Καθολικός διάκονος- 2011 review

With the Winter solstice now past and Advent slowly giving way to the light of Christmas, I am feeling a little less dark this morning. It also helps that our gray, cloudy, misty weather was cleared away the night before last by a storm. So, today is bright and sunny, if cold. While we're still more than a week away from starting a new year, I can say that 2011, while it was surely a year during which I experienced God's grace in profound ways, is not a year I am sad to see pass.

Every year I pick a post from each month that stands out for me. I suppose it is a way of self-validating what I attempt do here. I exclude my homilies because I do not write them as blog posts. I also do not choose from those posts, like the lengthy extract from Havel from earlier this week, or from the Friday traditio posts, because both amount to posting something written or created by someone else. It is also a way of drawing the attention of new readers to past content, which in this age of constantly pressing forward, easily becomes lost and forgotten. Though I have never received an overwhelming response, but I certainly invite both of my readers to share their favorite posts from 2011. Of course, in sharing something one is free to chose whatever post(s) s/he may with no restrictions of the kind I impose on my own selections.

January- What we must never lose sight of...

February- Democratic perils in Egypt

March- What is penance and why do it?

April- More on marriage and pastoral care

May- T(w)oo absurd(ists)

June- Witnessing what it means to be a father

July- Marriage as the total gift of self on Καθολικός διάκονος- This, too, is a compilation post, in which I sought to provide links to relevant posts on marriage over the history of my blog, which I did at the request of a reader.

August- Can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a Mormon for president? I think so

September- Baptism of Evan Gabriel

October- Some notes on conservatism and the priority of culture

November- Watching our language

December- Pledging troth, knowing to Whom you belong

Since I remain very ambivalent about blogging, it will be interesting to see how things develop here in 2012. It bears noting that I derive much of my energy from my ambivalence. One thing in the works for next year is participating in an effort that has been brilliantly conceived by a fellow deacon to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, an effort that will run for three years- from the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Council, which falls on 11 October, to the fiftieth anniversary of its ending, 8 December 2015.

This is the 2100th post on Καθολικός διάκονο.