CHESTERTON—NOT MEDIOCRE ENOUGH TO BE BRITISH SAINT

August 4, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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

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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

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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

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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

VENERABLE ARCHBISHOP FULTON SHEEN–HOMEWARD BOUND

June 27, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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HOMEWARD BOUND If you find it’s me you’re missing If you’re hoping I’ll return To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning And in the road I’ll stop and turn Then the wind will set me racing As my journey nears its end And the path I’ll be retracing When I’m homeward bound again Bind me not to the pasture Chain me not to the plow Set me free to find my calling And I’ll return to you somehow. –Marta Keen,… Read more

SHEPHERDS THROWING PRIESTS TO THE WOLVES–MISTAKES OF THE BISHOPS PART TWO

June 24, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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So they lawyered up. That was the first mistake the bishops made in the sex abuse crisis. Deciding to be CEOs rather than shepherds. Thinking that money would solve what pastoral care would not attempt. Then the leaders of the Church made a second mistake: the bishops broke the foundational sacramental link between a bishop and his priests. What was supposed to be a firm partnership of brothers in ministering to the People of God became a standoff between a… Read more

BROADWAY SONG BECOMES HONG KONG ANTHEM

June 19, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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A Broadway song has unexpectedly taken a prominent place in the real life fight for freedom in Hong Kong. Probably the most famous musical of all time, LES MISERABLES, has provided the struggling city of Hong Kong with a freedom anthem. This past weekend, two million people took to the streets of the metropolis to march for freedom from an increasingly oppressive mainland China. Many of the marchers were heard singing “Do You Hear The People Sing”, the freedom song… Read more

NEW AGE AMAZON SYNOD DOCUMENT PORTENDS DISASTER

June 17, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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Anybody remember the BILLY JACK movies from the early 1970’s? As a teen-ager, I just loved them. Billy Jack, a Vietnam vet, a Native American, returns home and fights people who are persecuting Native Americans. He was Chuck Norris before Chuck Norris and his martial arts feats captivated us kids. Then we grew up and realized that the movies were a mish mash of naive social justice concepts and stereotypical portrays of tribal customs and life on a reservation. I… Read more

MISTAKES OF THE BISHOPS–PART ONE

June 15, 2019 By Monsignor Eric Barr, STL

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The U.S. Bishops had an unimpressive week at their biannual meeting. That means this first paragraph will be boring. But take heart! It shall get better. They approved three measures to help alleviate last year’s iteration of the sex abuse crisis, namely, the ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick controversy. First, they approved a way for a bishop to discipline another bishop within his diocese. Next, they approved norms to codify Pope Francis’ February Conference on Sex Abuse results. And finally, they approved… Read more

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