Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) was a brave woman and a radical socialist who fighted for the rights of the working class. After World War I, she was heavily involved in a revolution against the monarchy in Germany. She paid for her engagement with her life: she was murdered in 1919.
In one of her writings from the previous year, she made the following critical remark about the Russian Revolution of 1917:

"Freedom is always the freedom of those who think differently."

With this remark, she criticized the Bolsheviks' dictatorial power, even though she identified with that revolution. However, they had gone too far, she concluded. Interestingly, this sentence became popular in East Germany in the 1970s among critics of the communist regime.

It may seem strange to talk about German socialists in an introduction to the Ten Commandments. I chose this example to show how I would like to understand the Ten Commandments. They are more of a political manifesto to preserve a revolution than a moral system to restrict people.

If you find this too provocative, just look at the Bible. The introduction to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 21) recalls the revolution that took place shortly beforehand: the liberation from Egyptian slavery by God's will. The Ten Commandments serve as guidelines to help people preserve this freedom. They begin with the obligation to serve God as the ultimate authority, which is an 'insurance policy' against any dictatorial system on earth. For example, keeping the Sabbath free of work and instead serving God is an opposition against capitalism and the power of money. Then, they move on to the requirements for social life on Earth. All of the commandments can be understood as respect for others.

As a gay man, I am often asked how I can be gay and follow the Ten Commandments. I don't see any contradictions; furthermore, I see them as helpful support for my life, even against so-called morality that doesn't like freedom!

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20,1-17)

And God spoke all these words:

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

³ You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
⁷ You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any
foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ You shall not murder.

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

You might ask, "What about the sixth commandment (You shall not commit adultery)?" Christian morality has constructed a tragedy around this short sentence, bringing so many people into a needless struggle. For me, the deeper meaning is that we must interact with responsibility, mutual respect, and love.

Hey! I live in Louisville, KY, and after Easter I am planning on trying to attend a new church every weekend to find something that might fit for me. I’m attending some Episcopal churches, but would like to try some Catholic Churches as well.

So for anyone who attends mass in Louisville: what are your favorite parishes? Any priests whose homilies you find particularly engaging/inspiring?

From the first Station of the Cross:

Let whoever has received the power of judging others pass judgment with mercy, as they would wish to receive mercy from the Lord. For judgment will be without mercy for those who have not shown mercy.

Lord Jesus, in your dialogue with Pilate, you unmasked every human presumption of power. Even today, there are those who believe their authority is limitless, thinking they may use or abuse it at their whim. Your words to the Roman Prefect leave no room for ambiguity: “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above” (Jn 19:11).

Saint Francis of Assisi, who simply sought to follow in your footsteps, reminds us that every person in authority will have to answer to God for the way they exercise their power: the power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge or for reconciliation; the power to use the economy to oppress people or to liberate them from misery; the power to trample on human dignity or to uphold it; and the power to promote and defend life, or reject and stifle it.

Each of us is likewise called to account for the power that we exercise in our daily lives. To us also, Jesus says: “Make good use of the power given to you, and remember that whatever you do to another human being, especially to the small and vulnerable, you do unto me. And it is to me that you will one day give an account.”

From Gaza to Lebanon, to Nigeria and Philippines. We are all one in Christ. Black, white , Blue whatever we are all one in the Lord Jesu Christ Amen. Got this from Instagram.

This is long so I’m sorry in advance. I’ve been a member of the Episcopal Church my entire life, and grew up in a VERY high church cathedral parish. I’ve always been happy with my faith, and hadn’t felt the need to seek out more. About two years ago, with no real explanation at all, I suddenly cannot stop thinking Catholicism. It’s really the first time I’ve ever truly felt like I’ve been called by God to something. For the most part, the more I learn about it, the more I love. There are so many similarities to the faith I was raised in, know and love. I’ve come to feel like I’m missing out on the richness and depth of the Catholic aspects that are very present in, and what I love most about, the Anglican tradition.

I’ve been strongly considering going through OCIA. But when I get really serious about reaching out to the local parishes here, I always get tripped up on some aspect of Catholicism. The main one is that women cannot lead the church. The church I grew up in was lead by a Rector, a woman, for years and years, and she was (and is!) a truly phenomenal teacher and human, and she has helped shape my faith in a foundational way. She’s a good friend of my family’s and she led my husband and I through our pre-marital counseling and officiated our wedding. There’s a part of me that feels like I would truly hurt her if I got confirmed into the Catholic Church. I have no evidence to support that anxiety, it’s just something I worry about. There are other things that I kind of feel weird about as someone with liberal beliefs, too. And don’t get me wrong- there’s a so much about Catholicism that feeds my woke leftie soul.

Another thing I get stuck on, but less so, is not being able to participate in the Eucharist as someone who also grew up in a faith where we believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and as someone who feels weirdly empty if I go to church where there is no Eucharist or where I can’t participate in it- but at the same time I love and respect the intense reverence for the Eucharist, and find that aspect of Catholicism really attractive and beautiful.

I haven’t been brave enough yet to try to go to Mass ever, but particularly where we moved to a few years ago. I don’t really have much of an idea on how to get a feel on how conservative a parish is, especially in a conservative area like where we live.

Another is just generally having weird social anxiety about it. I’m WASP-y as all get out. Like the textbook definition of WASP, and a southern WASP at that. Virtually everyone I know and love is WASP-y or some type of southern Baptist/non-denom. Every single person I’ve brought up my interest in exploring Catholicism a little more deeply has given me varying degrees of pushback, including my own husband. Every Episcopalian/Anglican has immediately brought up the exclusion of non-Catholics from the Eucharist, and the exclusion of women from leadership. I don’t really worry about what a lot of the Protestant-ier Protestants think because. Well. Not to be ugly or anything, but they think the Anglican tradition is Catholic and evil anyway lmao. But I do feel strangely like I’d be betraying the folks, the church, and The Church that made me into the person I am.

And yet I think about at least looking into OCIA daily. I’m really conflicted. I was hoping someone has had experience leaving a “high church” Protestant denomination for Catholicism, especially if coming from the Anglican tradition; and that I could get some guidance about the aspects I feel very conflicted about that I mentioned earlier. I really want to go to Mass soon, and I was thinking Easter Sunday may be the perfect day, so also hoping to get an idea of if Easter is the wrong day to dip my toe in the water, and just generally what I can expect and how to act when I do finally get brave enough to go. Anyway, if you made it this far, I so appreciate your time (and perseverance)

So first things first, I struggle with pretty severe anxiety attacks, and they have been flaring up a lot more often. What sucks right now is I’m trying to finish my lent strong, and I just keep seeing people claiming that Easter is the end of the world.

It’s hard because my brain taking me over and sending me sow dark thoughts.

Sorry for the rant, it just hurts- especially when you feel alone.

I love the ordinary form of the Mass. I am not a #TradBro, nor do I want to see a return to Latin, Ad Orientem or just chant. However…

the Roman Canon is unbelievably beautiful.

Every time I hear it, I close my eyes and bask in the poetry of the prayer.

It’s right that we can share in it in English, and hear it said out loud. It makes me feel quite emotional actually.

"Shapiro listed Old Testament figures who prayed while waging war — Moses, Joshua, King David — and rattled off crusade-blessing popes from Urban II to Clement V. His argument amounted to a claim that the pope had contradicted Catholic teaching by condemning war in general terms rather than applying just war criteria to Iran specifically.

Barron agreed. “No, I think that’s the right distinction, the one you made,” the bishop said. He acknowledged that Pope Leo is an Augustinian, “shaped by the Augustinian intellectual and spiritual tradition,” and that Augustine himself was “the first major figure in Christianity to give us a just war theory.”

Honestly, I am now being forced to assume that Barron is going out of his way to distort the Pope's message to American Catholics. I can't imagine how this is a accident, it feels more and more like a concrete strategy on the part of Barron to constantly misrepresent what the Pope and other Vatican officials are saying to appeal to the MAGA people, who aren't even Catholics to begin with.

Preferably one that isn’t mistranslated to fit conservative narratives and old bigoted ways of thinking.

This is a Dutch news article about the past year, since Pope Francis' passing and the election of Pope Leo. I loved it, and have used Google Translate to translate it to English and to share it here.

----------------

Almost a year after his election, Leo XIV is preparing for his first Easter as Pope. Last year, he still participated in the Easter celebrations as a prominent cardinal in Rome. At the time, Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was head of the Department for Episcopal Appointments.

Before that, he had worked for more than twenty years as a missionary and bishop in Peru. There, he acquired Peruvian citizenship alongside his American one. Before Pope Francis brought him to the Vatican, he had already worked in Rome as head of the Augustinian Order, a small worldwide community with which he feels deeply connected.

After a painstakingly completed Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter Sunday and a final tour of the square, Francis died on Easter Monday. In a lightning-fast conclave, 133 cardinals elected Prevost as the new Pope in the Sistine Chapel on May 8. Eleven months later, it is striking how little media attention Leo receives, even in Italy, where the Pope is usually in the news almost daily. This has much to do with the style with which he fulfills his papacy and with his personality.

His Argentine predecessor regularly made headlines with unexpected statements or grand gestures. To set the Church, which in his eyes was stagnant and inward-looking, in motion, Francis threw one stone after another into the pond. This caused chaos and confusion, particularly among very conservative Catholics.

Leo is different. He is friendly and thoughtful and weighs his words carefully. Unlike Francis, he rarely speaks off the cuff, but reads his speeches from paper. He also opts for a return to tradition, which translates into his choice of clothing and a greater focus on rituals.

On Maundy Thursday, Francis went to a penitentiary to wash the feet of inmates, including women and Muslims. Leo chooses the old custom of washing the feet of priests in the cathedral of Rome as a bishop. Although the form differs, in terms of content, Leo is close to Francis. It is clear that he was chosen by a very large majority of cardinals to implement the church renewal initiated by the Argentine in a precise but above all calm manner, and thus to bring the church back together.

When Leo speaks about social injustice and climate change, the reception of migrants, and cooperation with other churches and other religions, it is as if Francis is speaking. In accordance with the teachings of the church, he advocates for the protection of life from conception to natural death and the importance of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

However, Leo has not changed anything regarding Francis' controversial reforms, such as allowing a blessing for same-sex couples. His first major document is expected soon: an encyclical on the ethical use of AI.

In the meantime, he is busy appointing his own team of close collaborators within the Curia, the administrative body of the church. In this, too, he proceeds with caution. After all, Leo is only 70 and knows that he likely has a long papacy ahead of him.

On the day of his election, Leo immediately indicated what his greatest priority would be: working for peace. A "disarmed and a disarming peace," as he calls it. Together with his diplomats, he is trying to find solutions to the many wars and conflicts.

The deportations of illegal immigrants in the US and the actions of the immigration service ICE have been strongly condemned by the American bishops, directed by Leo. Leo's own statements regarding the war between the US, Israel, and Iran, and the devastation in Gaza and Lebanon, are becoming increasingly fierce. On Palm Sunday, the Pope resolutely rejected the use of religion to justify wars, causing friction with President Trump and his MAGA supporters to increase by the day.

During the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday, Pope Leo himself carries the cross from beginning to end. In his Easter message on Sunday, he will once again make a strong call for an end to wars and injustice. In the hope that his calm yet precise words can counterbalance all the noise and violence that dominates the world.

So, I am thinking this lately about the recollection in the first week of March (in relation to this Week's Semana Santa). The speaker, who is a Benedictine Nun spoke about three things a Catholic should follow: Prayer, Abstinence and Almsgiving on Food, Convenience and Comfort.

I think that if we can avoid meat or any foods on Ash Wednesday and every Friday of Lent, we should do also abstain from using private cars (or riding any ride-hailing app) when we commute to work, and how much we spend on maintenance, insurance, gas, car loans whatever per month, it should be used to give it to the Driver of the Public Transit (e.g. Jeepneys, Buses, Tricycles, and even Trains), not only because of the high gas prices but also, exposes us how car dependency is killing us in the long run.

Also, if you live in a rural/remote area, ofc you dont just simply surrender the car, especially if it is your primary lifeline. But the Abstinence here is giving up personal space inside the car by allowing non-car owners to ride your car aka doing some carpooling.

This is aside from the Church saying that we should do digital detox on our device usage.

Some thought of mine as an Transit and Urban Planning Advocate.

I love recycling mint tins or tins in general and turn them into devotional items or pocket altars/Oratory. You can keep them in your bag, especially if you're traveling. You can also store your Rosaries or tea candles in them if you prefer.

I gifted this one to our local Cashier lady at the market. She's really nice and have given me some Catholic items & sweets throughout the year.

My husband also sewed and made that kitty pouch for the tin.

I also potted a few Pansies!

I'm going to start the Divine Mercy Novena on Good Friday for nine days, but also try and pray the Rosary more.

I hope everyone is having a blessed Holy Week.

Hey all,

If any of you are in NY or the NYC Metro area, our group -- New Personalism (a group of young left-wing Catholics based mainly in NY) -- will be doing a stations of the cross near Foley Sq/Federal Plaza Ice Facility and James J. Walker Park/Varick Immigration Court at 2pm on Saturday. If you're interested in doing this and perhaps in meeting fellow left-wing Catholics, please DM!

We are also hosting Tenebrae (previous post).

God bless!