Thoughts on religious freedom and inalienable rights
We have survived 2020 and made it into 2021. What a year this has been!
Who would have thought that COVID-19 would alter our lives here, in our country, and throughout the world.Category: Opinion
We’re still divided
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It’s January 7, the morning after the latest installment of “I never thought this could happen here”.
Yesterday, January 6, 2021, gave us images of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., being invaded by violent persons who fought with law enforcement, damaged the parts of the building, and even found time to take selfies as they occupied various legislative parts of the facility.
This was all done while U.S. senators and representatives were doing their thing with the electoral votes from the 2020 Presidential Election and later had to be evacuated for their safety
Because of the conflicts, that work was paused until the late evening hours and into the early morning.
I had a hope that yesterday’s breaking point leading to those images and actions would create an immediacy for unity and calm.
I was wrong.
‘Got a feeling ‘21 is going to be a good year’
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Welcome to the future! If you’ve dragged yourself through A.D. 2020 and just wanted to move onto the next year, congratulations! Here we are! 2021 — the future. This is what we wanted, right?
The way I’m looking at it, one of two things is going to happen as we make our way through “’21”.
Either things are going to be way better, relatively speaking, than they were in 2020, or things are going to reach new levels of 2020-ness, and instead of saying things are “so 2020,” we’ll be saying things are “so 2020s”.
How about that?
We could have an entire decade like the year we just had. Instead of the “Roaring 20s,” we’d have the “Abhorring 20s”?What I want for Christmas
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Dear Santa,
For Christmas, I would like:
A case of Caffeine-Free Pepsi, a package of bacon, an Amazon gift card, and some Babcock Hall cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream.
I’d also like the energy, ambition, and desire to pray more. I want the habit of opening my Bible more and embracing God’s word. I want to make Holy Mass a centerpiece of my life and feel like every time I am going up for Communion that it’s the most important thing I’m doing that day.
I want an increase in discipleship and evangelization. I want Catholics to know and live their faith so well that leading others to Christ is a natural and normal occurrence.
Things are different this year
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Other than the strong few that are holding on to tradition and doing things as they’ve always been, in spite of 2020 doing its 2020 things all around them, I can divide everyone into two groups.
Those who started their Christmas season as early as possible (12:01 a.m. on November 1) and those who haven’t gotten around to their shopping, putting decorations out, getting the tree up, etc., yet all because “it doesn’t feel like Christmas yet.”
And yes, Church-ily speaking, it’s Advent, now, not Christmas.
Letter to the Editor (12-10-2020)
Promoting unity in the Church
Dear Mr. Wondrash, I write to urge you to do what you can as editor of the Catholic Herald to promote unity in the Catholic Church in our diocese.
In recent weeks, when reading the editorial page of the Catholic Herald, I feel accusations coming through the letters people have submitted.
I give Catholics who voted for Trump or for Biden the benefit of the doubt that they did not vote for abortion rights and that they felt they had (grave) reasons consistent with their faith to vote for the presidential candidate they did.
Make a list, check it twice
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We love to make lists. Be they shopping lists, Christmas wish lists, bucket lists, or future vacation lists, we are always making lists.
They help to illustrate and organize thoughts and plans in our minds. They also aid us as reminders. We are less likely to forget something if it’s “on the list”.
‘I’ll pray for you’
A lot of people we know are going through challenges. You know what they are; I’ll spare you a hypothetical list.Letters to the Editor (11-26-2020)
Colorado votes in favor of late-term abortion
One of the most heartbreaking results that has come out of this most recent election comes to us out of Colorado. Some faithful pro-life groups were able to put the question of banning late-term (after 22 weeks in utero) abortion on the ballot, and a majority of voters in Colorado voted in favor of late-term abortion. Let that sink in for a minute.
Do you know what late-term abortion entails? It entails the abortionist injecting the baby’s heart (through the mother’s abdomen) with a chemical that will cause cardiac arrest in the baby. Then, the mother is sent away until her baby is dead. Next, labor is induced. This labor can last for more than one day. The mother will give birth to an intentionally dead baby. There are 100,000 late-term abortions in the United States every year. Let that sink in for another minute. Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!‘What else is going on?’
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There are two major news stories going on right now: the election and the pandemic.
We have even reached a point where we don’t have to be specific about which election and which pandemic we are talking about. All we need is “the”.
Part of the goal of an editorial is to focus on some sort of current event.
So that means more words about the election and the pandemic, right? No, not this time.Letter to the editor (11-19-2020)
Understanding the meaning of ‘pre-eminent’
Editor Kevin Wondrash commented in last week’s editorial, that he received a plethora of letters to the editor from those who do not agree with the use of the word pre-eminent in regards to abortion.
Hopefully the logic in following quote from St. John Paul II can help them understand why abortion is the pre-eminent Catholic concern:
“Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.”