God Wants Us to Suffer, A Pious Heresy
January 24, 2019When I teach junior high classes about creation I usually draw a large circle on the whiteboard. I tell my class that this represents everything God created and I ask them to shout out the things that would go inside the circle. “People!” is one of the first things the student’s shout and the circle quickly gets filled in with things like plants, animals, time, matter, and angels. At this point, I like to have fun with them and write “Hell” and “Satan” in the circle and a lively discussion usually ensues. There are a couple things, however, that aren’t…
The Pope Francis Generation
I’m too young to have known John Paul II. He died before I cared about Jesus, let alone the pope. Benedict was pope during my conversion at the end of high school and during college. But I was too deeply…
The Stupid Shepherd
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I…
We do not Possess the Truth: How the Church Changes Her Teachings
“We must move toward an idea of truth that is evermore inclusive, less restrictive; at least, if we are thinking of the truth of God and not some human truth, however solid it may appear to us. The truth of…
The Harlot and the Bride
In the first reading today, John describes the apocalyptic fall of the great city of Babylon. While there’s debate among Scripture scholars over whether John’s vision of Babylon represents Rome or Jerusalem, for my purposes here I want to focus on…
Yet another reason to mistrust the pope
Over the weekend I saw many people speaking out in frustration over Pope Francis putting Cardinal Cupich of Chicago on the planning committee for the February meeting in Rome addressing the abuse crisis. Those critical of this appointment are, unsurprisingly, conservative American…
“My power is made perfect in weakness”
When the Church takes up someone’s cause for sainthood, one of the things they look for is heroic virtue. Drawing from Pope Benedict XIV and St. Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Encyclopedia defines “heroic virtue” as “…a habit of good conduct…
#USCCB18 and the McCarrick Documents
During the US bishops conference this week, my bishop, Bishop Boyea, put the following proposal to vote: “Be it resolved that the bishops of the USCCB encourage the Holy Father to release all the documentation that can be released consistent…
The Virtue of Not Being Weird
The Christian ideal will always be a summons to overcome suspicion, habitual mistrust, fear of losing our privacy, all the defensive attitudes which today’s world imposes on us. Many try to escape from others and take refuge in the comfort…
#metoo, Fear, and Safe Environments
I’ve been thinking of #metoo in light of the safe environment training that’s required in Catholic churches. Some quick background: One of the US Church’s responses to the abuse scandals of the early 2000s was to mandate safe environment training for all…
Bishop Barron’s podcast about Amoris Laetitia
I love Bishop Robert Barron. I just listened to his talk from the World Meeting of Families last month in Ireland where he spoke on chapters seven, eight, and nine of Amoris Laetitia and I noticed two things. First of all, in an…
