic in 1998 1. The Historical Argument: After leaving the bapto-fundamentalist culture in which I became a Christian, I searched, on and off, for what I believed to be the authentic church. I tried denominations, nondenominations, house churches, informal gatherings, "Bedside Baptist Church", everything. Even some non-Christian beliefs such as Hindu and Buddhism. My

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-841978342002-11-07T18:25:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:20:02.000-06:00

I decided to subtitle this blog “The Spiritual Autobiography of a 21st Century Man” because I have a vision of what the 21st Century Man will be. Having spent most of the 20th as an unwitting materialist logical positivist empiricist skeptic, the 21st Century Man will take a step back, breathe deep, and gaze about him; seeing just exactly where the philosophy of his day has gotten us as a

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-841868212002-11-07T14:07:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:20:51.000-06:00

I had no religious upbringing. I was never taken to a worship service as a child. Not once. I don’t really fault my parents for this, in the sense that I hold some grudge against them for neglecting that part of my life. That was where they found themselves, and they didn’t have anything to give me in the religion department. What they did give me was a sense of values: how to treat other

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-841319642002-11-06T14:12:00.000-06:002002-11-06T14:22:27.000-06:00

I don't plan on making this a chronological memoir, but rather a series of essays based on random memories, thoughts linked to current events, or whatever random association comes up on a given day. blogger.com

DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922235.post-841281122002-11-06T12:41:00.000-06:002002-12-13T14:15:56.000-06:00

"Our nature imposes on us a certain pattern of development which we must follow if we are to fulfill our best capacities and achieve at least the partial happiness of being human. This pattern must be properly understood and it must be worked out in all its essential elements. Otherwise, we fail. But it can be stated very simply, in a single sentence: We must know the truth, and we must love

DJnoreply@blogger.com