Category: Columns

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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

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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Patrick Gorman

This Lent, remember your Baptism

This is the first in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

We are approaching the season of Lent, a time set aside by the Church to help us prepare for Easter.

For many, this season is seen as a time that we “give something up.” While offering ourselves to God always is important, the Church primarily views Lent through the lens of Baptism. In fact, here is what the Church says about Lent:

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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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Fr. Gregory Ihm

Awakening deeper faith during the Year of Consecrated Life

Pope Francis has declared this year as the Year of Consecrated Life and you will see from his letter that he has several objectives for this year.

Among them being: thanksgiving for all the Lord has accomplished through the various Religious communities, a greater fidelity to the mission established by the founders and foundresses, and embracing the future with hope.

Diocese involved

The Diocese of Madison is looking to assist the Holy Father with these objectives by engaging the priests, Religious, and laity in various events and activities throughout the year.

We are inviting our consecrated men and women to use this year as an opportunity to highlight the many graces received through the living out of their community’s charisms throughout the history of the diocese.

We also look forward to opportunities to joining the various Religious communities in their prayer which is crucial to their identity.

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Fr. Robert Barron

Yves Congar and Vatican II

One of the most theologically fascinating and entertaining books I’ve read in a long time is Yves Congar’s My Journal of the Council.

Most Catholics under age 50 might be unaware of the massive contribution made by Congar, a Dominican priest and one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century.

After a tumultuous intellectual career, Congar found himself, at age 58, a peritus or theological expert at the Second Vatican Council. By most accounts, he proved the most influential theologian at that epic gathering, contributing to the documents on the Church, on ecumenism, on revelation, and on the Church’s relation to the modern world.

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George Weigel

Nonsense on 60 Minutes

60 Minutes, the CBS News “magazine” that helped redefine television journalism, prides itself on challenging conventional wisdom, discomfiting the comfortable, kicking shibboleths in the shins, and opening new arguments.

No such challenge, alas, was evident in the program’s recent segment on Pope Francis.

The ‘Francis effect’

One of the principal interviewees in that piece was Robert Mickens, formerly of the London-based Tablet and currently of the National Catholic Reporter. Here’s a part of what Mickens had to say about the “Francis effect”:

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Tony Magliano

Protecting unborn in a ‘throw-away culture’

What a sight! Over 25 times from the top of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., I have seen a sea of people marching to proclaim the dignity of unborn human life and how death-dealing abortion sends the unholy message that some human beings are disposable.

As I write, I plan to march with and view that sea of people once again during the 42nd annual March for Life on January 22. It’s always a moral and spiritual shot-in-the-arm for me.

We have to do more

But good as they are, the Washington March for Life and the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, as well as dozens of similar events at state capitols throughout the U.S., are simply not enough.

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Fr. Robert Barron

Saying ‘yes’ to sex as path of love

One of the commonest complaints against Catholicism is that it is the religion of “no,” especially in regard to the sexual dimension of life.

As the rest of the culture is moving in a progressively more permissive direction, the Church seems to represent a crabbed, puritanical negativity toward sexuality.

Different kinds of ‘no’

I think it is important, first, to make a distinction between two modalities of “no.” On the one hand, there is “no” pure and simple — a denial, a negation of something good.

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