The Best of the Catholic Blogosphere, Both Old and New, for 2015 [in our Opinion]
The following websites were featured in our "Blog of Note" series which began in April. Each blog is faithful to the Magisterium and seeks the fullness of truth by way of promoting the Gospel of Life and the imitation of Christ. Many appear on our blogroll. All will repay frequent, thoughtful visitation.
The World Wide Web boasts thousands of Catholic sites. “Blogs of Note,” is a new monthly series featuring blogs and blog authors who are faithful to the Magisterium and worthy of your time. I am pleased to highlight a new addition to the Catholic blogosphere. Catholic Crossing is an online clearinghouse of information, bringing you the best in Catholic Media. If you are looking for faithful, thoughtful articles of interest to orthodox Catholics, with a focus on theology, the complementarity of faith and reason, and other issues relevant to the life of the Church, visit this site.
June’s blog of note emanates from the mind of noted Catholic blogger Julie Davis. Julie has contemplated Art, Literature, popular culture and all things Catholic on her blog Happy Catholic since 2004. Her other noble ventures (listed at the end of this post), are well worth your time. Her book, Happy Catholic – Glimpses of God in Everyday Life, is a consideration of quotes from The Simpsons to Saint John Paul II, wherein she discerns how everyday people and events reveal God. [Includes interview with blog creator Julie Davis.]
Convert Journal is a treasure trove of information for the curious and the convert. Even lifelong Catholics, well versed in their faith will gain valuable insights from the essays and achieved information contained therein. The site features audio, videos, book reviews, and numerous posts on assorted topics of interest relating to the Church and contemporary society among others. Additionally, Convert Journal hosts New Evangelists Monthly, an informal, dynamic, crowd-sourced “meta-magazine” showcasing the best posts faithful Catholic bloggers publish each month. If you are a blogger who is faithful to the Magisterium, please consider contributing.
Father, Daren J. Zehnle is a priest of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois who serves as the Episcopal Master of Ceremonies and the Associate Director of the Office for Vocations. At the time of this posting, he is studying canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Servant and Steward is his personal web log where he has posted since 2005. I have long admired Father Zehnle's insights into the mind of God. We have published two of his funeral homilies and he has graciously granted us permission to bring you additional Servant and Stewart content in the future.
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Convert Journal is a treasure trove of information for the curious and the convert. Even lifelong Catholics, well versed in their faith will gain valuable insights from the essays and achieved information contained therein. The site features audio, videos, book reviews, and numerous posts on assorted topics of interest relating to the Church and contemporary society among others. Additionally, Convert Journal hosts New Evangelists Monthly, an informal, dynamic, crowd-sourced “meta-magazine” showcasing the best posts faithful Catholic bloggers publish each month. If you are a blogger who is faithful to the Magisterium, please consider contributing.
August's blog of note ceased publication in December 2014. The New Theological Movement emanated from the minds of Father Ryan Erlenbush and a fellow diocesan priest who was the site's webmaster. Despite it's inactive status, The New Theological Movement is a treasure trove of theological thoughts and reflections about Church teachings, Church practices, the mind of Christ, and more. According to the site: "The aim of this blog, first and foremost, is to write for the benefit of the Catholic faithful and clergy. We will try to make the articles neither too academic such that they would belong in a theologically technical publication, nor merely 'popular.'"
September's blog of note is Catholic in My Write Mind — one Catholic writer vs. the post Christian culture. It is the creation of writer, publisher and Catholic apologist, Felix Whelan; who lives with his wife, Carol Ann, daughter, Kate and son, Conner, in rural Missouri alongside twenty or so dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and goats on their one acre farm. Rejecting society's increasingly secular proscriptions; Felix blogs about culture, creativity and all things Catholic. He is the author of the futuristic Christian fiction novel, Children of the Good, in addition to establishing two publishing ventures.
October's blog of note is Catholic Sacristan. Established in 2011, the site is "an oasis of truth, goodness & beauty in the desert of the world wide web." Focusing on the transcendentals of being — each transcending the limitations of time and place, as the objective properties of all that exists, Catholic Sacristan presents the Catholic Church as the fullness of truth. It's mission statement explains the blog's raison d'être:
Why an oasis? An oasis is a pool of refreshing water in an otherwise bleak landscape. The "water" offered here is often drawn from other wells (blogs, websites) that offer safe drinking water.
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We will continue selecting a new Catholic blog of note each month, including interviews with the bloggers behind the blog, beginning in January 2016.
Comments
It is humbling to be included among blogs/writers whose blogs one considers an important part of one's own spiritual and intellectual formation.
God bless.
—The Catholic Sacristan
Lexie
http://www.thegenesisfmeinist.com