Fr. Barron on the SCOTUS Same-Sex "Marriage" Ruling

Father Robert Barron, author/host of The Catholicism Series and founder of the Word on Fire apostolate, comments on the Supreme Court's recent decision on same-sex "marriage." Fr. Barron frames his discussion on historical events dating back to the founding of the United States.

Video: Fr. Robert Barron on Intentional Discipleship

Two weeks ago we discussed practical strategies for evangelizing in the modern world. Today, I'd like to share a video from Fr. Robert Barron, author of the Catholicism miniseries and Word on Fire YouTube channel. In the video Fr. Barron discusses the 5 stages a person may be experiencing in terms of their openness to evangelization.

Video: Fr. Robert Barron on Original Sin

Father Robert Barron, host and author of the Catholicism Mini-Series, examines the state of our current culture in terms related to the fall of Adam and Eve, which is outlined in today's first reading from Genesis.

Lenten Reflections with Father Barron

It's not too late to sign up for the daily Lenten reflections with Fr. Robert Barron, host of the Catholicism miniseries and Word on Fire author and speaker.

Video: Fr. Robert Barron on the Call of the Disciples

Video:Fr. Robert Barron on the Last Acceptable Prejudice - Anti-Catholicism

Fr. Barron on Pope Francis Being Named Time's Person of the Year

Fr. Robert Barron Discusses "The Joy of the Gospel"

Fr. Barron Talks About the Pope's Big Interview

Faith is Not Irrational:Fr. Barron's Commentary on Lumen Fidei

From The Practicing Catholic

There is an urgent need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfilment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time. (Lumen Fidei, 4).

Faith, Hope and Charity
Last Friday, Pope Francis published his first encyclical entitled Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith). The encyclical closed out the three part series initiated by Pope Benedict on the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity (see CCC 1812-1829). Pope Benedict began by writing on charity in Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) and followed it up later with Spe Savli (Saved by Hope). In Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis concludes the third installment on faith, which Pope Benedict had already begun writing before his resignation. Francis described the encyclical as having been written by four hands.

Faith is Not Irrational

In this video, Father Robert Barron gives an overview of the encyclical, highlighting a key point that faith is not irrational.

Holy Trinity: Central Mystery of Faith

Holy Trinity, Hendrick van Balen

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. It seems fitting that this celebration should follow immediately after the Church's celebration of Pentecost.

Central Mystery
Belief in the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of our Catholic faith (CCC, 261). This is reflected in the sacramental form of Baptism: "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (CCC, 232) One should note that the formula uses the singular of "name" to accentuate the belief that the Trinity is one God (CCC, 233). This is revealed as early as the creation story in Genesis (1:26): Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” [Emphasis added.]

The Baptism of Jesus

The Blessed Trinity is most explicitly revealed in scripture during the Baptism of Jesus:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:13-17).

St. Augustine & the Trinity
There is a pious legend that holds that St. Augustine was walking on the beach near Hippo, where he was bishop, contemplating the mystery of the Trinity. As he walked, he saw a boy in front of him who had dug a hole in the sand and was going out to the sea again and again and bringing some water in a bucket to pour into the hole. St. Augustine asked him, “What are you doing?” “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.” St. Augustine replied, “That is impossible, the whole ocean will not fit in the hole you have made.” The boy answered back, “And you cannot fit the Trinity in your tiny little brain.” Reflecting on this story, Archbishop Chaput concluded the following:

Augustine didn't stop thinking about the Trinity. In fact, he gave the Church her single most important Christian reflection on the Trinity, called De Trinitate, which is as profound and powerful today as it was 1,600 years ago.  But Augustine did learn to be humble. He learned that no matter how hard he thought about mysteries like the Trinity, he would never fully understand them. The same is true for us. We'll always need faith to guide us in our lives. In all our searching for God, we need to remember what Pope John Paul the Great taught us: Our minds need to fly on two wings — faith and reason. We need both. They're meant to go together.  

Creedal Claim
If we reflect closely as we pray the Nicene Creed during Mass or the Apostle's Creed when we pray the Rosary, we will more fully discover their Trinitarian character. When he proclaimed this a Year of Faith, Pope Benedict recommended we PRAY the Creed daily.

Marian Dimension
Our Blessed Mother Mary has the distinction of having a unique relationship with the Holy Trinity. She is the the Mother of God, the Son. She is the favored daughter of the Father who is full of His grace (Luke 1:28). Finally, she is the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (Lumen Gentium, 53).

Signs and Prayers
When we make the Sign of the Cross we are invoking the Holy Trinity. When we pray the Glory Be we are professing our faith and praising the Holy Trinity.

The Place to be on Planet Earth

Photo obtained thru The PopeApp

I don't know about you, but I am still processing the fact that we have a new pope, a Latin American pope and a Jesuit. My first impression of Pope Francis was immediately that he is a humble man. I was profoundly moved by his request that the people bless him before he blessed them.

Father Robert Barron offers his reflections on the announcement and what our new Holy Father may bring to the Church.

Fr. Barron: It's All Because of Peter

Father Robert Barron continues to report for NBC and maintain what he calls "smoke watch." According to the Catholic News Agency, the smoke signals are taking place early within the expected time frames. As of this writing, the conclave has taken three votes without electing a pope.

Fr. Barron is a little behind on posting his conclave updates. He nicely pointed out that he told the anchor on the Today Show that the reason the whole world is watching is because of Peter. Here's is yesterday's update in which he asserts that two factions exist within the conclave. He rightly concludes his update by asking us to pray for him and more importantly, the 115 cardinals who continue to meet.

Fr. Barron: "No Clear Front Runner"

Father Robert Barron continues to report from Rome on the pending conclave which begins tomorrow. In this recent update, he indicates that the overall consensus is that no clear front runner is emerging from among the cardinals. Additionally, he shares about his conversation with his NBC Catholic commentary colleague, George Weigel who is best known as the premier biographer of Blessed John Paul II. Father Barron also alluded to the buzz surrounding Timothy Cardinal Dolan's celebration of Mass at his titular parish yesterday.

Watch the video below for the complete update:

Fr. Robert Barron in Rome for Conclave

Father Robert Barron is in Rome covering the Conclave for NBC and MSNBC. If you catch his commentary on secular media, you can rest assured you are getting a good sound opinion. We regularly include Father Barron's videos from Word On Fire here at Joe Catholic. In case you don't know who Father Barron is, he is the creator of the wonderful Catholicism mini-series that has appeared on PBS and EWTN.

Here's a copy of his first report from Rome for Word on Fire:

Reflecting on MLK's Life and Legacy

Source: Library of Congress

Today, many of us are home from work as the nation honors the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. I'd like to share two videos that encapsulate two ways we can think about his life and legacy.

The first is reflection by Father Robert Barron on why Dr. King is still relevant today.

The second is a speech given by Dr. King's niece and pro-life activist, Alveda King courtesy of Priests for Life.

Alveda King Shares Her Abortion Story - Support... by priestsforlife2010

7 Qualities of the New Evangelist

Father Robert Barron outlines seven qualities we all need to have as New Evangelists. We've mentioned a few here in previous posts. He begins by reminding us that we cannot share what we don't have. We need to be in love with Jesus in order to share that love with others. In other words, we have to learn who Christ is, live as Christ did and share the good news of Christ with others. Father Barron also describes the New Evangelist as one who needs to share the faith with ardor, with a burning fire.  Watch the video to learn about the rest in more detail.

Hunger Games Revisited,One Catholic View

[NOTE: This is primarily a revision of a previous post.]

This week, The Hunger Games movie became available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and other VOD outlets. For those of you who may have missed my previous post outlining my opinion (and that's all this is) on how Catholics should approach deciding whether or not their children should watch the film or even read the books (that I hear are far better than the first movie).

My personal position (and of course that's all it is) is that parents have to make those types of decisions based on what they think their children are mature enough to handle. I addressed a similar issue with the last Harry Potter movie. Like I said in that post, the Catholic Church (outside of a movie review service) does not normally make definitive statements about books, movies or other art.

Forget about the content of the book(s) for a moment. A well formed and informed set of parents should be able to make rational decisions about what content they deem appropriate for THEIR children. If they choose to permit their children to watch the film or read the books, no one should call them out as bad parents. Similarly, parents who decide to not allow either should not be condemned as narrow minded. It's their right and responsibility to "be up in their kids' business." (I am envisioning one of my colleagues saying this).

Moreover, parents are responsible for being the primary teachers to their children. Blessed Pope John Paul II expressed this in Familiaris Consortio:

The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation of married couples to participate in God's creative activity: by begetting in love and for love a new person who has within himself or herself the vocation to growth and development, parents by that very fact take on the task of helping that person effectively to live a fully human life. As the Second Vatican Council recalled, "since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among the children. Hence, the family is the first school of those social virtues which every society needs."(FC, 36)Here are some well balanced reviews of the movie:

National Review, Father Robert Barron

Catholic News Service, Movie Review

The God-Man and Superheroes

Any excuse to include Captain America.

When the The Avengers' movie opened, I wrote about our need for heroes. This summer has been packed with a number of superhero movies. The Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman have already been released. Tonight, the highly anticipated Dark Knight Rises will open to sold out theaters. We seem to clamor to see these movies even when it seems they have been rebooted too soon. Why are we drawn to see these movies?

Father Robert Barron suggests in his article What Christ Can Teach Superheroes that what fascinates us about all these superheroes, and the comic books on which they are based, "has something to do with Christianity; more precisely, with the strange hybrid figure around which all of the Christian religion revolves." He posits that these superheroes are analogous to the God-man, Christ, who are "hybrid combinations of the extraordinary and the ordinary."

Read the rest of his article or view the two videos below to get Father Barron's complete insights.

Pentecost & the Role of the Holy Spirit

Pentecost, El Greco

Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, in which Holy Spirit was poured out over the Church. Today also marks the birth of the Church. Sometimes I think the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood and often forgotten person of the Holy Trinity.

The Catechism (688) gives a great summary of how we encounter (whether we know it or not) the Holy Spirit:

The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:
- in the Scriptures he inspired;
- in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;
- in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists;
- in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;
- in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;
- in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;
- in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;
- in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

We need to get in the habit of praying to the Holy Spirit because he is the one that sanctifies us. As we learn to trust him and ask for his help, we will be drawn closer to him. In this way we grow in our love for God and neighbor.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit by Josemaria Escriva (1934):

Come, O Holy Spirit!
Enlighten my mind to know your commands;
strengthen my heart against the snares of the enemy;
inflame my will…
I have heard your voice, and I don’t want to harden myself and resist, saying “Later…, tomorrow.”
Nunc coepi! Now I begin! In case there is no tomorrow for me.

O Spirit of truth and wisdom, Spirit of understanding and counsel, Spirit of joy and peace! I want whatever you want. I want because you want, I want however you want, I want whenever you want.

Here are a few videos to help with understanding the Third Person of the Holy Trinity better.

Father Robert Barron speaks about the Holy Spirit:

Jimmy Akin answers What is the Holy Spirit?

Jimmy Akin answers Who is the Holy Spirit?