Kicking Off the Dust

Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. – Matthew 10:14

These are the words Christ spoke to his disciples instructing them to move on when they arrived in a town where people would not accept his words. In the modern world of evangelization we can find ourselves facing these circumstances as well. It is where I find myself today.

If you are reading this you likely know my story. In 2012 I began a self-hosted blog reviewing Catholic books and interviewing the authors of those books. The Catholic Book Blogger was born. Soon after, in 2014, I was invited by Elizabeth Scalia to join the Patheos Catholic channel as a writer. I eagerly accepted and looked forward to exposing a larger audience to the world of quality Catholic books.

Changes at Patheos

Years passed, Elizabeth left, and leadership changed. Recent behavior at Patheos has led me to a crossroads. Though a few solid writers remain, Patheos Catholic these days is not the same gig I signed up for in 2014. Gone are the days of articles on the faith, in its place rather are a stream of politically slanted hit pieces written by a small number of writers with an agenda. Magnifying this is the relatively unrestricted behavior of those authors on social media who have resorted to name calling and essentially belittling anyone with an opposite opinion of theirs. This is small-minded behavior resulting in unimaginative writing.  It certainly is not the mission of Christ nor is it doing anything to build a kingdom other than the self-constructed ones of their own.

Shaking Off The Dust

Thus, effective today I am kicking the dust off my sandals. I am hitching the wagon up to the horses like Pa Ingalls in the Big Woods and I am moving to a better place. My reviews and podcast posts will be available at Catholic Stand. I have been there for some time but my focus will be on a steady stream of two posts per week. My archive of reviews and interviews will be available on my own site at www.catholicbookblogger.com.  Check out the site, I think you’ll like the design. The archives from past years are still being processed and will be completely available in the coming weeks.

Please join me in leaving the noise behind and refocusing more completely on our faith. Your prayers are appreciated as well on this new leg of my journey. I will be contemplating the chaos around us and will be continuing these thoughts in a later article.

Pax Christi!