Tag: father

On
Fr. Donald Lange

Continuing to follow Dr. King’s dream

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is an American federal holiday that marks the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January, which is around Dr. King’s birthday, January 15. This year it is observed on January 18.

In his speech to Congress in September of 2015, Pope Francis lifted up four Americans who worked for social justice. They were two non-Catholics, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., and two Catholics, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Crux columnist John L. Allen Jr. called them the pope’s “Fantastic Four” who stood up for the poor.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The challenge of Our Lady of Guadalupe

How wonderful that Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a pregnant woman clothed in the sun!

In the Book of Revelation, Mary is described in just this manner (Rev 12:1). But we should not approach this symbolism in a superficial or merely sentimental way.

The woman clothed in the sun and with the moon at her feet is portrayed in Revelation precisely as a warrior. Confronting her is a terrible dragon intent upon devouring her child as soon as it is born.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

At Christmas God embraces us with love

In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that God gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but have might have eternal life.”

Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote, “Out of love for us, the mighty hands that created the sun, moon, and stars became so tiny that they could not reach up to touch the noses of the oxen who tried to warm him with their hayed breath.”

Deeply moved by the infant Jesus, St. Thérèse of Lisieux asked, “Why should we fear God who became a tiny baby?”

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The ‘Waze’ of Providence

Just after I was named auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles (LA), Archbishop Gomez, my new boss, told me to get the Waze app for my iPhone.

He explained that it was a splendid way to navigate the often impossible LA traffic. I followed his instructions and have indeed used the app on practically a daily basis since my arrival on the West Coast.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

During Advent, we remember Christ’s hope for peace

The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which means coming.

From the first Sunday of Advent to December 17, we await the second coming of Christ so that when he comes in glory, he will find us prepared to meet him. From December 17 to 24, we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas.

During Advent’s graced moments, we also experience the comings of Christ in our daily life.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

What precisely is the Gospel?

Some years ago, I was involved in a Catholic-Evangelical dialogue. One of our Protestant brothers challenged the Catholics in the group to articulate clearly what the Gospel is.

I knew what he was getting at: many Evangelicals pride themselves on the fact that they can succinctly sum up the Good News in a way that people find compelling and helpful, whereas many Catholics, it seems, get tongue-tied.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Sharing our blessings at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day when we gather with family and friends to share a meal, reconnect as family, and thank God for our cornucopias of blessings.

The roots of Thanksgiving Day began with the pilgrims. Despite a long, hard winter during which half of them died from scurvy and exposure to the elements, the pilgrims were so thankful some of them survived that they invited their Indian friends to share a three day feast of thanksgiving.

H.U. Westermayer wrote that the pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts during that first hard year, yet they set aside a day to thank God through prayer and through sharing their blessings with Indian friends.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

‘Bridge of Spies’ and the path to virtue

My great mentor Msgr. Robert Sokolowski told a class of eager philosophy students many years ago that we should read Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics every year of our lives. As we grew older, he explained, new dimensions of the book would continually present themselves.

I can’t say that I’ve followed Sokolowski’s advice perfectly, but I have indeed returned often to Aristotle’s great text for inspiration and clarification.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

René Girard, Church Father

René Girard, one of the most influential Catholic philosophers in the world, died recently at the age of 91.

Born in Avignon and a member of the illustrious Academie Francaise, Girard nevertheless made his academic reputation in the United States as a professor at Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford University.

New social theory

There are some thinkers that offer intriguing ideas and proposals, and there is a tiny handful of thinkers that manage to shake your world. Girard was in this second camp. In a series of books and articles, written across several decades, he proposed a social theory of extraordinary explanatory power.

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