Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the health-check domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /nas/content/live/brownpelican/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121

Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the mfn-opts domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /nas/content/live/brownpelican/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121
Real Mercy Includes Admonishment, by Garrett Johnson – Brown Pelican Society of Lousiana

Real Mercy Includes Admonishment, by Garrett Johnson

Saint of the Day for December 2: Blessed Rafal Chylinski
December 2, 2025
The Vatican Denounces Polygamy, But Also Flips Centuries of Magisterial Teaching On Marital Sex, by Jules Gomes
December 2, 2025
0

Marcantonio_Franceschini_-_Christ_and_the_Woman_of_Samaria_-_Google_Art_Project. Image from Wikimedia Commons

By Garrett Johnson, Catholic Exchange, Dec. 2, 2025

Garrett D. Johnson was born and raised in the Washington D.C. area in a nominally Catholic family. He left the Church in his late teens and lived a hedonistic lifestyle that included drugs, gaming, and living as a gay man until coming back to Catholicism in his late 30s. He is a blogger (his website is Brotherwithoutorder.com), a stylist, and a member of the Courage apostolate. His self-published autobiography Becoming a Good Man will be available in 2026.

 

Garrett Johnson headshotAs I sit before the Tabernacle this morning in prayer, I repeat the Jesus Prayer slowly to myself: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. As I do, questions I often ask myself circulate in the background of my mind: What is mercy? What does it mean to ask Jesus to be merciful to me in my times of difficulty and struggle? What does it mean for me as a Catholic to be merciful to my fellows who struggle with addiction, same-sex attraction, and sexual identity confusion?

The answer to this question is not as complex as many would have us believe. It is laid out structurally in Scripture. So the issue isn’t a lack of clear guidance, but whether we are willing to yield our understanding of mercy to Jesus and accept that true mercy sometimes stings. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>>>>

Related posts

first_friday_marian, Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

December 6, 2025

Fr. Joseph, MIC: Join in the First Friday and First Saturday Devotions! (Oct. 2024)

Read more

Baptism of Christ by Jacopo Tintoretto (workshop), 1580s [Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH]

December 6, 2025

A Eucharistic Advent, by David G Bonagura, Jr. (Dec. 2024)

Read more
December 6, 2025

Msgr. Charles Pope: Five Brief Advent Themes (Dec. 2024)

Read more