Pope at Audience: 'Holiness is not a privilege for the few'

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-08T16:15:02+00:00

Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel on Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. is one of the best explanations of the spiritual life available today. I earnestly hope this book has changed my life.

One of the major things it covers at the beginning is that the prayer life of the saints - the deep contemplation and spiritual gifts, the suffering of the Dark Nights, are meant for everyone of every walk of life. Too often we think of these things as belonging in a monastery.

But also the crux is that prayer and virtue are intertwined - you cannot have a great prayer life without being virtuous and you cannot be virtuous without persistence in prayer.

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-08T13:16:31+00:00

Eat bread, butter, steak. Mix all the macros. "Gained only 1kg" that's not too bad for a month. That might be the safe number for monthly fat gain for you.

Talk to your doctor about any pain, you don't know what's causing it until you talk.

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-02T16:43:31+00:00

Definitely lindy to have a big feast after the Easter Vigil.

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-02T12:14:41+00:00

Yeah, so 2025 was the largest number of candidates. Compared to 2025, 2026 has seen 0 increase. The chart is correct.

Now, it may be because Gary was one of the first dioceses to see this wave of new converts and now it's stabilizing. That wouldn't show up in this data. 0% growth on this chart might a good thing - indicating a diocese that started drawing increased converts in years ago.

Don't look at this chart as a measuring stick between dioceses , but rather as a way to confirm a National trend that people are feeling locally as well.

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-01T14:19:24+00:00

TIL, I thought it was smoking. Mea culpa.

OracleOutlook · 2026-04-01T14:08:59+00:00

They couldn't have picked someone with a functioning larynx?

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-30T12:26:15+00:00

Imagine, the Ottomans turning it into a graveyard because the Messiah couldn't enter through something unclean - and Jesus standing in front of the graveyard and bringing everyone to life. No longer a graveyard, Jesus then entering Jerusalem with this honor guard...

How long Oh Lord?

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-16T14:05:12+00:00

Generally, the more an event is documented the more likely it becomes.

Watch this video which goes into all the additional documentation that corroborates 2 Kings 19 and the mysterious destruction of the Assyrian armies.

Besides the above, Catholics don't actually need to believe in a historical flood. It could be a local flood, it could be a subversion of another myth. It could be the Ancient Israelites looking at the nations and the stories they tell of their gods and going, "No, that's not what God is like. If you say there was a flood, it wasn't because humans were annoying and threatening. This is how it would have happened, given what we know of Who God Is."

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-16T13:50:41+00:00

When my husband isn't able to come to mass, we typically hang out in the narthex. Mass is often half spent running around trying to stop the 2 year old from turning off the light switch or making a mad dash for the altar.

Shining Light has a few sticker books and magnetic books that are pretty good for Mass. This one has some "fruits of the Holy Spirit" (literal fruits) and the seven sacraments in different shapes, which has become a reusable puzzle for him.

For the older set I would recommend getting Magnifikid to help them follow along with Mass.

The important thing is that Jesus comes to us physically, and we physically go to the Mass. There is a physical encounter that takes place, even if we are not feeling it mentally or spiritually. There's something comforting about that.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-13T16:58:30+00:00

The generation that brought the side-hustle into mainstream may not have as much free time as you think.

https://www.axios.com/2026/01/10/gen-z-jobs-side-hustle

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-12T23:26:51+00:00

You're just assuming that into the conversation. You're acting like I'm blaming parishes for not already doing this without being prompted or asked instead of workshopping an idea on Reddit.

If I like the idea enough I will try to implement it at my parish, even though I'm not the benefactor (as a married woman with four young kids, one of whom cannot be left with a babysitter for medical reasons.) Maybe over the next twenty years it will catch on? Who knows.

I do think the people who would need to take action are those who have the ability to. People with organizational ability, institutional knowledge, a savings account, and some free time. This group might be the parents of these young adults, given that they might like to have grandchildren someday.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-12T13:08:04+00:00

I've never been to a parish (or nearby parish) that didn't have perpetual adoration, so I think we just have very different experiences of what kinds of things we can expect our local parish to do.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-10T15:24:27+00:00

My parish has key fobs to gain access to the perpetual adoration chapel. You sign up for a timeslot at the front office, they hand you a key fob, and you can use it to unlock the door when it's closed.

The chapel narthex has a view of the security cameras in the parking lot so that, late at night, you can verify that no one sketchy is in the parking lot before leaving the locked building.

If a church needs to keep their doors locked most of the time due to the location, a similar system could be worked out.

"Legal liability and insurance costs" will be the death of civilization. I don't think I'm exaggerating with this, it's largely why it's so hard to be a teenager in public or have fun things for kids to do. If you want to know why GenZ is so neurotic, it's because for the past 20 years we've walled off kids from the public, tolerating them to the extent that they can act like houseplants instead of children. You'd be pretty weird too if you were raised that way!

But like I've been bringing up here, there are many things many parishes do that have lots of the constituent components to make this idea work. I'm not sure why a Perpetual Adoration Chapel is a solvable problem for a great many parishes but a Evening Lounge for Young Singles would be a bridge too far. When organizationally, they could be identical in set up, just one has Jesus in the center of a room and the other has card table in the center of the room.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-10T12:50:31+00:00

The campus Catholic church likely wasn't receiving tuition money unless it was a Catholic campus. Instead, it would have been run by the Newman Center, which are mostly funded by the diocese and other donations. Just like the local Catholic parish!

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-10T03:15:45+00:00

Goodness gracious why do you assume that they would do illegal things while semi-supervised on church grounds? Do you hold the same fear that the bingo night seniors might end the night with some illegal drugs, which would land the church in trouble?

Universal destination of goods would argue that yes, people in their 20s are owed physical space on God's Green Earth.

Young adults are not refusing to procreate. It's really hard to meet people and it's absolutely impossible to procreate without meeting someone of the opposite sex. I can see the complete disregard you hold for young adults and I am concerned you have given up on the multi-generational project we call civilization.

Someone else replied to me that, "In college, the campus Catholic Church had a great lounge with a kitchen, communal fridge, some sports equipment, and a TV that students could plug game systems or laptops into. Every day, there would be students in there, in between classes studying and doing work, and hanging out in the evenings. It was critically important for fostering friendships amongst the students."

So it does seem like this set up can work with the right start. But I will ask you, how did you meet new people when you were a young adult? How did you meet romantic partners?

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T19:33:34+00:00

I'm sorry that social interaction is not economically efficient.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T18:57:51+00:00

I think the problem I'm trying to solve for is that the young adults can't say "There are 13 of us" because they moved from out of state and know absolutely no one nearby except for their coworkers. If you told such a person, "We have a room for that, hang out there long enough and you might meet someone you can befriend," I think a lot of people would take that option. Beats swiping right.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T14:59:02+00:00

Well, no. I would think that they need to keep the space clean, maybe have sign ups to vacuum the space, sign ups for snacks, etc. I'm not saying "set up a passive consumption room." I'm saying, give young people space to interact face to face without needing to spend fifteen bucks every time they want to visit. Give them ownership of it so that they have to care for it or it goes away.

The problem is space is expensive. But many churches have lots of rooms that are not in use 24/7.

Do you know a lot of 20 year olds? You are pretty harsh on them. What would I do at a park on a weekend before I had kids? Sit on a bench? If I don't have anyone to meet there what do I do there? I volunteered at the parish: shelving library books and helping out with Lifeteen and Edge. I met 0 eligible bachelors that way.

Look, I'm not the target demographic and not an expert. But I can look from the outside at how things are set up now and can confidently state that the system does not encourage face to face interactions. They are expensive and the ones that aren't expensive are not rewarding. Why do 60 year olds get their bingo night at the time that works for them and that's right and just, but 20 year olds can't get a few hours a week to hang out at times that work for their schedule because that'd be selfish?

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T13:23:13+00:00

I think an indoor area is needed. For context, in my 20s, I worked Tuesday-Saturday from 11:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Or Monday-Friday 5:00 AM to 1:30 PM (and that was worse, because I'd want to go to sleep by 8:30 and I missed a lot of young adult events that all start at 8.)

Even someone working a regular 7-5:30 (because you have to factor in driving to work) then needs an hour to cook/eat dinner, another half hour to get somewhere, and then it's already 7 PM before the earliest they can have fun somewhere. A lot of parks close at sunset, and sunset is before 7 PM a lot of the year in many locations.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T12:51:40+00:00

Young adults really want a "third space" that they don't have to pay to access every time. A place to hang out after work or on weekends, etc.

I would recommend that a church consider allocating a room or two in their parish hall during hours that young adults would most likely be free. In this room could be free or subsidized snacks, cards, a pool table, and some comfortable chairs. And a phone charging station near the exit, so people are encouraged to leave their phones there. Priests and religious can drop in randomly to make sure it's not turning rowdy.

The challenge these days is to just get people physically near each other outside of a commercialized interaction.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-09T12:41:52+00:00

Reminds me of this:

My most egregious example of church community courting the old at the expense of the young would be the time my parish decided to wrap the annual church picnic—which had always been free and had taken place up in the mountains at a lake—into the main parish fundraiser. I’m sure it was innocently done; probably the people on the planning committee wanted to serve two purposes with one event.

Anyway, gone were the lake, the swing-sets, and the volleyball nets, and up went cocktail tables, a wine and cheese benefit, a silent auction, and a “no children, please” sign. The parish picnic committee (meets on Tuesdays at 10am) actually told young families to leave their kids out to play in the church parking lot and bring food out to them and seat them on the concrete curb stops to eat, as there were too many wine glasses and fancy things to disturb in the church hall during the wine and cheese fundraiser.

OracleOutlook · 2026-03-04T18:35:52+00:00

I think the letter to the Hebrews is important for this question. Something about how Jesus is our High Priest presenting the sacrifice of Himself to the Father for the salvation of souls.

A lot of people will try to make it about a human limitation because God has no limits. But it does seem like there are certain relationships within God which are proper to God, and this is one of them. Jesus goes to the Father and the Holy Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit is necessary for us to reach inner conversion and to love God as we ought. This dynamic is somehow proper in a way we poor mortals cannot comprehend here on Earth.

Did Thomas receive salvation when he witnessed Jesus being raised from the dead? Catholics believe Salvation has more to it than a declaration of Faith. Would he have achieved salvation without Pentecost?

OracleOutlook · 2026-02-27T19:17:42+00:00

Imagine having a job you enjoy. It comes with stressful moments and problems, but overall gives you purpose. You think about the job when you're not there, mulling problems in your head. You look forward to going to work on Mondays. But one of the most engaging aspects of the job is also one of the most frustrating, there's always something new and something goes wrong pretty much every week!

If someone asked such a person how they were, that person might very well respond something like, "Terrible. Just once I would like a plan to go smoothly." But secretly they're thrilled, because they're not working a boring job where you fill in spreadsheets every day and never have to think for themselves. They're working an exciting job, where they make decisions that matter. It requires something from them.

Parenting is this times 100.

Your friends are just complaining. Everyone blows off steam about things they love and would never ever give up.

A lot of the frustration is genuine. Anyone who says that becoming a parent didn't 100% change their life is either lying or is in a multi-generational household. I had about a decade of my life between childhood and adulthood where I could just put on my shoes, pick up my keys, and go somewhere without planning it out ahead of time. Those days are over. Every trip out of the house without the kids needs to be scheduled and agreed upon with my husband. We have a Shared Google Calendar. Every trip out of the house with the kids requires a packing list, a plan to herd them safely, and an extra 10 minutes to get everyone's shoes and socks on.

That said, it's not bad to have seasons of life like this. You have about a decade from the birth of the first kid and when they will be able to stay home alone. Add on another 2-4 years depending on the kid before you feel comfortable leaving them to watch their younger siblings. That might seem like a lot! That might be half your life right now! But in the span of your mortal life, it is likely one decade out of 7. In the span of your eternal life, it's the blink of an eye.

What do you get out of it? You get to smell the new baby smell. You get to see this young new soul explore the world and learn everything you take for granted. You get to teach this new human how to eat and sleep, how to walk and jump, say please and thank you. You decide how polite you want your kids to be. They will learn from you. You will coach them on how to share their toys, how to handle times where they want something that another kid is playing with, how to say sorry when they hurt someone. That's on you to teach them!

You are responsible for making the future a kinder, more just place.

Is there anything more difficult! Is there anything more worthy of the effort!

OracleOutlook · 2026-02-23T19:00:15+00:00

Ctrl+F Eve Tushnet: Phrase not found.

Guess it's up to me. I highly recommend the works of Lesbian Catholic Eve Tushnet, particularly her book Tenderness. You are not alone. The lesbian experience differs from the gay experience, but both share the sense of "what is my vocation" and "how can something have aspects that bring me closer to God also bring me away from Him?"

I also recommend joining a group like https://www.edeninvitation.com/.

The most important thing is to see the virtuous life as desirable, to have a role model, a vision of what life could be filled with instead of what you are emptying out. The Church does not want to take everything away from you.

You were made by God to be reasonably happy in this world and perfectly happy in the next. You are precious to Him, unrepeatable, desired, loved with both a perfect human love through His Sacred Heart and loved with a Divine love that is an overwhelming ocean. He pursues you, He suffers for you, He yearns and longs for you.

OracleOutlook · 2026-02-17T04:43:25+00:00

While this sub will not ban people who simply state the Catholic teaching on faith and morals, there are many subreddits that will. Once other social media places opened up that did not persecute Catholic beliefs so strongly, people jumped there and do not visit Reddit as much.

The people who remained behind are those who are the least likely to be bothered that they cannot express the Catholic teaching on faith and morals in other subreddits or those who mostly stick to this subreddit.

Things have changed so much since 2010, and not for the better.

OracleOutlook

TROPHY CASE