Category: Columns

On
Fr. Gregory Ihm

Three ordinary men with extraordinary priesthoods

Fr. Gregory Ihm

Fr. Michael McGivney, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, and St. John Paul II all have several things in common. They were ordinary men called to a life of holiness as parish priests and through their priestly ministry had significant historical impact on the Church.

The Vocational Booth sponsored by Diocesanpriest.com at World Youth Day in Poland this year highlighted these three priests in order to help ordinary men consider the impact that their “YES” to the Lord’s call can have on the lives of others.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

What to make of Simpsonization of men

Two recent films, Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg and Sully starring Tom Hanks, represent something of a breath of fresh air, for both movies feature men who are intelligent, virtuous, and quietly heroic. If this strikes you as a banal observation, that just means you haven’t been following much of the popular culture for the past 20 years.

Homer Simpsonization

One of the distinctive marks of films and television programs the last couple of decades has been the Homer Simpsonization of men. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of the The Simpsons and laugh at Homer’s antics as much as the next guy.

But the father of the Simpson family is stupid, boorish, drunk most of the time, irresponsible, comically incompetent, and childish. In the cartoon world, he is echoed, of course, by Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, who is similarly buffoonish.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

Called to be salt and light for all

This is the second in a two-part series on salvation history, with the goal of understanding the role we play in this history. In the first part, Bishop Barron discussed how the creation narrative in Genesis teaches us that our role as human beings is to “praise God on behalf of all creation” and that the Fall is man’s loss of this “priestly identity.” In this second part, he covers the three other acts in the “drama” of salvation history: The Formation of Israel, the Coming of the Messiah, and the Church.

Beginning with the covenant with Abraham, God shapes a nation according to his own mind and heart; he teaches a particular tribe to worship him aright, to be his priestly people. His ultimate intention is to use Israel for the instruction of all the nations of the world.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

Who we are and what role we play

This is the first in a two-part series on the five “acts” in the drama of salvation history.

This fall, I am giving presentations to all of the high school teachers, staff, and administrators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. These talks take place on an annual basis, and they are dedicated to a regular cycle of topics. This year, the theme is morality. Lucky me!

My guess is that disquisitions on doctrine or Church history or pastoral practice wouldn’t raise too many hackles, but ethics is practically guaranteed to rile people up, especially now when issues of same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and assisted suicide are so present to the public consciousness.

Who we are as Christians

I am not sure whether I’m delighting or disappointing my audiences, but I am not ordering my talks to address these hot-button questions. Indeed, it is my conviction that a good deal of mischief and confusion is caused precisely by characterizing Catholic morality primarily as a matrix for adjudicating such matters.

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On
Veronica Arntz

Divorce, remarriage, and Communion

Veronica Arntz

Part three of a four-part series

Having established a clear understanding of the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, let us now turn to the situation of the divorced and remarried.

St. John Paul II recognized the difficult situations that arise from divorce: “Loneliness and other difficulties are often the lot of separated spouses, especially when they are innocent parties” (Familiaris Consortio, 83).

Divorced and remarried

Yet, both St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 29) affirm that those who have been divorced and remarried without receiving a declaration of nullity cannot receive Communion.

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On
Jeff Davis and Greg Wagner

Consider party platforms when voting

Jeff Davis and Greg Wagner

As Catholic voters, what are we to do when neither presidential candidate seems to share our beliefs and values? Some may opt to sit out this election and not vote, others may vote for a third party candidate, and others may write in a candidate.

We feel there is a better option, and that is to look at the party platforms. The party platforms between the Republicans and the Democrats represent two diametrically opposed world views.

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On
Julianne Nornberg

Clinging to our Father with childlike abandon

Everyday Faith column by Julianne Nornberg

My six-year-old daughter clutched her daddy’s hand as they walked side by side through the woods one day.

Suddenly, a black and yellow snake slithered across their path, startling my daughter. She gasped in fear and squeezed her daddy’s hand.

Her daddy, my husband, patted her hand gently and said, “Don’t worry. Garter snakes won’t bite you. They’re just looking for crickets to eat.”

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The communion of saints ‘online’

Recently, while working at my computer in Santa Barbara, I encountered a confounding problem and decided to call Brandon Vogt, who is not only the excellent content director at Word on Fire, but also a trained engineer and tech whiz.

After trying in vain to talk me through the problem, Brandon said, “Look, let me just take over your screen.” And with that, he pressed some buttons in Atlanta, where he was attending a conference, and then commenced to move my cursor around the screen, click on all the right settings, and resolve the difficulty.

The Internet and the saints

Though I had seen him do this before, I was, once again, impressed by this long-distance maneuver. Displaying my utter lack of scientific expertise, I asked, “Now Brandon, is this being done through the phone lines or is outer space involved?”

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

We should respect all life, especially the unborn

Respect Life Month in October invites us to respect life across the board. We should especially respect and defend the rights of helpless unborn babies who cannot defend themselves.

The 2016 Doritos Super Bowl commercial showed an unborn baby in his or her mother’s womb. To me, this was natural and obvious. I was familiar with advances in ultrasound imaging and I think that human life begins at conception as the Church teaches.

Life in the womb can’t be denied

I didn’t expect it, but I wasn’t surprised by comments from some affiliated with the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) who criticized Doritos for “humanizing fetuses.” Cal Thomas of the Tribune Content Agency responded, “Humanizing fetuses? What does that sonogram image show if not a human?” He added, “Pro-choice persons fear the sonogram because it shows an image whose humanness cannot be denied.”

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