Almost done….
As I said before, saints’ days, most holy days and special topics (movies, books, gender, TC, synod) are and will be collected elsewhere. These posts are taking it month-by-month. More links at the end of the post.
Reborn…together. Or what Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad can teach the Church (12/1)
And now, in slow, gradual recovery, here we are again. The understanding of how deeply we are made for community bursts forth in the elation about being able to gather again, to be free to celebrate, to see each other face-to-face.
The AMC spot is cynically understanding of all of this, given that the ad exists solely to get us back spending money again.
But look at that text. It addresses the desire to begin again, to start over – even completely. To be reborn! Together! It admits the reality of pain and tells us that in the theater, enveloped by the experience of film, that pain can be transformed and even “feel good.” We are a part of “perfect and powerful” stories.
New life – reborn in community – O happy fault – He spoke to them in parables
Yes, this is what marketing does. But that doesn’t mean that the need the marketing discerns and exploits isn’t real.
The difference between solid and fragile can be difficult to discern, not just in geology, but in the spiritual life. Of course. That’s why discernment is an essential and challenging aspect of spiritual growth. Because it’s not obvious.
I’m seeing a lot of that these days, it seems, as expressed in life online.

Three posts on the (then) proposed renovation plan for Notre-Dame-de-Paris:
Things that might not make sense (12/18)
- The Church must be a listening Church
but…
- No, no, no. Not to you.
Beyond Historical Concerns (12/26)
I thought clericalism was bad (12/28)