Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 42
February 21, 2017
Why Are We So Afraid of Mercy and Our Own Heretical Little Hearts?
As I sort through the events of the past few months, I’ve tried to figure out what bothers me the most about the Trump presidency and what it’s revealed about Catholics and Christians in America. Every time I think I’ve pinpointed the problem, it vanishes into the air. Sure, I’m bothered by the misogyny, the [Read More...]
February 20, 2017
Things Keeping Us Alive – Feb. ’17
We recently and randomly declared it “Treat Yo Self Day” in the Sick Pilgrim community*. We were encouraged to do a little something extra (“lagniappe,” if you speak Cajun) for ourselves and share a picture of how we went out of our way to treat ourselves. And since Sick Pilgrim isn’t Rich Pilgrim, our treats [Read More...]
February 17, 2017
Dark Devotional- The Stepford Jesus?
The word “perfect” makes me cringe. It conjures images of syrupy-sweet holy card saints, and thin, smiling women with nary a stray (or gray) hair in sight. Perfect is a seed that carries with it the fruits of foreboding and failure, shame and lack. Can anyone ever be perfect enough? Thin enough? Rich enough? Holy [Read More...]
February 15, 2017
Beyonce and the Black Madonna
A few thoughts on Beyonce’s pregnant body: It is breathtakingly beautiful. It is unashamedly sensual. And it is holy. Full stop. No qualifiers. Watching Beyonce’s Grammy performance, I nearly wept. We’ve seen stylized photos of pregnant celebrities before–they’re hardly controversial at this point. But I can’t remember seeing a pregnant woman on stage at a mainstream [Read More...]
February 10, 2017
Destruction As Grace – Dark Devotional
I stared up at the Basilica in hate. I hated them. Every single one of them. I did.Yet more than anything I hated the Church in general. The Catholic Church. I held the Catechism of the Catholic Church deep gripped in my sweaty teenage hand. I stared up at the peak of the tower. It [Read More...]
February 9, 2017
To Bill Nye, Fellow Ataxian
…while Nye dreams of outer space, it’s his own DNA that worries him. “My family has an affliction called ataxia,” he said. “My sister has it real bad. You walk like you’re drunk. And my sister has a walker. That’s how she goes everywhere. And apparently it’s not a strength thing. It has to do [Read More...]
February 6, 2017
Are You a Child of Thunder? Or a Vigilante of Love?
On the first Sunday of the year, my priest printed out slips of paper with saints’ names on them. He told us to choose one out of a basket after mass. Whomever we got, he assured us, would pray for us and be our patron for that year. It seemed like a good [Read More...]
February 2, 2017
The Grand Canyon by Wheelchair
Maybe I missed out on a fundamental aspect of being a Cajun. Maybe my ancestors roll over in their graves when I admit this. I’m not a big fan of Mardi Gras. I can pretend it’s because of a noble reason – that the modern celebration of Mardi Gras has little to do with the [Read More...]
January 30, 2017
Tim Powers: Trying to Say God
*This is the second post in our series of features on the writers, musicians and artists who will be speaking and performing at the Trying to Say God Conference, June 22-24 at the University of Notre Dame. One of the reasons that Catholic literary culture has become, in the words of Kaya Oakes, a “funeral for [Read More...]
January 27, 2017
Dark Devotional: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
5 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the [a]mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, 3 “[b]Blessed are the [c]poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they [Read More...]
