Category: Faith
+ Faith
Yom-kippur guide to A.A. Step 9?
by RetsamsGhost
Alcoholics Anonymous Step 9 begins with “Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” If your a Jewish Alcoholic working the steps – Step 9 might not be that unfamiliar to you. Although lifetime prevalence among Jews for alcoholism is lower than those with a Christian background, it still affects 11.1% of Jewish men … Read More Yom-kippur guide to A.A. Step 9?
+ Faith, Pope Francis, Prayer
The Biden Communion debate shows the exhaustion of the U.S. church | America Magazine
by RetsamsGhost
Our brains have become re-wired by years of futile conflict, and there is no obvious way out. We are simply habituated to react, and it would take tremendous energy and time to change, both of which we lack. — Read on http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/21/bishop-us-church-communion-wars-240902 Too tired to write…and this article explains why. Catholicism sees a member of the faith become president and chooses, rather than focus … Read More The Biden Communion debate shows the exhaustion of the U.S. church | America Magazine
+ Abortion, Catholic, Faith, Redemption
Institutional and Personal Failure
by RetsamsGhost
Catholicism today is out of the orphanage business. Catholic Answers does a horrendous job of defining the holy calling of caring for orphans without detailing the horrific failures to protect those in their charge from abuse and unnecessarily death: https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/Orphans-and-Orphanages St. Joseph’s pictured above is renowned for abuse and unnecessary death. It is “estimated more than 5 million Americans passed through orphanages in the … Read More Institutional and Personal Failure
Death Penalty, Divine Law, Universal Reality
by RetsamsGhost
Pursuing the death penalty is currently in vogue for Trump oriented republican GOP. It is one issue among several that is used to promote rallying the base, getting votes, being perceived as tough, and stoking the Fire of class warfare. Never-mind that justice of life in prison is the greater punishment. Never-mind that death penalty cases cost society more in legal resources than letting … Read More Death Penalty, Divine Law, Universal Reality
What makes a Saint?
by RetsamsGhost
Anyone know the name Thomas Rousseau David’s Byles? In my minds eye he deserves human recognition as a saint. The United States Conference of Bishops sets the bar low, at least, post-humorously low: “All Christians are called to be saints. Saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not), who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their life for others, or were martyred for the … Read More What makes a Saint?
+ Catholic, Faith, Prayer, Redemption
God’s answer in the mail?
by RetsamsGhost
My search for living a spiritual life has been hard fought. Not worthy of mention compared to the great biographies of Christian mystics or to the great sinners who eventually had a dramatic conversion experience. Here I am now on my God quest reading Catholic theology, early Christian writers, the lives of the saints and the primary source – holy scripture. Here I am … Read More God’s answer in the mail?
+ Faith, Prayer, Uncategorized
The Sign of The Cross
by RetsamsGhost
“But as for me, it is out of the question that I should boast of anything at all, except of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. . . . After this, let no one trouble me; I carry branded on my body the marks of Jesus.”—GALATIANS 6:14, 17 This … Read More The Sign of The Cross
Tribute to Rush Limbaugh?
by RetsamsGhost
I remember President Trump being unable or unwilling to address gracefully the deaths of political foes or deaths that were inconvenient politically. Others before him did a better job on the national stage. Most of us can take off our fighting gloves when death visits us, even if only for momentary pause, a recognition of a fellow humans light being blown out for the … Read More Tribute to Rush Limbaugh?
USCCB Idiocy
by RetsamsGhost
I penned a letter to The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops just now making the same mistake they made with their penned Inauguration Day letter. If you read the Bishops letter you would immediately note it missed the beauty of the inauguration, the many Catholic aspects and values presented, and its inconsistency with Pope Francis message as well. My error was writing my … Read More USCCB Idiocy
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
by RetsamsGhost
The lines I have highlighted may be different than the ones that catch your eye so I have reposted here without commentary. I cannot imagine anyone not having heard her inauguration poem. Her oration and presentation equaled her writing. She at the young age of 22 was unknown to me, but famous to many as a youth poet Laurette at age 19. Her story … Read More The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Arrows of God
by RetsamsGhost
The recent Washington Capital riot and our national response has sent me to a quiet place to reflect and contemplate where we went wrong. Pursuit of power by any means became evident. “Too often, even in our own Catholic tradition, we have aligned our power with the power of the state, with the power of money, with the power of control, with the power … Read More Arrows of God
Death
by RetsamsGhost
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”― Mark Twain I have a healthy respect for death these days, though unlike Twain, I still retain a certain degree of fear regarding my mortality. How prepared can we be for the dimming of our own … Read More Death
Prayer and Reflection 
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