Looking for Roman Catholics in space
November 5th, 2005 by Bill
I’ve been spiritually bereft in recent years. But lately I’ve see Neil posting about a number of things Jewish. And that got me thinking, “Maybe I should convert?”
But before making such a leap I thought it best to take a quick gander at my Roman Catholic roots. Rather than converting to Judaism, perhaps I should rekindle the faith of my mother’s Irish Catholic side of the family?
It’s a good thing I did. I might have become a Jew without ever knowing how much more hip the Roman Catholics are getting now. They’re exploring the big issues and making the big changes. For instance, I found this: Do space aliens have souls? Inquiring minds can check Jesuit’s book.
Apparently, there’s a booklet that answers questions, such as “Would the church send missionaries to spread the Gospel to aliens? Could aliens even be baptized?”
Catholics are even giving some thought to providing the Internet with its own saint: Saint Isidore of Seville Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis: Proposed Patron Saint of Internet Users. (This link even provides, “A Prayer before Logging onto the Internet.” My favourite part of the prayer is the request for the wisdom to, “…treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.” Yes, we could all use some of that.)
Admittedly, my “spiritual search” is a bit shallow. I’m primarily attracted to Judaism and Roman Catholicism for their literary and comedic qualities. It seems all the best writers and funny people are either Jewish or Irish Catholics. Yes, it’s cultural stereotyping. But I like funny. And I like people who can write well. So I guess my favourite literary character would have to be Leopold Bloom (in Joyce’s “Ulysses”), an Irish Jew wandering around Dublin, created by an Irish Catholic writer (well, an ex-Catholic).
So how did I get on to that? I seem to have gone off on a tangent. How’d I go from baptizing aliens to James Joyce?
The ways of the Internet are indeed mysterious.
Tag: Saint Isidore, Roman Catholic, Leopold Bloom, Internet prayer, How to become an idiot
“I might have become a Jew without ever knowing how much more hip the Roman Catholics are getting now.”
Heh … think of the slogan:
Catholicism: we put the hip in worship.
I definitely recommend looking deeper into your Catholic heritage. The more I looked into it, the more I found to love about it.
Every one of my posts is a tangent. I envy that you can stay so on topic.
by your standards, i am sure glad i am irish catholic. i’m funny!
(hee hee. jk.)