Refreshed, Am I

Reading is good as it refreshes my mind, builds my intellect, and gives me more confidence in my faith. Reading good things is key. Catholic authors come in many different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs that make choosing Catholic material rather challenging to say the least. Finding out who to even ask can be daunting as well. So where does one go for guidance? For the past year and a half I have been attending a classroom of sorts that has vast information and experience in the right direction, the Catholic blogsphere. I found out about this community, well, I don’t even remember how I got into this place, but here I am. Wading through the hundreds and thousands of blogs, websites, and online journals takes hours per day per week, turning into months and years! Well, that’s ok, the Catholic Church is as vast and daunting considering the Vatican library and all the writings, documentation, and 2000 years + history stashed away within it’s walls. So the blog world is a tribute to the Bride of Christ and all her treasures. It is a safe haven for weary travelers through the muck and junk of the secular world.

The Catholic bloggers are here because they have something to say, learn, or teach. We love this faith vehicle Christ gave us and continue to strive to know her as we climb her pillars to eternity. I am one of them, hence the name of my blog. So, when I joined the ranks of the Catholic blogsphere, I introduced my intensions in my first post and from there to present I have strived to continue down the path paved. Not to mention that during this time, life continued to occur in the Pillar household with liturgical seasons, holidays, carnivals, death, schooling, depression, arguments, and famial strife, online theology courses, summertime, and celebrations to blog about, but always through my Catholic worldview, I think.

A recent course that I took in my journey to becoming a Master Catechist is Evangelization and Discipleship, in the course book, Catholic Evangelization, the heart of ministry, by Fr. Robert J. Hater, PhD. He discusses that

“God is disclosed to human (for example, through nature, or people)… and that the Catechism says, “our knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error” (CCC#286). No exact answers exist to problems such as evil, suffering, and death, or the mysteries of the world’s origins, human destiny, and eternal life. From nature, the best answers we have are still only a hint or suggestion.”

Voila! Catholic bloggers are part of this nature that God is revealed to us through. How many times has someone written from their heart about a part of their faith and communications with God that touched me and inspired me to continue my journey. In my little corner of the world, I am an island as I yearn and thrive on Catholic literature, encyclicals, Apostolic letters and theology courses from afar. There is not one other person nearby that I can equally share my desires, roadblocks, and epiphanies, so where I go is to the computer, turn it on and find someone who understands there.

So, I am different today, refreshed, smarter, and a little more confident in my quest as an evangelist. All because I joined the blogging world of Catholics and found a community that I can call home.