Amid the current global pandemic, Bishop Barron says: “Turn this time of waiting into an evangelical opportunity…” In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Zenit, the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries reflects on how the faithful can reconnect spiritually during this dramatic time. ZENIT (Q): What is the…
Eyebrows were raised when Queen Victoria commented that of all her predecessors, she would most enjoy a conversation with King Charles II. In the arrangements of their domestic lives they could hardly have been more unlike, but Charles was a man of attractive wit, and that was her point. In most ways, Voltaire was the…
Even though I am following those tips I had for you last month about vision and wisely using our time during our shelter in place situation, I still sought inspiration to get me started for this month’s article. I never have been in a situation before where I had to ask my wife, Pat, to…
Among logical fallacies, the argument from authority, “argumentum ad verecundiam,” means accepting a proposition because its source is authoritative, even though the matter is outside that source’s competence. Such a fallacy, for instance, might approve Einstein’s view on politics or religion because he was such an important physicist. However, precisely because of his inventiveness, it…
Normally each Easter, the Resurrection Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom replaces my regular column, with his paraphrase of Saint Paul’s “Death, where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory?” (Corinthians 15:55). But these are not normal times. Their abnormality includes my own difficulty in not preaching the Three Hours on Good Friday for the…
While attending the Napa Institute, I asked Ignatius Press’ Tony Ryan for his recommendation on a good book to read. Tony immediately told me, “From Fire by Water: My Journey to the Catholic Faith,” which was one of Ignatius’ bestsellers. I got a copy and found that Tony was right on the money. This is…
For almost two decades we (at Table Group) have been using the Five Dysfunctions of a Team model to help leaders increase the cohesiveness and effectiveness of their teams and achieve more. Now, the whole world is navigating the unique challenges of transitioning to virtual work. This week we sat down with members of our…
Worth watching, listening — Father George W. Rutler’s Good Friday reflections — recorded live today at Noon ET April 10, 2020. See here: https://vimeo.com/406005872
The term “parochial” is frequently used in a condescending sense, but no one today can get away with thinking that to be parochial is to be isolated from reality. As I write, the Navy hospital ship “Comfort,” last seen here on the Hudson River after the World Trade Center horror, is passing by our rectory…
I could never have fathomed all the things that have happened in our country during March 2020. I must admit that particularly over the last two weeks, I have been in somewhat of a “funk” because of the Coronavirus pandemic and all the uncertainty surrounding it. The news cycles on TV have been bad for…
I have a rule never to begin a paragraph with a first-person pronoun. I do this not because it would be inappropriate to use the monarchical “We,” as in “We have a rule,” or the princely “One,” as in “One has a rule,” but because self-reference confines the argument to personal experience. That is somewhat…
A frivolous amount of media dust has arisen regarding a proper name for the virus turned pandemic. Some say it’s wrong if the name offends anyone. Others callout leaders for not being politically correct in the name they use. But there’s no ethical merit in naming a thing according to whether or not it offends.…
CNA—Cardinal Peter Turkson sent a message Wednesday encouraging Catholics to see the sacrifices required to slow the spread of coronavirus as a chance to deepen their relationships with God and their neighbors. “Prayer is our strength, prayer is our resource. Here then is the favorable moment to rediscover the fatherhood of God and our being…
Amid increasing spread and panic regarding coronavirus COVID-19, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued the following statement on behalf of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB)—ed. With the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus, we are confronted once more with the fragility of our…
Review of Upstream: The quest to solve problems before they happen, by Dan Heath — As the coronavirus crisis (COVID 19) subsides, there will be many dissecting our failure to anticipate and prepare for it, despite warnings that a pandemic was not a question of “if” but “when.” There will also be many who, with…
Geniuses often are thought to be absent-minded. Archimedes was so preoccupied with a mathematical diagram he was constructing during the invasion of Syracuse in Sicily in 212 BC, that he told a Roman soldier about to slay him: “Let me finish my numbers.” He was not professorially absent-minded, but present-minded. His obligation to truth took…
March 19, 2020
On March 19, we will celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph. The Litany of St. Joseph invokes his intercession under the titles Spouse of the Mother of God, Foster Father of the Son of God, and Head of the Holy Family. St. Joseph is called the Glory of the Domestic Life and Pillar of Families. In this Year of the Family, it is fitting that…
On September 10, 1919, General Pershing led his returning troops up Fifth Avenue before crowds numbering two million. In front of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, he dismounted from his rambunctious white horse “Captain” to greet Cardinal Mercier, who had arrived in New York by ship the night before. The General made a point of expressing his…
Pastoral Message for the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B Villegas March 10, 2020 The epidemic of godless fear of the unknown is spreading and we must return to the basics of our Catholic faith. Let us not leave God out of the threat of COVID 19. Our first combat gear against all sickness…
Materialism, fantasy and false worship were the temptations Satan thrust at Christ, and he is tempting our nation the same way. These seductions are a formula for Socialism, which Winston Churchill in 1948 defined as “The philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” A poorly educated generation succumbs to adolescent…
