Category: Columns

On
Abbot Marcel Rooney

Adaptation and renewal of Religious Life: Pursuit of perfect charity

Reflections on Religious Life column by Abbot Marcel Rooney

Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the second in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.

We have seen in the first reflection commenting on Religious Life that the basis for and origin of this way of Christian life is the example and teaching of Jesus (Perfectae Caritatis, #1).

The Second Vatican Council’s teaching says that the consecration of Religious Life is focused on the pursuit of perfect charity.

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Fr. Robert Barron

Fry, Job, and the cross of Jesus

The British writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry is featured in a YouTube video which has gone viral: over five million views.

Fry is, like his British counterparts Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, a fairly ferocious atheist and debunker of all things religious.

Fry’s rant

In the video, Fry articulates what he would say to God if, upon arriving at the pearly gates, he discovered he was mistaken in his atheism.

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Tony Magliano

God is calling each person and nation to repent

“The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” With these two compelling sentences — as recorded in the Gospel of Mark — Jesus inaugurates his ministry and sums up what his mission is about: to break the shackles of sin that enslave humanity, to put us on the path of liberation from all oppression, and to teach us how to unconditionally love one another.

But what does it mean to repent?

Striving to avoid sin and living virtuously is certainly part of what it means. But there’s more.

A radical change

In the Gospels, the biblical word used for repentance is the Greek word metanoia — a radical change of mind, heart, soul, and action.

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Patrick Gorman

Baptism: A new Exodus

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the third in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the most compelling stories in the Old Testament describes the Exodus (Ex 14-15:1), when God brought the people of Israel from slavery to freedom.

At the climax of the story, God parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through the water. As the Egyptians pursued, God allowed the water to rush back, destroying Pharaoh’s chariots and charioteers and saving the people of Israel.

The Scripture describing all of this is read each year at the Easter Vigil because it so clearly prefigures Baptism as we go through the baptismal waters from the slavery of sin to the freedom of a life in Christ.

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Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Medical assistance with the battle of the bulge

Bariatric surgery, which often involves banding of the stomach, is a widely used procedure for treating severe obesity. Another approach that relies on an implantable “stomach pacemaker” also appears poised to assist those struggling with significant weight gain.

Many people have already benefitted from these kinds of surgical interventions, enabling them to shed a great deal of weight, improve their health, and get a new lease on life.

Weighing alternatives

At the same time, however, it’s important for us to examine such interventions from an ethical point of view. It’s not simply a matter of weight loss, achieved by any means whatsoever, but a rational decision made after carefully weighing the risks, benefits, and alternatives.

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Fr. Robert Barron

Christianity not primarily about ethics

Many atheists and agnostics today argue that it is possible for non-believers in God to be morally upright.

They resent the implication that the denial of God will lead inevitably to ethical relativism or nihilism. They are quick to point out examples of non-religious people who are models of kindness, compassion, justice, etc.

Non-believers praiseworthy?

A recent article proposed that non-believers are, on average, more morally praiseworthy than religious people. God knows (pun intended) that during the last 20 years we’ve seen plenty of evidence of the godly behaving badly.

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Jean Mueller

Finding at-home assistance for seniors

Q My siblings and I gave our mother the gift of in-home assistance for Christmas.

She lives just outside of Madison and the rest of us live in surrounding counties.

The idea was to provide some support because we can’t be there as much as we would like and mom does not ask us for help.

She was reluctant to accept it at first, but then agreed that she could use some help with certain things.

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Fr. Donald Lange

Reconciliation helps us to live Lent with renewed faith

In Matthew 9:10-13, the Scribes and Pharisees complain that Christ dines with sinners and tax collectors. They are right. He does. Jesus responds by saying that he has come not to call the righteous, but sinners.

R. Charles Miller wrote that a sinner, as used here, is someone who admits they have sinned and needs God’s forgiveness to help them change. Conversely, the self-righteous think they don’t need forgiveness.

Sharing God’s mercy

Christ became flesh and took on a human nature to share the Father’s mercy with us. Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel features three parables of God’s mercy.

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Patrick Gorman

Baptism: Claimed for Christ

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the second in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the first things that we do when we meet someone is learn their name. It’s so basic, yet so important.

In Baptism, the Church does the same thing.

The Rite of Baptism of Infants calls for the priest to welcome the child, parents, and godparents at the doors of the church (he does the same with adults when he welcomes catechumens). (1)

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Fr. Robert Barron

Thomas Merton’s influence

I write these words on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Merton, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century and a man who had a decisive influence on me and my vocation to the priesthood.

I first encountered Merton’s writing in a peculiar way. My brother and I were both working at a bookstore in the Chicago suburbs. One afternoon, he tossed me a tattered paperback with a torn cover that the manager had decided to discard.

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