12 Catholics I Admire

12 Catholics I Admire May 24, 2020

You can tell a lot about people by the company they keep or the books they have in their library.
I wanted to list some of the catholic media personalities that I like and admire, perhaps giving you a glimpse into my mind and how it operates.
These Catholics have helped shape the way I think or would like to think as a Catholic Christian.
I have found at one time or another their opinions on Catholic faith and practice
to be inspiring, informative and enriching.

You may be admirer’s or fans of some of them and yet may dislike others.
There are so many Catholics teaching and preaching, that not everyone will be drawn to the same people.
Such is life.
You may have heard of some of them and not heard of others. There all worth a read or a listen.

I have not read or watched everything by these authors, but enough to know that I really like what I hear.
I abide from the general principle and thesis presented in the book “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read.” (2010), when talking about books or articles or movies I haven’t seen or read.

There is more than one way not to read, the most radical of which is not to open a book at all. For any given reader, however dedicated he might be, such total abstention necessarily holds true for virtually everything that has been published, and thus in fact this constitutes our primary way of relating to books. We must not forget that even a prodigious reader never has access to more than an infinitesimal fraction of the books that exist. As a result, unless he abstains definitively from all conversation and all writing, he will find himself forever obliged to express his thoughts on books he hasn’t read. –Pierre Bayard

For this list I have chosen 12 Catholic authors and presenters. There are more I could put here and will probably talk about others at some other time. I don’t mention any women in this particular grouping, but that doesn’t mean I don’t admire women or that they haven’t contributed to my spiritual life. They have. And I will talk about them in another post. I usually list groups of authors in set numbers. It’s a memory thing, not an OCD thing. I try to list things in sets of 5’s. 5, 10, 15. But for Catholic authors I have tried to set a nice biblical number of 12.

I have left out personal relationships and have stuck to the media personalities who have written books or produced videos or audio content. These are folks whom anyone can find and have access to.

I have included and I will include quotes from individuals in my writings because….

“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.” ― Marlene Dietrich

As Kristin said..

“There are so many quotes

By So many people

Even long before Jesus walked the earth as man

And still today Even more people

From Everywhere are coming up with still more quotes

Will writing new quotes every end?

Are we trying to out quote one another? –

This was made to fit with your theme and not to be the best quote of all time.
You’re not writing that down, are you? I’m just talking. “

In no particular order of importance, but alphabetical order.

Favorite Contemporary Writers & Speakers

1. Jimmy Akin @ Jimmy Akin | Catholic Apologist @ Catholic Answers
One of the most authentically attracting aspects of a good catholic is a mixture of faithfulness to the church, knowledge of what the church actually and authoritatively teaches, a kind, friendly, humble and loving attitude towards others and someone who seems like they are a normal human being you would want to hang out with. Jimmy Akin is all these things. In his podcast ‘Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World’ he devoted an episode to the question, ‘Is the Earth Flat?’. Instead of ripping apart the viewpoints of flat earthers, which he could have easily done, he presented their arguments seriously and constructively critiqued them without out ever insulting or belittling them as people. That’s the kind of guy that he is. A knowledge of all things biblical and Catholic, a world view that sees God in Sci-Fi and the mysterious world around us, and a gentle and caring nature makes Jimmy Akin one of my favorite Catholic apologists.

Woke up this morning with a maggot in his head. In traditional English music jargon, a maggot is what’s now called an ear worm–i.e., a tune you can’t get out of your head. This morning I woke up with a traditional English folk tune in my head, so… a maggot. At first it was pleasant, but now it’s gotten annoying. The maggot has started to fester. -Jimmy Akin

One of the reasons I am such a Jimmy Akin fanboy is that he is very careful concerning his answers to only impart what the Church teaches or what liturgical documents lay down instead of his own biases as to what they mean. When he gives an opinion he clearly lets you know it is an opinion. We should all be so careful with a concern for accuracy.
Jeffrey Miller Is Michael Voris right about kneeling? (August 3, 2011) The Curt Jester

Mysterious Celebration! (100th Episode Anniversary!)

As I drove home, I reflected on my meeting with the king of Fundamentalist kitsch. Chick came across as a kind, gentle old man. He was nothing but polite. He smiled. He laughed. Unlike the characters in his comic books, he didn’t say “Haw! Haw!” when he laughed. From meeting him one would never suspect him to be the most infamous broadcaster of hate and paranoia in the Christian comic book world.

Given Chick’s tendency to sometimes include real people in his comics—even as minor, unnamed characters—he might even record the incident. If you’re ever reading a Chick comic and see a young, bearded Jesuit agent dressed like a cowboy, it’ll probably be me.

-Jimmy Akin, Jimmy Akin Meet Jack Chick (October 23, 2016) jimmyakin.com

 

2. René Albert @ Coffee & Crucifix: Patheos

There is a very strong Catholic click which values the traditional Latin liturgy. This click is usually very load and vocal on the internet about how much the Latin Mass rocks and the Novus Ordo Mass stinks. Pope Francis is seen as the worst pope of all time and Vatican 2 was a worse mistake then the new SW trilogy. These folks are characterized by the amount of viral and anger they extend to fellow Catholics. Although a lover of TLM, Rene does not share the same negative attitude towards the pope and fellow Catholics. Instead of writing about the faults of fellow Catholics he blogs about traditional Catholic topics, such as Mary, Purgatory, The Eucharist, his life as a protestant and the joys of Christian hard rock music. He is the prime example of what a LM catholic should be and act like. He does what many of his fellow LM lovers fail to do. Be an evangelizer of the Latin liturgy.

When the Tridentine Mass suddenly dissolved, many people were understandably upset. Some were furious to the point of blatant resistance, such as famed Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien. He was apparently so adamantly opposed to the English liturgy that he would boldly say the responses in Latin, much to the embarrassment of his grandchildren.

Most Catholics who knew Latin came from a background of higher education, though I personally believe the Gospel ought to be shared in a language that people can understand. Phillip’s discourse with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 comes to mind. Though the thought of attending a Mass in a different language adds an exciting level of heavenly mystery.
René Albert I Long For Catholic Unity (March 6, 2019 ) Coffee & Crucifix @ Patheos Catholic

coffeeandcrucifix

My love for P.O.D. lasts to this present day, and nu-metal will always be something close to my heart. Aside from discovering faith in Christ, it is one of the most influential things that carried me through some of the darkest years of my life. It continually inspires me to write and create in hopes that others may be inspired to do the same.

The power of music is an amazing force that brings out our humanity. It gives us something to sing, dance, relate, vent our anger, relax, laugh or cry to. If it weren’t for Nu-metal, I know I would not be here to share this post with you who are reading this.
René Albert Nu-Metal Saved My Life (May 23, 2019) Coffee & Crucifix @ Patheos Catholic

3. Dave Armstong @ Biblical Evidence for Catholicism: Patheos
How does the bible relate to the Catholic faith and dogma? If you have a biblical related question about the faith, Dave Armstrong is probably your guy to ask. He’s been writing and defending the Catholic faith for decades. His knowledge and defense of the faith is long and lengthy. Not only does he have a strong biblical foundation for Catholic belief and theology he is one of the few orthodox Catholics who adamantly defends Pope Francis with zeal and vigor. He seems to be attacked by all sides, angry protestants, angry atheists and angry Catholics, both liberal and conservative. But like water off a duck’s back, he rolls with the punches and turns an attack into a informative blog post. He has been a good online friend who has been encouraging to me. In an age where  Trump supporters have been given a bad rap, He has helped me to see that one can be a Donald Trump supporter and be a good holy and fruitful Catholic as well.

Our task as apologists is to vigorously share and defend the truth, with charity and gentleness and wisdom. The results are up to God, since it is only His grace that moves any heart closer to Him in the first place. Sometimes we are opposed and seem to achieve no result whatever (like Jeremiah); other times there is abundant visible fruit (as on the day of Pentecost or with St. Francis de Sales, winning back many thousands of Calvinists). Jeremiah was not at fault; nor could St. Francis claim final credit for “his results.”

We mustn’t be naive enough to actually think that Satan and his demons won’t put up a vigorous fight against anyone who is effectively sharing and defending God’s truth and the fullness of the Catholic faith. We can count on it. It’s not peaches and cream and all method and PR and getting folks to like us. Apologetics is ultimately spiritual battle. We can be friendly, nice, charming; all that (and I sure hope we all strive to be that way), but that doesn’t nullify the fact that it is, bottom line, a battle (thus, “young guns” is a very apt metaphor indeed!).
Dave Armstrong Apologetics is Always a Difficult Spiritual Battle & Struggle (December 3, 2018) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

davearmstrong

People may decide what box to put me in. I think I’m in a pretty good place. I now use the word radical Catholic reactionary for folks who want to classify obedient, orthodox Catholics such as myself as somehow second-class Catholics. Hence, I’ve been called a modernist, neo-Catholic, neo-conservative, Vatican II lover, a Novus Ordo Catholic, an integrist, even a money-grubbing, unscrupulous apologist who makes a living by ill-gotten gains, by some.
But I’m just an . . . orthodox, obedient, devout Catholic, who loves Holy Mother Church, loves the Holy Father, and the Blessed Virgin Mary (to whom I have a great devotion: lots of writings defending her and Catholic Mariology)
– Dave Armstrong Am I a Catholic Traditionalist? (Well, YOU Decide!) (October 14, 2015) Biblical Evidence for Catholicism @ Patheos Catholic

4. Fr. Robert Barron @ Word On Fire
In a Mother Teresa novena book she said if I remember correctly “The More you know Jesus, the more you will love Jesus. Love is stronger then Death.” When I listen to Bishop Barron I feel as if I understand the scriptures better. He seems to explain those hard and common passages with clarity. He opens up the hidden meanings with questions that anyone might ask about the text. When I understand the scriptures better, I understand Jesus better. And when I understand Jesus more, I love Jesus more. I see a God who is merciful and awesome and loving. God has a passion to set things right and wills our ultimate good. He doesn’t need us and that is good news. It’s sad when I hear fellow Catholics trash talk Bishop Barron like he is a leading heretic drawing souls away from the church and Christ. As a fellow FB’er has said,

“It seems that anyone in the Church hierarchy who doesn’t preach fire and brimstone and takes the approach of trying to draw people into the faith through intellectual engagement rather than confrontation, is viewed as being nearly heretical to some people. That [Bishop Barron] is popular with so many average Catholics (and in fact with so many non Catholics) apparently means that he can’t possibly be orthodox enough in his faith.- Paul Adomshick

See the source image

He is also able to bring a Catholic context to any subject he talks about whether it be philosophy, movies or current events. I even had the joy of talking with him once on the phone when I was the program director for CatholicTV.  He is truly one of the great Catholic teachers of our time.

My fear is the domesticated Christ, which my generation got after the Council, and which the modern world is happy with. You know, Christ who is defanged, who is a bland spiritual teacher… a teacher of “timeless truths.” That [last part] is fine and true, but it’s domesticated. The Gospels rather present this ferocious figure, meaning “The New Lord.” He’s Jesus Kyrios, “Jesus the Lord,” which means that He has supplanted all the other Lords. His cross and resurrection is something that demands a complete conversion on our part. If He’s the King, then my entire life has to change. I wanted to recover that edgy, challenging, and deeply Biblical Jesus.
Father Robert Barron In Pursuit of the Imago Dei: An Interview With Fr. Barron Mark Nowakowski (December 2, 2014) OnePeterFive

5. Fr. Casey Cole @ Breaking In The Habit | Reflections of a Friar in Training
It’s nice to see a fresh looking young face consecrated to the sacramental priesthood bring common sense, humor and deep spirituality to the world of YouTube and beyond. This guy makes you think and laugh with interesting stories about life working on a college campus. You watch his rise from being a consecrated religious to becoming a priest. He’s one of the best Catholics making videos today.

Screen Shot 2015-08-29 at 12.03.58 AM

With a life in Jesus as our foundation and nothing else, God’s call to us and our ultimate purpose in life tend to look very different. Thinking less about the decisions themselves and more about the life those decisions effect, we realize that what matters most to God is ultimately not what we choose but the amount of love that those decisions create in our lives; where we go to school, what we do for a living, and our familial life matters to God only to the extent that what we choose enables us to live as Christ-like as we can. All that God wills and all that God calls us to be is his adopted sons and daughters. That’s it. As much as my fellow brothers and I were blessed to have answered what we believed to be the important discernment question of our day—what are you going to do with your life—what we realized was that the answer to that question was simply the means to answering the truly important question of life: “Lord, what do I need to do today to be a better disciple of yours?”
Casey Cole OFM, Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God (2018).. Franciscan Media

6. Deacon Steven D. Greydanus @ Decent Films – SDG Reviews @ National Catholic Register   
Not only is Deacon Steve the best film critic reviewing movies today, he is a very faith filled, insightful, and charitable man of God. I would trust his opinion on almost anything regarding Catholic faith as he has a rock-solid foundation in theology and loving God and neighbor. He has strong opinions but never slanders those who disagree with him. If you want an opinion you can always trust be it film or catholic teaching, look no further then Deacon Steve. I’ve often thought about being a deacon myself and if I do, Deacon Steve is the perfect role model for me or any other man considering a vocation to the permanent deaconate.

Meanwhile, Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, is upon us. What can we do with this sacred time while we are bereft of the normal means of marking and celebrating it?

The first thing that occurs to me is that this strange Holy Week is a privileged time of spiritual solidarity with Christians throughout the centuries who have been deprived of the liturgy and the sacraments for months or years at a time.
Christians in unfriendly lands, living under persecution, imprisoned or exiled. Soldiers on the field of battle. Patients in hospitals and ICUs. Shut-ins, forgotten and neglected.
The Lord hasn’t forgotten any of them. And he hasn’t forgotten us. He hasn’t forgotten me.
No Good Friday service, however somber, will ever feel as much like a crucifixion to me as this empty Good Friday in my home.
If I am to “praise the Lord with greater joy than ever” this Easter Triduum, it will only be with the joy supplied by the Lord himself immediately and directly, without the normal liturgical accoutrements: the darkened church, the long cycle of Old Testament readings, the ringing bells at the Gloria, and so forth.
― Deacon Steven D. Greydanus Holy Week is Upon Us, and I Have Coronavirus (Apr. 4, 2020) ncregister.com

See the source image

7. Fr. Benedict j. Groeschel @Father Benedict Groeschel Official Store
I first heard of Fr. Groeschel when Kristin and I went to the Catholic Charismatic Conference in Lowell Mass, back in college. He spoke alongside Sr. Briege McKenna, another great speaker. He brings a sense of humor to his talks that makes you laugh along side his very insightful and interesting insights and stories he tells. As you can see by the picture above, we actually meet him. Once I went on a trip somewhere, and left the car door unlocked. When I came back in the morning, someone had stolen by cassette tapes of Fr. Groeschel I had left in the car. I hope they got some spiritual benefit from it.

“The Church is a collection of poor sinners. The Catholic Church is a collection of 1.1 billion very poor sinners. That’s a lot of original sins, and it is no wonder we have trouble.”
— Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel (The Journey of Faith: How to Deepen Your Faith in God, Christ, and the Church)

See the source image

“They said I would never live. I lived. They said I would never think. I think. They said I would never walk. I walked. They said I would never dance, but I never danced anyway.” (after his accident)
—Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel

8. Scott Hahn @ Dr. Scott Hahn – The Official Site   
Listened to a lot of his tapes and lectures back in the day. Love his energetic enthusiasm of bringing Catholic light onto the meaning of the scriptures. Never had a class with him when I went to FUS but did talk to him a few times and was on the production crew when we were taping ‘Franciscan University Presents’, for EWTN.

“It’s the Church and the Bible, both or neither! We might say, “We believe that.” But, does your lifestyle reflect that? Are you soaking in Scripture? Are you studying it? Are your reading it? Maybe a little bit a day. Maybe a lot each week. But if you won’t study God’s Word, you won’t know God. St. Jerome declared so clearly, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” We’ve got to read the Bible in the Church because this is the map of the City of God. If you want to know your way around the New Jerusalem, if you want to feel at home in Heaven, you better learn the map. If you want to understand what you receive in Holy Communion, if you want to understand how to communicate the truth of the Holy Eucharist to people who’ve departed from the Church, who’ve abandoned the Bread of Life, then you better study the menu, you better learn the ingredients, you better learn about the Passover and the recipe that God prepared for centuries before he finally delivered the Bread of Life in the Eucharistic Liturgy. We cannot excuse ourselves any longer.”
-Scott Hahn, The Bible & the Church: Both or Neither

“Loving difficult people will refine us. Perhaps only in heaven will our love be so perfected that we can actually like these people, too. St. Augustine spoke of a man who, on earth, had chronic gas problems; in heaven, his flatulence became perfect music.”
― Scott Hahn, The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth

9. Trent Horn @ Trent Horn | Catholic Apologist @ Catholic Answers
I got to meet Mr. Horn at his sales booth, at the Worcester Catholic’s Men Conference 2019. Like his co-worker Jimmy Akin at Catholic Answers, he is a top notch apologist who is friendly and kind to his ideological opponents and even has them appear on his show. He is able to talk about the importance of faith and apologetics and also the fun geeky culture that all mankind has in common. His Council of Trent podcast is educational and entertaining. He has a number of books touching on a number of interesting Catholic topics. Here is another Catholic who respects the magisterium instead of attacking it and makes the Catholic faith seem like a great faith to believe in.

In Francis’s time homiletic training at Europe’s universities stressed scholarly acumen more than pastoral sensitivity. This resulted in sermons that were dry or harsh in tone, but Francis had not attended one of these universities so his preaching drew primarily from his conversion experience. It was also vibrant and energetic, and it was common for Francis to sing and dance with joy and then openly weep when talking about God’s mercy. Mark Galli says that Francis “imitated the troubadours, employing poetry and word pictures to drive the message home. When he described the Nativity, listeners felt as if Mary was giving birth before their eyes; in rehearsing the crucifixion, the crowd (as did Francis) would shed tears.” Francis himself said, “What are the servants of God if not his minstrels, who must move people’s hearts and lift them up to spiritual joy?”
Trent Horn, What the Saints Never Said: Pious Misquotes and Subtle Heresies (2018)

People will say, “Why do you care? Why do you care if certain Catholics are very critical of Harry Potter and you’re not?” I don’t wade into the intra-Catholic disputes often because, you know what, we’re all brothers and sisters. We belong to the same church. We’re going to disagree about stuff. And that’s fine most of the time, but sometimes it bleeds beyond, and as I said, number one, makes people who are scrupulous extra worrisome when they don’t have to be, and that could be dangerous for them. Two, the outside world, we can seem silly to them.
Trent Horn, Fr. Ripperger, Harry Potter, and Healthy Skepticism (9/5/2019) Council of Trent Podcast

10. Peter Kreeft @ The Official Peter Kreeft Site

In 1990 I graduated from High School and I went to a Jr. College about 90 minutes away. It was at that college where I joined a non-denominational Christian group. In high school I had been a part of the Christian group Young Life. I had been a life-long devoted Catholic, but now my Catholic faith was really challenged for the first time. I had always loved and taken God seriously and loved being catholic, but a bible track given by a fellow student caused me to ask, ‘Did I want to be part of a church that didn’t take Jesus seriously?” I then began a quest to find a church that really loved Jesus. About a year or two later I was in a Christian bookstore and picked up a copy of the Christian Research Journal in which they were talking about the Catholic Faith. In it they quoted an author I was somewhat familiar with. I ended up seeking out the author whom they quoted. I read his book Fundamentals of the Faith and this particular passage in the book struck me.

There are things wrong with the sola scriptura doctrine. First, it separates Church and Scripture. But they are one. They are not two rival horses in the authority race, but one rider (the Church) on one horse (Scripture). The Church as writer, canonizer, and interpreter of Scripture is not another source of revelation but the author and guardian and teacher of the one source, Scripture. We are not taught by a teacher without a book or by a book without a teacher, but by one teacher, with one book, Scripture.
-Peter Kreeft, The Authority of the Bible Catholic Education Resource Center

This passage convinced me to return to the church of my youth. It convinced me that the true church is the Catholic church. I wanted to go where they loved Jesus the most, where the fullness of the truth was. Seeing I believed the bible was the source to all this information and truth, and the Catholic Church gave us the bible, I decided that the Catholic Church was the Church that God had established and founded. I even meet Dr. Kreeft at a talk once and got to tell him how he led me back to the Church.

Dr. Kreeft’s books and talks are full of wisdom, insight, clarity, humor and all sorts of interesting things, such as dialogues with Socrates. This passage below is very helpful when people bring up the topic of hell and how many people they think are going there.

Jesus says the way to hell is broad and many find it and that the way to heaven is narrow and few find it. And he means it: you don’t get to heaven simply by being born, by being nice, or by oozing into an eternal growth experience. But “few” here does not mean that less than half of mankind will be saved. For God speaks as our Father, not our statistician. Even one child lost is too many, and the rest saved are too few. The good shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep safe at home to rescue his one lost sheep found even 99 percent salvation too “few”.
Peter Kreeft, Hell (Feb 28 2018) Crossroads Initiative

11. Mark P Shea @ Catholic and Enjoying It!: Patheos @ Mark P. Shea: One Voice in the New Evangelization

I first saw Mark in the summer of 1997 when I went to my first ‘Defending the Faith’ Conference. I really liked his talk and have liked him ever since. I’m sure that the cassette tape of it, is still in my basement somewhere. I’ve always loved his creative and witty way he weaves understanding into his apologetics and spiritual writing. He has also helped me to see that you don’t have to adopt  the conservative view of politics and culture into your world view as a Christian. You don’t have to be a Donald Trump supporter to be a good Catholic. I got to meet him when he gave a talk in the Boston area. It was at a retreat center that was run by a priest that used to pastor at St. Steven’s church here in Framingham where Kristin and I live. It was a great talk. After the talk we got to chat for a bit. The main thrust of the conversation was what a great guy deacon Steve was. I was also struck by the fact Mark was a lot taller in person then I thought he was. His practical common sense, sound orthodoxy and good-natured humor make him one of my favorite writers. He can also be very humble and acknowledge his short comings and even at times acknowledge something positive in his ideological opponents. He also has been very gracious to pray for me when I have asked him for prayers.

In the long span of time we Homo sapiens have been around (roughly 200,000 years by best guesstimates), fully one third of that time has been spent with our entire race asleep eight hours out of each day. For every Caesar, Cleopatra, Napole-on, Thomas Edison, or Attila the Hun who blazes a fiery comet of fame and storied greatness across the firmament of history, there are millions and millions of anonymous people (chances are you and I are among them) who live and die and only God remembers them. A whole forest of leaves falls, and only one or two get saved in the scrapbook? What’s up with that? – Mark Shea: Empty Space (October 19, 2010) Catholic and Enjoying It! @ Patheos Catholic

markshea

Everybody will agree that the liturgy is an essential thing. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Faith. The Sacrifice of the Mass is holiest act a human being can participate in. Because of this, a subculture has grown up in the Church which cares very much about following the fine points of ecclesial politicking about how the Mass is to be translated, what the gestures are, and so forth. That subculture is welcome, like all subcultures, to knock itself out over its interests.

What it is not welcome to do is assume its interests are as essential as the liturgy itself. It is not welcome to pass judgment on folk, uninterested in Liturgy Wars, whose attitude at Mass is: “I’m here to worship God. Whatever the bishops approve is fine by me. Just give me my lines and my blocking and let me get on with worshipping the Father and adoring Jesus in the Eucharist.”

Unfortunately, this judgmentalism sometimes happens. And the irony is that it often winds up being just as destructive of worship for ordinary people as liturgical abuses.
-Mark Shea Unity, Liberty, Charity (September 13, 2006) Catholic Exchange

12. Fr. Mike Schmitz @ Fr. Mike Schmitz Archives – Ascension Press Media
Fr. Mike takes everyday topics and concerns about Catholic living and turns them into a reflective mediation about how to love God and neighbor more. Common sense, practical thinking and every man approach makes his videos engaging and heartfelt. He is non-threatening but also deeply challenging. He really knows how to deliver a good and impactful sermon. He knows how to deliver the spiritual goods and have it impact your soul.  An interesting bit of Fr. Mike trivia is that he auditioned for Robin in one of the batman movies. He almost became a crime fighter

There is almost no greater place to be than with someone when they are coming back to God. I said, “It would depressing if I had to watch someone leave God; I get to be with them when they come back to Him.” The Confessional is a place where people let God’s love win. The Confessional is the most joyful, humbling, and inspiring place in the world.

But why is Confession a scary place for a priest? It is frightening because of the way in which Jesus trusts me to be a living sign of His mercy.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen once told priests that we scarcely realize what is happening when we extend our hands over someone’s head in absolution. We don’t realize, he said, that the very Blood of Christ is dripping from our fingers onto their heads, washing the penitent clean.
Whether you have confessed a particular sin for the first time, or if this is the 12,001st time, every Confession is a win for Jesus. And I, a priest, get to be there. That’s what it’s like… I get to sit and watch Jesus win His children back all day.
It’s flippin’ awesome.
Fr. Mike Schmitz, My Side of the Confessional: What Is It Like for a Priest? Lifeteen

So there are 12 Catholics I really like and admire and whose books, tapes and more I highly recommend for Catholic spiritual consumption of mind and soul.


Browse Our Archives