A Lost Shepherd, Michael Ripple

I came across this latest little snippet... A bishop askes the people of God to consider how they use social media and calls for people to resist the temptation to enter into the 'grave matter' of sin: ...Using social media for abuse or to attack the reputations of other people was a direct sin against the Eighth Commandment, forbidding people from “bearing false witness” against their neighbours, he said in a pastoral letter released March 19. “We must exercise discretion, respect others and their privacy and not engage in slander, gossip and rash judgment,” the bishop wrote in the document that was to be distributed in parishes the weekend of March 22-23. I admit that I have, at times, used my other blog--Praylium--in ways that challenged the status quo of the church--both the clergy and laity. Problem was--it did nothing.   The same stuff still happens. Poor liturgies, disgruntled gossipy judgemental laity, premadonna clergy, and perhaps my greatest bug--clericali...

Following is a pretty solid article on Pope Francis and the 'dis obedience' of the clergy.

Ash Wednesday. The older I get, the more time I spend remembering. It was Ash Wednesday when I had lunch at the local club with my Episcopal Bishop.  We both enjoyed our ham and bean soup.  We forgot what day it was and decided that we wouldn't tell anyone. Later that day I took ashes to the streets and distributed them at the local chocolate shop. It was Ash Wednesday a few years back when I found myself in the high desert area of Mexico, outside of San Miguel de Allende at a writers symposium, At 4 in the morning...in a monastery receiving ashes on my forehead. Yesterday I found myself at a local church with my son, nephew, and niece.  Where an old ( and I think bitter) priest spent more energy telling people how to stand. He also commanded us not to respond with any words following being marked with ashes. So I walked up, and a lay person marked my forehead (with what I later realized looked more like a giant question mark) and I responded loudly AMEN. So,...