Advent - The Sunrise of our Lord

Why I hate Church holidays

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As Christmas approaches, and the multitude of "holiday only" Christians mindfully prepare themselves for church or Mass (by preparing, I sadly mean a new dress, or trip to the barber), I am more saddened by the folly now than when I was an Evangelical (although, even as an atheist I was bothered by the insincerity of it) .

Sure, Protestant and Catholic churches will all have less than pious attendees on the 25th, but sadly only those cradle Catholics going to Mass on Christmas are likely, and possibly unknowingly, endangering their own eternal soul.

^"For anyone who eats and drinks
without recognizing the body of the Lord
eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why many among you are weak and sick,
and a number of you have fallen asleep."
1 Corinthians 11:29-30

This Christmas, like most Sundays, we at Mass will witness a mass sin as many of our brothers and sisters walk down that aisle towards not grace but judgement. Granted, full knowledge is a factor too, but can we play with canonical loopholes when our brethren may be harming themselves?

My wish is that anyone reading this would at least talk in love and truth, to one non-practicing Catholic in the hopes of helping them see the grave nature of what they are about to do. Maybe you have to talk to a sibling or other family member?

Most churches have penance services this week, so maybe invite your friend, and take'em to dinner afterward.

God bless us everyone!
D'art
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PS: This will be D'art and friends in a couple weeks

Perpetual Change Leads to Rest . . .I hope

A good friend recently called me out, so to speak, on my blog silence, so I will give a few words now on what my blog plans are for the upcoming new year.

Last Summer, after an already difficult year, I was misdiagnosed with a less than pleasant condition, the same which took my father only a few months earlier. While they still don't know exactly what is happening to my body, they have, for the time, ruled out the original diagnosis.

Anyhow, it was the straw the broke the camels back of my faith, and along with the ridicules amount of meds I was on, I became rather "numb". Numb to life, numb to God, .... just numb.

Well we don't serve a God who wishes his children to be like that, so with His grace I decided to drop all the meds, and see if a lifestyle change might help a bit.

So, first was moving to a more peaceful environment, hence the pic above of my new house on the Chesapeake Bay. The next would be using this blessing to help others, so I am trying to fix the place up for my Christian brethren to have as a weekend respite from the chaos of city life (and the parish is only a 10 minute walk on the boardwalk away).

That is just a quick update (thanks brother Mike), and I plan to start writing daily after the First.

God bless, and I'll seeya at the beach (all are welcome).
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