Thin Places - Opinon on the struggle of the world to walk the path to God.

JESUIT ACTOR IN “EXORCIST” MOVIE ACCUSED OF ABUSE

August 17, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

Morally Compromised NY Governor and Legislature Destroy Reputations There has been no investigation, yet. There is not yet a credible allegation. There are no other accusations against this man. Yet the New York Law which went into effect yesterday has destroyed a priest’s reputation callously and totally without evidence. The state justice system that allows innocent babies to be wiped out of existence, now also allows people to be accused of supposed ancient crimes by people who have kept silent… Read more

CATHOLIC BELIEF IN EUCHARIST HASN’T CHANGED IN A QUARTER CENTURY

August 14, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

19 Comments

Recently, my friend Bishop Robert Barron let his righteous anger fly on his blog concerning the new Pew Research Poll showing that only one third of Catholics believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He and I were in seminary together, and he certainly deserves the title of Best Catholic Apologist. He was right to be angry about the incredible aridity of Catholic Eucharistic belief, but he and other commentators have become incensed over this fact… Read more

NARNIA TOPS WITH READERS AGAIN

August 13, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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A British survey earlier this month showed people picking C. S. Lewis’ THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, the first of his CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, as the most popular book in the land. Last year it was chosen as the one book adults would most like to read again. Lewis’ work topped 49 other books in popularity. The fantasy novel beat out Dan Brown’s THE DAVINCI CODE as well as The Harry Potter series which rolled in at #3. … Read more

VIOLENT AMERICA–THE REASON

August 9, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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CHRISTIANITY NEARLY EXTINCT IN IRAQ

August 6, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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Few Christians in the West, know that Christianity in Iraq and much of the Middle East is on the verge of extinction, nearly martyred out of existence by constant persecution of radical Islam. In the first millennium the Church in Iraq was huge. Only when the Mongols showed up in the medieval era did things begin to get bad. Here’s a great article on the terrible crisis for Christians in Iraq. From UK Catholic Herald: Iraq’s Christians ‘close to extinction’… Read more

CHESTERTON—NOT MEDIOCRE ENOUGH TO BE BRITISH SAINT

August 4, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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Bishop’s Letter of Rejection Bishop Peter Doyle from the United Kingdom Diocese Of Northampton has decided not to pursue the investigation of the possible sainthood of G. K. Chesterton. What an incredibly stupid and shortsighted decision. The reasons are threefold—no local cult of devotion, no pattern of person spirituality, and a thread of anti semitism in his writings. One wonders if the good bishop has ever really read Chesterton. For the sake of a man who cannot speak for himself,… Read more

RACISM OR TRUTH IN BALTIMORE?

July 30, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

1 Comment

Baltimore ecumenical leaders including Archbishop Lori, responded to President Trump’s tweets on the rat infested neighborhoods of the city. I always get embarrassed when my fellow clergy confuse people with problems. The dignity of poor people in Baltimore is not in question. Their living conditions are. President Trump and many other democratic officials through the years have been right to criticize the abhorrent squalid sections of the city. They are rat infested and similar to what one would find… Read more

ST. MARY MAGDALENE–ENIGMA, HERO, APOSTLE

July 22, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

2 Comments

Let’s get holy. On this Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, a look at this extraordinary woman is going to deepen our friendship with Christ. Cast away your images of her in Jesus Christ Superstar, or The Last Temptation of Christ, or the myriad of other films and books about this woman our spiritually bankrupt age describes in no apparent order as a prostitute, the wife of Jesus, the founder of the Merovingian French dynasty of kings, a feminist icon, etc. … Read more

BISHOPS EMBRACING SLOTH–MISTAKES OF THE BISHOPS PART THREE

July 19, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

5 Comments

Becoming CEOs of the institution and ceding the Church to lawyers rather than to the Gospel was mistake number one. Severing the sacramental connection between priest and bishop was mistake number two. However, the most egregious mistake the bishops have made throughout the entire clergy sexual abuse crisis is the third. The bishops committed the capital sin of sloth. We think of sloth as laziness, but it is not. It is self-pity, a sorrow for oneself that embraces a… Read more

ST. JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN–TO BE CANONIZED ON OCTOBER 13

July 1, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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If you don’t know this man you should. He is one of the most famous theologians in the past three hundred years. He’s the reason I’ve stayed Catholic. Many others would agree that he has kept them Catholic too. So glad he will be declared a saint. He was a brilliant theologian. And a writer of poems and hymns. Here is his most famous poem. It was my favorite in high school. The Pillar of the Cloud John Henry Newman… Read more

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