I imagine all of us blogging heroes believe that our outpourings of information and wise counsel, is having at least a minor impact in changing the world for the better. And I do believe that promoting the social doctrine of the Church is part of the evangelizing mission of the Church. But there is something that we must keep in our hearts as we continue fighting the good fight with our mighty pens (or flashing fingers upon key boards). And I cannot put it better than Pope Benedict XVI- so I will quote him here- and recommend the web site BenedictEveryday.com, where you can sign up for daily bits of Pope Speak delivered to your email address. Here is something to ponder as we prayerfully continue our political activism:
“The power that changes the world and transforms it into the Kingdom of God, in silence and without fanfare, is faith – and prayer is the expression of faith. When faith is filled with love for God, recognized as a good and just Father, prayer becomes persevering, insistent, it becomes a groan of the spirit, a cry of the soul that penetrates God’s Heart. Thus, prayer becomes the greatest transforming power in the world.” [From a recent Papal Homily]
Excellent! I think Benedict has been developing the theme of the priority of the spiritual in his three encyclicals. This is not to deny the need for social action. Merely that spiritual rootedness must preceed any action.
Indeed.
And regardless of the topic of one’s blogging, if one allows it to take a place in one’s life disproportionate to any other hobby, it’s probably a good idea to cut down. Real life beckons.
A welcome reminder to the Catholic blogosphere….
As I have stated many times over the years, I blog solely for amusement. If any good comes of it well and good, but if it ever ceases to be fun I will stop doing it. Having just put in 12 hours at the office and in court, how I wish I could do the same thing regarding the law!
Mr. McClarey,
As “Amuse thyself” is your self-confessed guiding motto of all of your blogging activities, I must apologize for all of my complaints that assumed that truth and Christian charity were your guiding lights.
Now I understand you better, I think.
Wrong as usual Mr. DeFrancisis, but feel free to try again.
I am new to this blog and welcome the possibility of constructive dialog regarding important issues that face our society and help us to continually form our souls so as to be pleasing in the eyes of our heavenly Father who loves all of us and only desires the best for us. I promise that I will always do my best to adhere to “The Code of Conduct” rules and I ask all of you to please remind or reprimand me if I disrespect any of you, my pride often times gets the better of me. From reading the above replies to the words of Pope Benedict regarding how important prayer is to sustain our faith, and how prayer gives our actions true merit, it is easy to see that we have all been given gifts from God(Our Father)that we can use to assist one another on our journeys of on-going spiritual formation. Your brother in Christ, Scott