Tag: bishop

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Bishop Robert Barron

The importance of ‘real’ friendship, intimacy

Matt Spicer’s dark comedy Ingrid Goes West is a telling and penetrating critique of the iPhone culture that has swallowed up so many young people today.

Now I know: I have an evangelical ministry that uses social media and reaches out through iPhones and other similar devices. Moreover, I have been known from time to time even to use such instruments personally.

So I’m not going to use this review as an excuse for a broad brush dismissal of social media. But I will indeed use it to encourage you to see this film, which artfully explores the shadow side of living in virtual reality.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Worldly approaches to religion: karma or grace?

Just a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Stephen Davis, retired professor of the philosophy of religion at Claremont University.

In preparation for the meeting, I read Dr. Davis’ book called Christian Philosophical Theology, which includes a chapter contrasting two basic approaches to religion throughout the world. The first — which can be found in much of the East — is a religion of karma, and the second — prominent in the Abrahamic religions of the West — is a religion of grace.

Religion of karma

The first approach has a lot to recommend it — which explains its great endurance across the centuries. A karmic approach says that, by a cosmic spiritual law, we are punished or rewarded according to our moral activities. If we do bad things, we will suffer, either in this life or a life to come. And if we do good things, we will be rewarded, again either here or in the hereafter.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Charlottesville and America’s ‘original sin’

I vividly remember my first visit to Charlottesville, Va. It was about 20 years ago, and I was on vacation with a good friend, who shared with me a passion for American history and for Thomas Jefferson in particular.

We had toured a number of Civil War battlefields in Maryland and Virginia and then had made our way to Jefferson’s University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Finally, we ventured outside the city to the little hilltop home that the great founder had designed and built for himself, Monticello.

It was a glorious summer day, and the elegant manse shone in all of its Palladian splendor. We took in its classical lines, its distinctive red and white coloration, the understated beauty of its dome, its overall symmetry, balance, and harmony.

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Kevin Wondrash

Holy Family Parish in La Valle celebrates church centennial

LA VALLE — Holy Family Parish in La Valle will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the erection of its church with a special Mass on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 12 noon, with Bishop Robert C. Morlino presiding.

The church is located at 310 Bluff St. in La Valle. Fr. Sanctus K. Ibe is the pastor.

Dates back to 1915

Holy Family Catholic Parish of La Valle originated in 1915 under the leadership of Father Kriel. The first services were held in a vacant shoe store.

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Kevin Wondrash

Pontifical Mass at the Throne on August 22

MONONA — On Tuesday, Aug. 22, at 6 p.m., at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona, His Excellency Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Throne for the traditional Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Mass will be in the Roman Rite’s older, traditional form, sometimes called the “Extraordinary Form.” The music will be in Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony, with motets and hymns, including:

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Bishop Robert Barron

Pope Francis speaks to priests

I write these words from the Nuremore Hotel in Monaghan, Ireland, where I am conducting a retreat for the good priests of the Dublin Archdiocese.

As I look out at these men, I am reminded of so many of my own relatives on both sides of my family (“Gosh, he looks like Uncle Charlie” and “That one is the spitting image of my cousin Terry”), for I am Irish all the way through. Many of the priests who are making the retreat are retired, and it is edifying to see so many who have bravely borne the heat of the day. Do say a prayer for them.

The theme that I have chosen for my talks is “Pope Francis Speaks to Priests.” I have culled a number of motifs from the pope’s numerous talks, sermons, and lectures to priests, seminarians, and bishops. Allow me, in the course of this brief article to say just a few words about each one.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Looking at Luther with fresh eyes

With great profit and pleasure I’m currently reading Alec Ryrie’s new book Protestants: The Faith that Made the Modern World. Among the many texts appearing in this year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Ryrie’s stands out for its verve, clarity, and historical sweep.

In some ways, it is an answer to Brad Gregory’s The Unintended Reformation, though it lacks the intellectual depth and thoroughness of Gregory’s magisterial study. What has so far intrigued me most of all in Ryrie’s book is his portrait of the undisputed father of the Reformation, Martin Luther.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Silence and the meaning of the Mass

Robert Cardinal Sarah’s recent book The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise explores a number of themes both theological and spiritual, all centering around the unhappy role that noise has come to play in our culture and more specifically in the Church.

His observations are most trenchant in regard to the liturgy, which should come as no great surprise, given his role as head of the Vatican Congregation devoted to liturgy and sacraments. As I read the sections of his book dealing with the importance of silence during Mass, I often found myself nodding vigorously.

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Bishop Robert Barron

A message of love for the confirmandi

One of the greatest privileges I have as a bishop is the opportunity to preside at the Sacrament of Confirmation. A drawback, however, is that I am obligated to conduct over 40 Confirmations in roughly a two month period — which means that I become tired, rather quickly, of my own homily!

As a result, I’m frequently shifting gears, trying out new ideas, looking at the complex phenomenon of Confirmation from a variety of angles. I want to share with you in this article some of the key ideas in the latest iteration of my Confirmation sermon.

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Bishop Robert Barron

History lessons of Our Lady of Fatima

This past week, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to a group of shepherd children near the Portuguese town of Fatima. The series of Fatima appearances — lasting from May until October of 1917 — is one of the most extraordinary in the history of the Church.

It has also beguiled political and cultural commentators outside the ambit of the Church, and it is this wider implication that I would like to explore.

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