• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

  • Home
  • About
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • IG
  • YouTube
  • Kirtan
  • Tarot
  • Spirit

Catholic

Pilgrims On The Road

Brian K. Noe · August 3, 2023 ·

Several years ago, I first heard about the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. The idea of backpacking 500 miles across Spain to arrive at the burial site of an Apostle caught my imagination, but it was not something that I thought would really be possible for me to undertake. I filed it away as another pleasant thing to dream about.

A few weeks ago, we ran across Stefanie Hurtado’s marvelous documentary of her trek on the Way of St. James. It inspired me to reconsider, and it looks like it may be feasible after all. Claudia and I are still in very early discussions about the possibility, but are thinking we may attempt at least the portion of the pilgrimage from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela some time in 2025.

I’ll be posting more here as we continue to plan. In the meantime, the video above is highly recommended.

Here’s a link to the English version of the official website for the pilgrimage.

https://www.caminodesantiago.gal/en/inicio

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: Camino de Santiago, Catholic, Hiking, Spain, Travel, Walking, Way of St. James, YouTube

Unfaithful to the Gospel

Brian K. Noe · March 26, 2021 ·

Each time I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have gotten to the point where there isn’t much they can do that would surprise me or disappoint me, they find a way to do it.

When obsessions with language and semantics around gender and sexuality causes a group to oppose funding for suicide prevention, prevention of violence against women, and protection for all against discrimination, they have departed from any semblance of being “True to the Gospel” or “pro-life.”

I have to remind myself that the Bishops, although meant to be shepherds of the Church, are not the Church itself. So, it is not accurate to say that “the Catholic Church opposes” equality. Nevertheless, it is troubling to remain in communion with a body which seems to be led by bigots.

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: Bishops, Catholic, Equality, LGBTQIA+, Public Policy, USCCB

Remembering Father Berrigan

Brian K. Noe · May 20, 2016 ·

Bernardine Dohrn writes of her memories of Father Berrigan, from a time when both of them were wanted by the FBI.

Dan Berrigan refused to report to prison, and during his time “underground” he repeatedly appeared publically to conduct church sermons or to give anti-war speeches, further infuriating FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. His was both a playful “underground” and a passionately moral one. He wrote, of the Catonsville action: “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children…”

The Weather Underground responded with a much less eloquent “communiqué” to “Brother Dan,” just after he was arrested in 1970. “We watched you, Dan, on TV when they took you to jail, smiling and with hands raised, handcuffed, giving the sign of peace. You have refused the corruption of your generation.”

I ran across these links today. Rest in power, Father.

The Priest Who Practiced Radical Direct Action: Father Daniel J. Berrigan | Beacon Broadside

Imagining The New Creation | Religious Socialism Blog

Bearing The Cross | Chris Hedges at Truthdig

The photo of Father Berrigan is by Jim Forest.

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: 1960s, Bernardine Dohrn, Catholic, Catholic Worker, Chris Hedges, Civil Disobedience, Dan Berrigan, DSA, Faith, FBI Most Wanted, Religion, Religious Socialism, SDS, Truth to Power, Weather Underground

Christians and Muslims

Brian K. Noe · December 8, 2015 ·

pope-on-muslims

Filed Under: Memes, Quotes Tagged With: Catholic, Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Muslims, Pope Francis

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Pope?

Brian K. Noe · June 29, 2015 ·

Those who profit from what harms the earth have to keep the poor out of sight. They have trouble enough fighting off the scientific, economic, and political arguments against bastioned privilege. Bringing basic morality to the fore could be fatal to them. That is why they are mounting such a public pre-emptive strike against the encyclical before it even appears. They must not only discredit the pope’s words (whatever they turn out to be), they must block them, ridicule them, destroy them.

Read More: Who’s Afraid of Pope Francis? by Garry Wills | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Catholic, Encyclical, Environment, Garry Wills, Laudato si', Pope Francis

Things That Caught My Eye – Week of August 4th, 2014

Brian K. Noe · August 7, 2014 ·

Here are some links to articles that caught my eye this week.

6 Ways Wall Street Is Hosing Chicago Teachers – Matthew Cunningham-Cook unpacks how the country’s biggest investment firms are endangering the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.

We Need to Fight for Equality – William Spriggs reflects on how the Labor Movement and the Civil Rights Movement must be united.

Catholic Social Teaching and Adjunct Faculty Organizing – John Russo writes about Catholic Universities and the Social Teaching of the Church.

Some Facts That Poverty-Deniers Don’t Want to Hear – Three-quarters of conservative Americans think poor people have it easy. Paul Buchheit shows that they don’t.

Imagine If People Were Paid What Their Work Is Really Worth to Society – Professor Reich imagines.

Films that Debunk Corporate Education Reform – A list of must-see videos from Diane Ravitch’s Blog.

Israel/Palestine FAQ – Who are the Palestinians? Who are the Israelis? Is Folk Singer David Rovics a self-hating Jew? Find out in this FAQ.

Do Palestinians Really Exist? – When he was nine years old, Dean Obeidallah finally learned about his father’s people.

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Catholic, Chicago, CTU, David Rovics, Israel, NAACP, Palestine, Poverty, Union

The Center of Hope

Brian K. Noe · April 3, 2014 ·

Awhile back I became familiar with the Catholic Worker movement. A part of their philosophy involves voluntary poverty, and sharing everything in our lives with people in need. The credo is “if you have a coat on your back, and a coat in your closet, one of them belongs to someone else.”

This is a hard teaching for me.

I grew up in a family of modest means. My father died when I was six years old, so I was raised by a single mom who worked part time. Yet we always had adequate housing, decent clothes to wear and I cannot remember ever going to bed hungry. I now suspect that my mother sometimes did without things that she would have liked in order to provide for me, but I never heard her complain about it, and I don’t recall her ever being in any sort of true physical deprivation. I was afforded every opportunity in terms of education, despite our limited resources, and I was not saddled with the crushing student debt which is so common today.

I have lived “from hand to mouth” at many points in my life as an adult, but I have not yet ever experienced the desperation of poverty that afflicts tens of millions in the United States. At the age of 56, I am not wealthy, but I finally enjoy what might be called a “solid middle class” standard of living.

In short, for most of my life I have thought of myself as one who was struggling to get by, not as one living in relative abundance. Like many who share my status, I felt that I was “doing the best I can” to help others by making regular donations to various charities.

At long last it has occurred to me that it’s not truly “the best I can do.”

Yet, it is difficult for me to imagine myself doing as Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin did in establishing Catholic Worker – forsaking even a modest level of comfort to live and serve among the most destitute in our community. There are, of course, many “practical” considerations involved. What about my wife and daughter, who have not been stricken with such a revolutionary conviction? It would be one thing for me to deprive myself, but I’m not sure that it would be just or proper to require such a thing of them.

Perhaps this is all just rationalization. Suffice it to say that I have struggled and pondered these sorts of questions for many months now. There was a particular moment where the weight of guilt came crashing down on me while hearing this story from the Gospel According to Matthew.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

During Advent of 2013, at Reconciliation, I broke down in tears while describing this struggle of conscience to the priest. I left the rite with a determination to do more than simply write checks to charities as a way to meet my Christian obligation to others. I decided to find ways to participate directly in meeting human needs. It may not be all that is required, but it is a start.

I met with Sr. Denise, the Pastoral Associate at our church, who prayed with me and gave me information on several organizations in our community working to reduce the suffering of those in poverty. This morning, I worked for the first time at the Center of Hope, a local food pantry. It was ninety minutes of honest work, pushing a broom, mopping floors, helping to unload a truck from the food bank and breaking down boxes for recycling. I met some very fine people. Some of them have been volunteering at the Center for a decade or more. I hope that one day I will be able to look back on as many years of dedicated service.

This post is not written in a spirit of self-congratulation. To the contrary, I feel deep shame at having squandered so much of my life, turning a deaf ear toward the pleadings of the Gospel and a blind eye toward the needs of others. I am also still terribly troubled about the question of my second (and third, and fourth) coat, and all of the other comforts that I enjoy and do not yet share.

Dorothy Day said “I firmly believe that our salvation depends on the poor.”

This morning, for the first time, that statement gives me hope.

Filed Under: Essays Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day, Faith, Food Insecurity, Justice, Peter Maurin, Poverty, Voluntarism

The Catholic Labor Network

Brian K. Noe · January 9, 2014 ·

I was very happy to run across a resource this morning for Catholic unionists and those who are interested in the Church’s teaching on economic justice. It’s called the Catholic Labor Network.

Here’s the description from their Website.

“The Catholic Labor Network hopes to be a place for those Catholics, lay, religious and clergy,  who are active in their churches and in unions to learn about their Church’s teachings as regards to labor issues, pray for those who are working for economic justice and share  information about events and struggles that may be taking place in their area. For over one hundred years, the Catholic Church has been a voice of support for workers, and a conscience to the body politic when it pondered issues dealing with the distribution of wealth and the condition of workers.”

Here are some links.

The Catholic Labor Network: Home Page

Catholic Labor Network Weblog

Catholic Labor Network on Facebook

Filed Under: Curated Links, Resources Tagged With: Catholic, Social Justice, Union

The Life of Dorothy Day

Brian K. Noe · December 22, 2013 ·

Here’s an introduction to Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement that aired on PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly back in February of 2013.

Transcript is here.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day

Bye Bye Burke

Brian K. Noe · December 17, 2013 ·

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has been bumped from the influential Congregation of Bishops — a post that gave him say in the selection of bishops.

Some observers of the Roman Catholic Church said the move by Pope Francis is yet another example of his effort to tone down highly publicized stances on divisive social issues such as gay marriage, contraception and abortion, on which Burke has made strong remarks.

Burke was the one who stated publicly that he would deny Eucharist to John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election.

Read More: Pope Francis removes former St. Louis Archbishop Burke from Congregation of Bishops : Lifestyles.

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Catholic, Politics, Pope Francis

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

FREE SPEECH PRACTICED HERE
Linking does not necessarily constitute endorsement.

Categories

  • Audio
  • Commentary
  • Curated Links
  • Essays
  • Events
  • Explaining Socialism to Kids
  • General
  • Interviews
  • Lest We Forget
  • Memes
  • Music
  • News
  • Notes From The Field
  • Other Content
  • Pictures
  • Podcasting
  • Poetry
  • Projects
  • Quotes
  • Reports
  • Resources
  • Video
  • What I'm Reading
NWU Logo
Member
National Writers Union

Copyright © 2025 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in