Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 44

Dark Devotional: Baptism in the Crapper

My parish has persevered for over a century, resisting many of the trends that reduced the religious experience from the quest for transcendence to something a little more relevant, a little bit folksy, perhaps even tacky, and tackiness only ceases to be a sin when certain aesthetes critique the religious practices of apparently lesser souls. [Read More...]

Dark Devotional: Joy to the World. Darkness Covers the Earth

My Christmas tree is dead. Wilted and dry, its branches boast a decidedly untrendy combination of melting candy canes and homemade ornaments. I love it still. Happy to be a stubborn Catholic who never takes the tree down before Epiphany, I smile at its deadness each morning over my coffee, let the lights warm [Read More...]

The Wonder Podcast Episode I: Death in the Grand Canyon

We’ve been talking about it for months. But, finally, here it is, the first episode of the Wonder podcast. You can download it on iTunes, Google Play or Podbean. If you like what you hear, please review it on iTunes–it really helps to get the word out–and consider supporting us as a “Friend of [Read More...]

Things Keeping Us Alive – January ’17

Happy New Year, pilgrims. Most people see the beginning of a new year as a time to make resolutions and appreciate the invigoration and freshness that a new calendar year symbolizes. Most people, it seems, don’t understand math. For us at Sick Pilgrim, a new year is nothing more than how marking time works. We’re [Read More...]

A Letter to the Devout Mother’s Son Who Skipped Christmas Mass

This week, I read an article on a Catholic blog about a son’s absence from Christmas Mass and the grief this caused his mother. Even though the article was written for those lamenting family members who have left the practice of religion, I wanted to write a letter to the son and make him not [Read More...]

Dark Devotional: The Wilderness of the Family

I followed the crowd into the building, my eyes adjusting to the multicolored light streaming through the stained-glass windows. The interior space of the large church intentionally fashioned to look like a forest.Large columns carved to give the impression of tree trunks more than building support. Much of the inside lacking all the detail of [Read More...]

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The Dark Side of Christmas: The Murder of Innocents

“They said there’ll be snow at Christmas. They said there’ll be peace on Earth. But instead it just kept on raining. A veil of tears for the virgin birth.” So sings Greg Lake, disaffected by Christmas—and he’s not alone. A seasonso touched by light makes me even more aware of the depth of the darkness [Read More...]

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A Christmas Card to Those Who Go to Church Once A Year, Love Sick Pilgrim

Every year, my local church divides its services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day into two separate services, going on at the same time. One is held in the lavishly decorated church building, celebrated by the normal parish priest – like any other Mass. The other is held in the reception hall next to the [Read More...]

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Dark Devotional: It’s Christmas, Let’s Get Drunk!

One of my earliest childhood memories is my dad getting tipsy from the communion wine on Christmas Eve. Being a Eucharist minister, he was required to help the priest drink the rest of the wine because none of it can go to waste. On one particular Christmas Eve, he had to serve at a few [Read More...]

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We Wish You a Haunted Christmas

It’s that time of year when I don’t know who to be more frustrated with: those who reduceChristmas to commercialism and saccharine songs, or those who allegedly want to put the Christ back in Christmas – by which they usually mean their favoriteidol. If I were feeling uncharitable, I might make some sort of comment [Read More...]

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