One Catholic Deacon's View and Musings on the World
Happy New Year from Steve and Marie Swope. We hope that 2019 will be a wonderful year for you all! This morning we ventured down to the beach just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Amid all of the craziness of the world today, the graceful and dependable rising of the sun brings a sense of peace and perspective. All the best to you for the coming year!
In the undelivered speech he intended to give at the Dallas Trade Mart on November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy wrote, “In a world of complex and continuing problems, in a world full of frustrations and irritations, America’s leadership must be guided by the lights of learning and reason or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain the popular ascendancy with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem.”
We live in a complex and difficult world but we should realize that the world has always been complex and difficult. Historically, when people feel that the challenges that they face in their own generation and lives are becoming insurmountable they tend to look for a cause for their pain, dissatisfaction, hurt or difficulty. They often decide that the cause is some “other person” or group of people and they become susceptible to believing the “simple solutions to every world problem” that those who confuse “rhetoric with reality” put forward. Continue reading ““The Lights of Learning and Reason””
As a Roman Catholic and an ordained Deacon of the Church I am appalled by the enormity of the abuse done to innocent children and young people revealed in the Grand Jury report from Pennsylvania. I am outraged that the Bishops were complicit in this evil by covering up the abuse and allowing it to continue. Certainly these eight dioceses are not the only ones with this abhorrent behavior.
It is clear that the attempt at reforms done in 2002 are not enough. There are still too many men who perpetrated these immoral and criminal actions in active ministry. I addressed this topic in my homily yesterday. It is clear to me that the laity must force reform and take an active role in directing it. The abuse, coverups and lack of transparency cannot and should not be tolerated. My homily is below and on my Homilies and Talks page:
Last evening I gave a talk to the Atlanta Southside Ultreya gathering. I was asked by several members of that group to post my remarks so that others in their group could hear them. The talk can be found here: Southside Ultreya Talk. It was an honor to be asked to address this wonderful group.
This is the talk about #Refugees that I gave on Saturday, June 2, 2018 at the Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress. We all need to advocate on the behalf of those who have no voice!
My homily from Sunday, May 27, 2018 – The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity is now available at:Deacon Steve’s Homilies. Your feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
My wife got this Mothers’ Day card today from our daughter, Jennifer. It expresses what I think are true family dynamics. When our kids were little we used to say to them, “Just do that again and we will sell you to the gypsies.” They knew we were kidding and we didn’t mean it…mostly…sometimes, well…every now and then. Every family has a story like this and it describes the dynamics of a close family. We would have never sold our kids to the gypsies, but the saying became part of our family’s give and take. Truthfully, until this card arrived today we had forgotten we ever said it. Our loving daughter resurrected the saying today and hopefully it will remain part of our family. We can’t wait to see our grandchildren again!!! I wonder what else we used to say to our kids that we have forgotten and if they can find cards for those. YIKES!!!
