Miscellaneous Rambling
A few more worthwhile pieces regarding the priest/bishop abuses. First: A lengthy open letter by Ralph Martin. He pretty much says directly what I think needs to be said: The Church has a huge homosexual problem and it's currently headed by a Pope who would rather gnaw off his harm than say anything that might hurt the feelings of homosexuals. And we think something is going to get done? Well, yes, because we believe in Providence and that He will somehow bring good out of all this. That's good enough for me.
The second is an op-ed by former Catholic Rod Dreher. He basically says, "Yup, it's bad, and it's probably going to get a lot worse." He even quotes the 1969 Joseph Ratzinger, who apparently predicted that the Church was entering into one of the worse eras of its history. Rod's advice: The Benedict Option. Basically, make monasteries out of your homes and hearts. I've never found Rod's advice in this regard inspiring, probably because I think I've lived my entire Catholic adult life like that, largely because I had unsettling experiences with the American Catholic Church early after my conversion, leaving me with no illusions about what to expect. I've never counted on the Church to do anything for me, except give me the sacraments, and I always considered myself solely responsible for my kids' religious instruction, even if I welcomed the assistance of their good parochial school in this regard.
I will probably lead with more commentary about the Dreher piece in this week's podcast.
Ah, yes, the podcast: I've launched it. It's called "The Weekly Eudemon." I believe it is now on all the major podcast platforms: iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, etc. Here's the link to the Spotify platform. You can find others by typing (use the quote marks) "The Weekly Eudemon." If you search The Weekly Eudemon in iTunes, it will come up. It is a work in process. To be honest, I don't like it and think it could be a lot of better, but the handful of people who have listened to it have given me very positive feedback, so I've decided to run with it. Enjoy.
