In the 1970’s, the Carol Burnett Show always closed with her singing these words to her audience. They were sung with heartfelt emotion and yet were such a simple way to sign off:
“I’m so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
Seems we just get started and before…
Until we meet again
I started Pilgrimlog this past summer to record my spiritual journey and to share some thoughts and photos to whoever might be interested. Now, however, I think it’s time for me to step back from this blog indefinitely so that I can serve the Lord in other ways. Of course, time is a big factor in this decision since the job of maintaining this blog was stretching me quite thin. Also, this blog started to become a temptation for pride. For, I confess that I began to crave your attention; your comments, likes, and reblogs fed my ego and left me hungry for more. Therefore, for my practical benefit and spiritual good, I think it is best that we part company, at least for now.
Before I take my leave, I just want to say that it has been a great pleasure to blog alongside you. Thanks to technology and the new media, although we are distances apart, many of our meetings on tumblr have been such memorable and intimate encounters between pilgrims on the same road, journeying to the same destination: our true home.
Although, I haven’t met most of you, I consider you more than friends, for we are brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of Holy Mother Church under the mantle of Mary. Even as I step back from blogging, I am grateful for your continued presence in this brave new world of tumblr, for I am confident that you will rationally answer any question about the faith to all who ask and charitably defend it from all who attack. I know that you will continue to be a voice for the voiceless, a promoter of Beauty, a servant of Truth, and an advocate for Christ. Your courageous witness on tumblr is greatly needed since, as you know, there is much darkness in the world that seeps into and spreads from social networks. You must shine the light of Gospel in this darkness. You must set the world on fire with the love of God.
So long as there is a Catholic on tumblr, pro-choice arguments will be deconstructed, images of the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady will be reblogged, the dignity of marriage will be upheld, videos supporting religious liberty will be spread to the ends of the earth, pictures of Jesus will be made into humorous memes, litanies will be posted in efforts to take back the tag, and the gif of Bl. John Paul the Great pointing and pumping his fist will be used to cheer on Catholics living the faith.
To those who were motivated for some reason to click the Follow button, I offer you a special word of thanks. I appreciate your risk in taking a chance with me; I hope that you found something that interested you.
My last day of regular blogging as Pilgrimlog will be tomorrow, May 1st, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker and the start of Our Lady’s month. However, as I’ve said this isn’t a permanent “goodbye,” but a “so long for now.” God willing, I will probably pop in and out from time to time, and, who knows, maybe one day I will resume regular maintenance of this blog. In the mean time, if you have any questions about Catholicism, what Catholics believe, or why we do what we do, I refer you to the good folks at est33. They are faithful young adult Catholics who either have their Basic or Master Catechist Certification. Also, if you have any questions for me, for this one time only, you can send me a message on tumblr. My message box will be open until the Regina Caeli tomorrow evening, California time.
As a fan of Boy Meets World, I was thinking about what would be my parting words to you as in the iconic Feenian moment at the end of the series finale. However, instead of my thoughts, I will leave you with those of Bl. John Paul the Great that he spoke in his homily for the closing Mass of World Youth Day 1993 in Denver, Colorado.
“At this stage of history, the liberating message of the [Gospel] has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation. Like the great Apostle Paul, you too must feel the full urgency of the task: ‘Woe to me if I do not evangelize’ (1 Cor 9:16)…The Church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals…
Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns, and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern ‘metropolis.’ It is you who must ‘go out into the byroads’ and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people.
The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference. It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give praise to our heavenly Father…
I make my own the words of St. Paul: ‘I have great confidence in you, I have great pride in you; I am filled with encouragement, I am overflowing with joy’. These are not words of empty praise. I am confident that you have grasped the scale of the challenge that lies before you, and that you will have the wisdom and courage to meet that challenge. So much depends on you…”
May God bless you and Our Lady keep you.
A hui hou!
A.M.D.G.
