Ordinary Old Catholic Me

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gcxwb-116a43b

It has been a discouraging two years, and sometimes it feels like trudging through a desert without ever finding the oasis. I find myself murmuring–complaining–about God’s purposes. A priest friend reminds me of the Psalms, which I have hardly ever spent any time with, and they remind me of God’s Modes of Action from the beginning of time, through the Israelites Exodus to our own to the Promised Land.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-vv7yf-1162e42

I suppose this title rather speaks for itself. Here I am doing what is “right” but somehow something is terribly wrong. 

It’s called “All or Nothing”. I ran across this Henrik Ibsen play. I admit, rather ashamed, that I never read anything by Henrik Ibsen, though he wrote very famously, “A Doll’s House” and “Hedda Gabler”. But I found this play while reading about a television show called “The Prisoner” with Patrick McGoohan. It’s all rather convoluted, really, but a fortuitous convolution. I love Patrick McGoohan, the actor. And his way of being in the world, uncompromising, it appears, I found intriguing. Turns out he did the Ibsen play I ran across, called “Brand” on TV back in 1959. It’s about an uncompromising minister/priest who demands of himself and others a very “all or nothing” way of following God.

And it raises all sorts of ideas and complexities for the Ordinary Catholic. Take a listen. You can find it on podbean or pretty much all the platforms, like Amazon and Tune In.

There will be a second part next week.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cujnv-115b55a

It is amazing how sometimes circuitous are the ways that I discover what will become the subject of a podcast on Catholic life. So this week while watching You Tube Videos about “The Prisoner” a TV show back in the 1960s with Patrick McGoohan, I ran across a play by Henrik Ibsen, “Brand” which has intrigued me, and I hope intrigues you.

I kind of forgot about my little domain here on Word Press. They reminded me that my subscription is about to renew. Should I keep it or should I not? I have decided to keep it and hopefully to use it more abundantly in talking about the podcast and things adjacent to it. I hope that someone other than me will see it, henceforth! We shall see.

Podbean.com on which I launched and have managed my podcast about being an ordinary Catholic in a difficult world has sent me a little badge to mark the occasion of my having 1,000 download/listens to Ordinary Old Catholic Me. I can’t complain as I have only been “on the air” since May 2020, and there are an enormous number of podcasts out there on any number of subjects, small and large. I am excited to post this bit of news!

I have the podcast, which I began in May 2020. I have an Instagram page, also called Ordinary Old Catholic Me. But I also wanted a spot where those who listen to the podcast could read the stories behind the podcast, a place to talk a little more about the faith and share that faith with those who are not Catholic and might have an interest in it. This space, like the podcast itself, is a work in progress. There it is–my little studio in a one bedroom condo in Los Angeles. It has become a favorite space because I am getting to do something I really enjoy. I am surrounded by my books, the pictures of people and pets and cluttered by trinkets that give me pleasure in an otherwise difficult modern time. I hope you who have heard the podcast will visit here from time to time as we together journey toward Eternity.