Integrity

So It Has Been A While

I know that it has been a while since I have posted anything on Integrity.

Well, I hate to disappoint, but you will have to wait a bit longer.  I've got much to do between now and when I return from a trip.  But I do plan to restart this blog, in that ever-starting-ever-stopping sort of way that has been its life.  I'll even post again over at Intentional Disciples soon.  (I promise Sherry!)

In the meantime, visit Rethinking Economics.  I know, a post promising posts is not much of anything.  But I will be posting there probably before I post here.

Also, check out Diary of a Disillusioned Voter.  Political season is on us and this blogger captures many of my own sentiments.

Peguy

This next week I am the "host" blogger over at Peguy, a collaborative blog of a number of individuals involved in CL.

My first entry is some reflections on some comments made by Cardinal George at a recent dinner event.  Click here to read the post.

What Are You Doing?

Nah, nothing new yet.  Soon. I promise.  In the meantime, do check out this post over at Clairity's Place on Pope John Paul II's last book, Memory and Identity.  (If you aren't reading Clairity's Place, regularly, you should change that.)

Clairity's On A Roll

Another incredible post over a Clairity's Place, this time reflecting on the Gospel story about Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

"This event of meeting Christ is one that is relived in the Church, moment by moment, everywhere, this unexpected mysterious Encounter initiated by Christ.  We do not at first realize who He is, as He comes upon us, this Stranger who reveals everything to us, the meaning of all our history, before He shows His face again.   . . . When they return to tell this story to the eleven, not only do they bring the message but the Messenger himself, because He appears again there with them and the eleven.  "

Go visit.  Now!

The Pope As St. Christopher

If you have never visited Clairity's Place, go do so now and read this post reflecting on Pope John Paul II as an image of St. Christopher.  I particularly appreciate the comparison as I took Christopher as my confirmation name (although for less then noble reasons at the time). 

A prayer from my prayerbook asking for St. Christopher's intercession:

"St. Christopher, Holy Helper, strong, simple and kind, after your conversion you sought a way to use your talents for the greater glory of God.  Having no gifts for preaching, fasting or prayer, you gave of your strength by carrying travelers across the dangerous currents of a river.  Pray for us that we too might place all our gifts, whatever they might be, at the service of the Kingdom.  Christ-bearer, dedicated to serving the Lord by serving your fellow man, pray that we not fail to show charity to those strangers we meet each day, knowing that hidden within each we may find Christ, the One who created the world.  Amen."

The Communal Aspect Of Being A Christian

(I have hesitated for some time about making this post.  First, I worry about presenting something new within Protestant circles on Integrity.  This is a Catholic blog with a mostly Catholic audience, and I wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression about what I believe or to explore something that I have doubts about and that might lead them away from the Church.  Second, I want to be respectful of the nature of the conversation that these Christians are having.  I think Integrity's readers have shown themselves to be a noble lot, but there's a tendency to worry about that possible one bad apple who follows the links below and makes a complete you-know-what of himself.  Nevertheless, I have decided to take the risks and make the post.)

Faith Is Given Us So That We Communicate It

Amy over at Open Book has a post to one of Fr. Giussani's last talks, which was given (fittingly enough, given Integrity's focus) to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

CL Blog

Very intriguing.  Msgr. Albacete has started a blog to answer questions that arise in the Schools of Community of Community and Liberation in the United States.  For those of you not familiar with CL, the School of Community is the name for the weekly gathering of members and friends of CL to study and grow in the faith.  Msgr. Albacete is something of a "national chaplain" to CL in the United States.  Although Msgr. Alabacete makes clear that he will answer the questions to his own ability and not as an official voice of CL, it is an intriguing use of blog technology and a wonderful way for members of CL communities across the country to share together when being in the same geographic location is not possible.  I'm glad to see a lay movement not afraid to use new technology to further its mission!

Market For Religion?

If you haven't checked out Rethinking Economics, head on over there.  It is a new blog that I am authoring with some other notables from St. Blog's and the blogosphere, focusing on taking a fresh look at economics from a Christian understanding of the nature of the human person.  We are just getting off the ground, so be patient with us.  However, you currently can read the vision for the blog and a new post giving an example of the limits of appling economic reasoning to non-traditional fields, such as religion.