Category: Guest column

On
Brandon Vogt

How to boldly go forth and make disciples

Brandon Vogt

Most parishes wish they were better at evangelizing and making disciples. They wish they could help parishioners become more ardent, committed followers of Christ who are excited to share their faith with others.

But how do we get there? Marcel LeJeune, president and founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples, has been dedicated to the task for many years.

In this interview from Word on Fire, Brandon Vogt sits down with Marcel to chat about how parishes can become disciple-making factories.

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Fr. Steve Grunow

Do we serve Jesus or do we use him?

Fr. Steve Grunow

In the days of Holy Week, the Church presents select passages from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. These particular passages are known as the “servant” texts, and in these texts the prophet Isaiah foresees the work of the Messiah and how the Messiah will effect the transformation of Israel.

Remember, the Messiah is a person of extraordinary power, whom the prophets believed would effect the restoration of the Israelites, elevating them to a glory that surpassed the glory of their greatest kings.

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Fr. Steve Grunow

St. Padre Pio: Fascinating and frightening

Fr. Steve Grunow

There is a text that has become standard for the study of religious experience and phenomena by Rudolph Otto entitled, The Idea of the Holy.

In this book, Otto uses the phrase tremendum et fascinans (roughly translated as “fear and fascination”) to indicate what it means to encounter sacred realities.

The sacred, be it a place, person, or thing, can evoke the frightening, but still remain attractive, compelling. The holy is terrifying, yet at the same time, irresistible. I have always found Padre Pio as a kind of embodiment of Otto’s principle.

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Brandon Vogt

St. Frances: Finding God through your family

Word on Fire
Brandon Vogt

The Church faced serious problems when Frances Bussa was born in 1384. The papacy had fallen under the influence of the French crown and had developed a reputation for corruption.

Worse, in 1378 a majority of bishops elected a new pope, Robert of Geneva, even though a legitimate pope already reigned, which launched the Great Schism of the West.

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Fr. Steve Grunow

Sanctity and scandal: One priest’s views

Fr. Steve Grunow

Paul Senz of Our Sunday Visitor recently interviewed Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow for an article on how priests are reacting to the sexual abuse scandals. Below is an edited version of the interview. The entire interview can be found at: https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/sanctity-or-scandal-an-interview-with-fr-steve-grunow/5961/

OSV: Please tell your vocation story.

FS: My vocation to the priesthood arose out of the conviction, born of an act of faith, that since God in Christ gave his life for me and did so without qualification or reservation, the proper response in faith to his gift is to offer my whole life to him.

OSV: What are your thoughts about the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report?

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Fr. Steve Grunow

‘God is with us’ is mystery and truth

Fr. Steve Grunow

In the weeks prior to the celebration of Christmas, many Christians will sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” a traditional hymn of the Advent season that implores:

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel . . .

It seems to be a stringing together of liturgical antiphons, derived from scriptural texts, which originates in the 12th century.

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Brandon Vogt

Farewell to materialism and determinism

Word on Fire
Brandon Vogt

This is the final article of a three-part series based on Brandon Vogt’s discussion of text from the book, Modern Physics and Ancient Faith (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003) by physics professor Stephen M. Barr.

Twist #4 — The mind as more than machine

If only matter exists, as the materialist thinks, then the human mind must be a machine. The invention and popularization of computers has made this idea even more plausible. Many people believe it is only a matter of time before computers become intelligent in ways that rival our own intelligence.

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On
Brandon Vogt

Three twists and a turn for science and faith

Word on Fire
Brandon Vogt

This is the second article of a three-part series based on Brandon Vogt’s discussion of text from the book, Modern Physics and Ancient Faith (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003) by physics professor Stephen M. Barr.

Twist #1 — The Big Bang and the beginning of the universe

Jews and Christians have always believed that the world, and time itself, had a beginning, whereas materialists and atheists have tended to imagine the world has always existed. Modern skeptics have generally followed suit.

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