To know someone from nothing but a weblog still seems a highly dubious idea to me. Even the title of the blog couldn't be cheesier. Yet Gerard Bugge succeeded in communicating a real personal presence through his "Catholic Blog for Lovers" and his scrapbook dedicated to the "Praise of Glory."
How many could appreciate the raw beauty, grace, and power of Eastern Orthodoxy and remain a Roman Catholic? He showed me how to remain steadfast in communion with the theological and moral Neanderthals that dominate the Catholic Church, first by reminding me I'm one of them, then by robbing me of the orientalist fantasy I projected onto the Eastern Church, and then by keeping my sights on the true fantasies to be found at the heart of Catholicism. He always held St. Blog's to a higher standard on the way we should speak of our bishops and fellow Catholics. Most of all, he showed us that the Catholic Faith is all about heart, that pulsating Presence that keeps the world humming.
May the bells of Heaven toll for thee, Gerard.
