Convert Bloggers

I am almost ashamed to admit my ignorance. While not having been exposed to the internet since birth like my lucky children I have tried to keep pace with the world of technology. Largely, I have had enough success to the extent that I can easily navigate the net to take care of my information gluttony and perform some household tasks. But I must confess that my exposure to the world of blogging has been brief. Allow me to explain.

It was only after having been promoted and being moved to the midnight shift that I had time to explore more of what the internet had to offer. While I am now an “inside cop” and have the benefit of climate control and an office of sorts I had spent the better part of the last twenty years pushing a radio car around the mean streets of suburbia attempting to keep my sanity and maintain the status quo despite the never ending influence that drugs, alcohol and extremely poor parenting decisions have on our little slice of American Society. And though I love to read it is generally bad form to show up for work with a bag of books or stack of periodicals. Thus, when moved to an office and actually being in charge I gained a great deal of latitude in terms of my “down time” and acquired unlimited access to the internet to boot.

But you can only read so many news articles. Even on a busy news cycle the stories become routine and there is very little deviation in the work of reporters, even on different coasts. The exception of course is political coverage, but that will surely be the topic of another post. It was then that I started to explore a bit and cautiously waded in to the vast ocean of over fifty million blogs. But where to begin? After a brief dalliance on matters more mundane I elected to stimulate my aging brain and attempt to broaden my horizons on matters more academic. Thus, my expedition in to the blogsphere where candidly, there is a lot of crapola.

As I have aged I find myself developing a more active faith life. Logic then dictated that I begin my adventure exploring ways to enrich that aspect of my being. Where better to begin than reading blogs by Priests? I was fortunate to first find a reference to arguably the best Priests blog on the planet. WDTPRS.com/blog/ by the amazing Father John Zuhlsdorf. Suffice to say that if you are or aspire to be a serious Roman Catholic this is a daily must read assignment. Following his links I found many incredible blogs and those that I read daily are listed on this page. The interesting thread among them all is that all of the Priest Authors are converts to the faith. In one respect this troubled me in that as a cradle Catholic I could not be an insignificant bump on the derriere of any of these Reverend Fathers. Sound public education aside I find myself often times ill equipped to absorb some of what the good Fathers write about. Could it be that my not too far after Vatican II CCD education has failed me? After all, I could bang a tambourine and keep time with the guitars at 9:00 mass with the best of them. Sad really, but if nothing else these men have demonstrated to me that even if you arrive late to the opera, you can still get a great deal out of the experience if you take time to read the libretto.

The Doctors of the Church have left us a great treasury in their written works. Divine word is at our fingertips in the Holy Bible. God himself has inspired and provided us with Holy Priests. It is up to us; to nurture that spark of faith long lying neglected since the reception of our Sacraments and grow up. I have heard many homilies over the years that made the point that many of us who have been baptized in Faith since infancy have shirked our responsibilities and ignored a gift bestowed directly from God. It is shameful. When Great Aunt Annie gives you another ugly tie for your birthday, you smile politely and graciously accept the hideous adornment if for no other reason than she loves you. Shouldn’t we, inspired by the example of convert in general and these Priest bloggers in particular graciously accept the gift of our Faith from God? If for no other reason, he loves you.