Bishop Robert Barron did an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit today. I did an AMA with a fellow priest before and might do it again some time. It was really interesting to see all his answers. Here are what I think are the top questions and answers. 1. Faith as a Challenge Question: What do you find is the most significant challenge to your personal faith? Bishop Barron’s Answer: You know, like a lot of people over the centuries, I would say... Read more
Some amazing news came out of Australia today with a famous atheist politician receiving baptism. Bill Hayden had been the leader of a major Australian political party, then was the Governor General of Australia for 7 years. (The Governor General is the one who signs bills into law in the Queen’s name in 15 Commonwealth countries.) Recently, at 85, he renounced his atheism and joined the Catholic Church. Getting Close to Death The Australian reports his motivation to take this step. Bill Hayden,... Read more
Yesterday, Pope Francis was in Palermo. After one of his meetings, he gave an impromptu blessing prayer. Online, people exploded claiming that he was refusing to give the Apostolic Blessing using the standard formula and the Trinitarian invocation. As far as I could trace it back, this tweet started the controversy. At the end of his meeting with the Youth of Sicily today, Pope Francis refused to give the Pontifical Blessing, as not to offend the “many non-Catholic christians, those of... Read more
About two weeks ago, a professor at Brown University published a study but now the study is being removed at the behest of transgender activists. The study dealt with social groupings of those with gender dysphoria and possible social factors in the condition. Gender dysphoria is the medical term for those unsatisfied with their biological sex. GD is a rather rare condition with prevalence estimates in medical literature ranging from 1 in 7,100 to 1 in 100,000 (there may be the impression... Read more
The Sunday Times (UK) released a report yesterday on where sexual attacks in pools and Sports facilities were happening. The majority were in change rooms where both biological sexes were present. They use “sexual attack” as a broad term to include voyeurism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. As the Times reported (my emphasis), The majority of alleged sexual attacks at Britain’s public swimming pools and sports centres occur in unisex changing rooms, according to data obtained by The Sunday Times. Nine out... Read more
Recently, I’ve been reading An Explorer’s Guide to Julian of Norwich by Veronica Mary Rolf. Julian was a spiritual author who’d I’d vague heard about before. This book convinced me to buy Julian’s complete dialogues for further spiritual reading. I think this book is excellent. I will offer a general overview of Julian, a general outline of the book, some great lines and conclude explaining my 5-star rating. Rolf is in a unique position: she has money from her and... Read more
A few people have asked me about how I dealt with the Marcial Maciel case. How did I deal with it and how is the Legion now? I can’t speak for the whole Legion, but I can speak for myself. I also found a fellow Legionary who wrote on Facebook and Instagram about his experience. Hopefully, these two stories might help Catholics today struggling with the sexual scandals in the US Church. They might give some of you hope. Fr.... Read more
Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison posted a letter today which is a nice start of a response to McCarrick and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report. The word “sin” or its variations appear 46 times in the letter. You can read it all in the Catholic Herald (diocesan paper). “I Am Tired of Sin” Morlino begins forcefully expressing his personal outrage at the situation. For my part — and I know I am not alone — I am tired of this.... Read more
Recently Pope Francis wrote a document on how we can all be holy called Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad). I produced a study guide to help you if you want to read or discuss it. It has a lot to teach us all. I want to share with you a few points from it to give you a summary and encourage you to read it yourself. I highly recommend reading Gaudete et Exsultate. Summary / Introduction: As an apostolic exhortation, Gaudete... Read more
A few weeks back, I posted about how euthanasia and assisted suicide were a slippery slope even as the proponents argued it wasn’t. Since then four more stories of this euthanasia / assisted suicide slippery slope have come to light. Proponents of this always argue it is about freedom before the law but the practice is anything but once the law is passed. The four stories today are about issues with end-of-life care in England, Canada twice, and Belgium. Withdrawing Life Support... Read more
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