Posts
Is Burning Man a Pagan Ritual?
If you’ve seen the movie Office Space, you might have a clear mental picture of the typical people who put down big bucks and head to rural Nevada every year to be a part of the Burning Man Festival. A key demographic going to this curious,…
Young People Are Leaving the Church—Can We Turn the Tide?
Thirteen is the typical age when young people leave the Catholic Church. If you haven’t read Bishop Robert Barron’s article about young people leaving the Church, you should read it here. In it, he comments on a recent study conducted by…
Reaching Various Catholic Groups with the Gospel
As a Church, we need to always live in the realm of what is “real and true,” including how we need carry out our evangelization efforts so that all Catholics are impacted by the message of the Gospel. To help in this assessment and planning,…
PokémonGo and the Sublime Gifts of Being Catholic
The mind-boggling reality that we know as the Incarnation—God becoming man—is an explicit affirmation of the created world, and thanks to this we Catholics look at the created world as something good. And we can enjoy the things of this…
A “New Savvy” Emerges from Young Adult Catholics
It has been more than fifty years since Bishop Fulton J. Sheen captured the attention of television viewers throughout the nation with his dynamic presence, wit, and wisdom. These days, with the possible exception of comedians like Stephen Colbert…
Outdoor Weddings and the Theology of Encounter
In an effort to integrate young Catholic couples into the parish community and educate them in the Faith, Bishop George Leo Thomas of the Diocese of Helena has decided to allow some weddings to take place at suitable outdoor locations, provided…
Pre-Cana and the Future of Marriage Prep
Marriage always seems to be in the news. We are enamored with celebrity marriages. We smile when we hear about a couple who is celebrating their sixtieth or seventieth wedding anniversary. And our culture is now debating the very meaning of…
New York Parish Revived by Eastern-rite Catholics
Earlier this week, a particular headline caught my eye. It announced that a closed parish in Yonkers, New York is reopening as an Eastern-rite Catholic Church serving an Indian congregation. This reminds me of my visit to the multicultural…
Catholics, Conscience, and Catechesis
When we think about the word “conscience,” we often think about having “gut feelings,” “following your heart,” or “listening to your inner voice.” In the Catholic world, the issue of conscience took center stage in the Western…