Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 64
January 15, 2016
Dark Devotional: January 15, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: I am a Jealous Person
Click here for the complete Mass readings for Sunday, January 17, 2016 A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Brothers and sisters, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God [Read More...]
January 14, 2016
When a Doubter Writes a Devotional Book
“We have foolishly conceived you to be a tyrant over human life.” –St Augustine I’ve had a lot of trouble finding a priest who believes in the devil. They usually dismiss my fears of the man with the pitchfork and speak instead of an amorphous evil or darkness at work in the world, if they’ll [Read More...]
January 12, 2016
It Takes All Kinds
With this post, Sick Pilgrim isjoining the conversation on My Badass Book of Saints for the Patheos Book Club. I just finished writing a story about “Green Nuns” and every sister I interviewed made me want to go out and get a composting toilet. These women were inspiring. They were brilliant. They were strong. [Read More...]
Coming Friday to Sick Pilgrim: The Dark Devotional
THE DARK DEVOTIONAL is Sick Pilgrim’s weekly feature onthe Sunday Mass readings, published every Friday. These meditations may provoke, depress, or inspire, depending on where your heart is. But we hope they’ll help us to see a little better in the dark. “I once received a letter from an old lady in California who [Read More...]
Sick Pilgrim: The Catholic Church is a Hot Mess…and I love Her
Two years ago, I was confirmed in the Catholic Church with a group of eighth graders. Having been in Canada on a book project, and unwilling to wait for Easter, I took my vows with a group of awkward kids who barely understood the words they recited. Me, a pastor of twelve years with a [Read More...]
January 11, 2016
The Revenant: Meditations on Redemptive Suffering
*Spoilers ahead* To be honest, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. From what I’d read, it seemed as if The Revenant was just another Western revenge movie, of which there are Legion, including The Hateful Eight, the newest film by Quentin Tarantino. But if it’s a Western, it’s a Western as meditation on redemptive [Read More...]
November 19, 2015
A TREMOR IN THE FORCE – Episode 5 of 5
It’s taken me to episode five of this blog series to finally figure out why I was so disappointed by the Star Wars prequels. Well, I have untied the knots! The hyperdrive has been repaired in the nick of time! I feel the Force flowing through me once again… So, I re-watched the prequels, from [Read More...]
October 15, 2015
Horror: A Natural Genre For Catholics
(Jonathan Ryan posting for Jen Schlameuss-Perry) Having grown up Catholic, gruesome, scary and tragic stories have always been part of my experience. I never thought much of them, they were just always there. And I didn’t mind them because they always had a purpose—they pointed to a loving, compassionate, eternal God who didn’t let the [Read More...]
September 30, 2015
Duped By Davros
Warning: Potential Spoilers (Jonathan Ryan posting for Jen Schlameuss-Perry.) Most of the time, when I’m watching a movie or TV show, I can see right through it. I catch the foreshadowing and can predict what’s coming (and sometimes dialogue—which means that it must be pretty poorly written). I have worked in pastoral ministry for almost [Read More...]
September 9, 2015
Mabel’s Identity Crisis
(Jonathan Ryan posting for Jen Schlameuss-Perry.) Warning: Potential spoilers for folks who don’t get to watch cartoons in a timely fashion (a category in which I would normally be included). Gravity Falls is one of my favorite cartoons currently on TV. This week’s episode, “The Last Mablecorn,” tackled an important issue—morality. While I’m seriously disappointed [Read More...]
