Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 41
March 16, 2017
Introducing Brian Jocks, Sick Pilgrim’s Illustrator
Louisiana artist Brian Jocks will be contributing original illustrations to the Dark Devotional, Sick Pilgrim’s weekly meditations on the Mass readings. Sick Pilgrim (“a decidedly dark and offbeat, yet stubbornly hopeful blog founded by misfit Catholic writers”) is meant to be a platform for artists. As a blog, most of the artists we’ve gathered are [Read More...]
March 15, 2017
That Old Catholic Magic: Jacob Popcak Explains St. Patrick’s Day to Sick Pilgrim
We invited some Sick Pilgrims over to talk about one of our favorite saints, St Patrick, in honor of his feast day this Friday, March 17. And then Jacob Popcak took us all to school. First things first. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. Jacob Popcak: Patrick was a slave of the Irish, who escaped, became a priest, and came [Read More...]
March 11, 2017
That viral video of the interrupted professor? I don’t think it’s funny.
It crowded my newsfeed on Friday, accompanied by many “LOLs” and my favorite “laughing to the point of tears” emoji. Robert E. Kelly, a political science professor based in South Korea, was being interviewed live on BBC from his home office when his toddler opened the door and bounded in, followed by a baby sibling [Read More...]
March 10, 2017
Dark Devotional: A Hazy Christ Unveiled
He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light [Read More...]
March 8, 2017
Road Trip Homilies: Wounded Knee and the Snake Givers
As I walked along a sandy path in Badlands National Park, I noticed a sign warning me to “Beware of Rattlesnakes.” The wind stinging my cheeks reminded that even if the snakes decided to brave the cold, they’d be sluggish and unlikely to bite. Still, as I walked, I listened for the tell tale “rattttttttttetattatt” [Read More...]
Blog of the Year
When I told my fellow pilgrims that we’d received an award for faith-based blog of the year, our associate editor Matt Lafleur responded, “Does this mean we’re….winners?” Good question. Jonathan Ryan and I created this blog for the margins, the narrow audience not being served (or published) by Christian presses and magazines — those of [Read More...]
It Didn’t Count: Sexual Assault and Virginity
“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.” 1 Timothy 3:2 “Deacons must be husbands of only one wife.” 1 Timothy 3:12 When I was 17 years old, I was sexually assaulted by a classmate. It was my first sexual experience, and it changed [Read More...]
March 2, 2017
Dark Devotional: How Do I Get to the Desert?
I learned I had no discipline or willpower at age nine when my fourth grade religion teacher had us write down in our composition notebooks what we would be giving up for Lent. That was a real head-scratcher; any child would’ve had a hard time having a “vice” in my household. My brother and I [Read More...]
February 27, 2017
Interview with Two Disabled Dudes
Tuesday, February 28, is the day Mardi Gras is celebrated this year. The day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent has been an annual party for many Catholics, especially the Cajuns. This year Mardi Gras also falls on Rare Disease Day. To find out more about this, I talked to two disabled dudes. [Read More...]
February 23, 2017
Dark Devotional: No Shoes, No Service
“‘Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the [Read More...]
