Why A Priest Writes Christian Fantasy After being inundated with the summer’s new television shows, Game Of Thrones–House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings–The Rings of Power, I did a lot of thinking about why I write Christian fantasy. I really should qualify that though. If I say I write Christian fantasy, I could be lumped in with the many Christian fantasy novelists who write fantasy with a proselytizing bent. The label might make a prospective... Read more
The Coming of Tolkien’s, The Rings Of Power A week from now, Amazon Prime will premier the long-awaited series, The Rings of Power. A prequel to Tolkien’s much beloved Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it tells tales cobbled together from the appendices of that trilogy–and therein lies the problem. Amazon has released several trailers and interviews with the cast and spun some of the plot in drips and drabs to ferociously hungry fans. It has done so mostly through... Read more
Is That All There Is? Disaffiliation From Religion Increases Perhaps one of the least liked of Jesus’s parables is that of the wealthy man who reaps a great harvest, puts up extra barns, believes he should eat, drink and be merry, and finds himself dead that night. What a downer. I’m reminded of Peggy Lee’s fabulous song “Is That All There Is?” thinking that those would be the last words of the wealthy man. Except…an awful lot of people think... Read more
The Radical Left Is A Religion Talk about unhinged. It may seem like the usual radical left vs. pro-life drama. But it’s not. When the Supreme Court recently handed down its decision on abortion, the radical left went bonkers. That’s when it became evident to people that the radical left has turned into a religion. It has codified its creed: human autonomy is the chief right. This is clarified in that jingoistic popular mantra–“My Body, My Choice!” And though... Read more
A Time Of Despair? Going on social media can be a dismal time for Catholics. Whether it is TikTok or FaceBook or some other site, non-Catholics, especially, gleefully announce the demise of Christianity as a whole or Catholicism in particular. Social media experts announce that belief in God is waning in the U. S. (down to 81 % from 95% fifteen years ago). They also parrot the view, unfortunately true, that U. S. Catholics are not coming to... Read more
An Unexpected Deliverance–The Death Of Roe V. Wade And so it happened, here on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It took 50 years, much prayer and protest, much sacrifice and dedication, but Divine Mercy trickled through the land. A monstrous decision decades ago was finally dealt a death blow by the Supreme Court as it threw out the constitutional right to an abortion. The echoes of the cries of 63 million human beings snuffed out during this... Read more
Where Are You Catholics? A little riff on a famous Christmas song: Where are you Catholics? Why can’t I find you? Why have you gone away? Back in June 2020, I wrote an article that prophesied Catholics would not return after the pandemic. (See: www.patheos.com/blogs/ericbarr/2020/06/catholics-they-are-not-coming-back-unless/). The Church had lifted the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Zoom Masses took the place of on site attendance. Communion services to believers who stayed in their cars–sort of like drive-in sacraments–were common.... Read more
Memories I was surfing YouTube the other night, and I came across the one celebrity over whose death I wept. Tuesday, October 12 marks the 24th anniversary of the death of John Denver. He passed away on a Saturday afternoon in a terrible plane crash over the Pacific Ocean—why do so many song artists die that way? I poured a glass of Glenlivet Scotch, sat down in my rocking chair, put on some John Denver tunes and cried like a... Read more
This opinion piece will not be tactfully phrased. There have been many essays in the past few days that look at the broader issues of the new motu proprio issued by Pope Francis concerning the traditional Latin Mass trying to balance both positive and negative views. I wanted to write a piece that reflects my experience from the trenches. Perhaps that will help some understand the issues that motivated Francis after he asked for the opinions of bishops from around... Read more
On the Warpath to Destroy St. John Paul the Great I can’t stand hateful trolls. And nowhere are they more present than on the warpath to dethrone Pope John Paul II as both saint and one of the great popes. The National Catholic Distorter has most recently tripped my trigger by calling on the Vatican to suppress the cult of St. John Paul II in the United States. Why? Because this newspaper and others of its ilk in the national... Read more
Thin Places
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