Vatican Again Papers Over Real Priorities

A great (and brief) article by Eugene Kennedy, in the National Catholic Reporter, on Rome's mixed-up priorities and retreat into medieval ways.

Benedict's Vatican is again engaging in a legalistic approach to grace.  Sadly, that's pretty darn appropriate, since its approach to just about everything else also seems legalistic.

Someday, we may once again find ourselves with a pope who truly embraces Vatican II, rather than runs away from it.  Someday, we may have a pope who--like John XXIII--opens the windows of the church and allows the church to thrive with the fresh air, rather than recycling practices that were wisely put on the shelf.  There is much hope for the Church.  The Holy Spirit is not finished with it yet.

Progressive Christian Blogs I'm Following

This post is substituting for a legit blog roll, which I can't seem to do with my old-fashioned template (one that I kind of like, actually) here in Blogger.  Of course, this post will get lost in the mix, I guess, as I add new posts, but here are some blogs I like.  These are blogs that offer a nice counterpoint to the gazillion arch-conservative blogs that are out there (especially in the Catholic portion of the blogosphere).  Many of these blogs also provide laughs alongside meaningful reflections, and, most of all, hope for the future.  (Not everybody is running away from Vatican II, thankfully.)

• Ad Dominum
• Pray Tell: Worship, Wit, and Wisdom
• Jesus Needs New PR
• Daily Episcopalian

I imagine I'll add more as I stumble across them, and maybe I'll re-post this post if it eventually gets lost in the mix.  In the meantime, though, I'm just happy to have come across these progressive Christian sites.