‘I’d like you to convert Chicago,” Fr. Robert Barron remembers his boss, Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago, telling him about six years ago.
The result may just be on a PBS station near you this fall.
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Father Barron, a Chicago priest and professor, has created a remarkable book and TV series called Catholicism — which, in providing a fresh introduction to a 2,000-year-old tradition, manages to be both elaborate and humble. It is openly a work of evangelization (complete with available study guides and a prayer card), and is done in a way that is welcoming to a wide potential audience.
Barron characterizes his effort as a “guided exploration of the Catholic world, but not in the manner of a docent, for I am not interested in showing you the artifacts of Catholicism as though they were dusty objets d’art in a museum of culture. I want to function rather as a mystagogue, conducting you ever deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation in the hopes that you might be transformed by its power.” He makes excellent use of the vibrancy of technology to reintroduce a vocabulary and tradition that has, of late, been too much hindered by a lack of confidence.
Barron writes: “I have based my life on the knowledge that God speaks with greatest clarity in the Bethlehem baby, too weak to raise his head but more powerful than Caesar Augustus, in the rabbi who, trumping the Torah itself, told all of us how to find beatitude, in the warrior who picked a fight in the Temple precincts, in the young man, tortured to death on a squalid hill outside Jerusalem, with the words, ‘Father, forgive them,’ on his lips, in the risen one who said ‘Shalom’ to those who had abandoned and betrayed him, in Maschiach Ieshoua, Christ Jesus, the Lord of all the nations.”
And while there is no mistaking Barron’s presence as the host, he loves to talk about Catholicism as a team effort, the fruits of the talent and generosity of many (not to mention the gifts of Someone beyond them all). It’s a truly pastoral approach, a good reminder to people of faith who feel exiled by the culture: Don’t stay in exile; engage. Don’t feel like a victim; be a brother. This, too, is Catholicism: a manifestation of God’s glory here on earth, but also a human attempt to seek that which is greater, making use of the creative means to which we have access in the here and now.
“I wanted something that was elevated. Something that was intellectual. But also something that was lyrical. Something that would draw people into the texture and the feel of Catholicism,” Barron tells me. And so he shows us everything from Aristotle and St. John of the Cross to baseball and John Henry Newman.
You don’t have to be Catholic, want to be Catholic, or even like Catholics to go on this journey. It’s not a homily. Barron doesn’t preach at you. Perhaps wowed by the high-def wonder of it all, more than one PBS station agreed it is worth a look.
The series does not challenge just the viewer, but also the author: Barron’s producer occasionally questions him on camera.
In the midst of years of scandal and crisis headlines, what is good and beautiful about Catholicism still remains. Why? And why would you want it? The series presents answers to these questions, too.
Having my daughter attend the University of Notre Dame has all but cured me of my longing for the Catholic Church of my youth -- clearly that church no longer exists.
This new congregation now worships at the altar of leftism and is part and parcel of the Democrat party, with all its warts. Chicago's Catholics range from silent on the issue of abortion to openly pro-abortion, from enablers of the Democrat abortion factory to funders and promoters.
This new partisan/liberal Democrat Catholic Church holds the morality of pro-life conservatives in open contempt, and mocks the moral authority of the Papacy and the bishops, holding counsel instead with Democrat lawyers.
Theodore Hesburgh and his acolyte John Jenkins have wrought great damage to the church through their tiny order of Holy Cross.
The Catholic Church here in suburban St. Louis is doing great. We're blessed with many great priests, and it's been quite a while since I've heard a homily with something strange sounding in it. Hopefully you're just referring to being disappointed on a small scale, because the church is alive and well. I'm only 34, so "discovering" some of the devotions that apparently went out of style at one point (Adoration, etc.) has been really neat. I've heard some people say that these will aid in the rebirth of the practice of the faith and I personally believe this as well.
Thanks for the optimistic and positive word. I know many young people in the church, and am buoyed by the strength and purity of their faith and their love of the church's traditions. And who knows...some of them might be at Notre Dame!
"Here you will find the traditions of the Church as they have been for centuries." All except one: Obedience to the Roman pontiff and an ecumenical council of the Church!
And what did you expect? Notre Dame long ago switched to being a college "in the Catholic tradition." That should have told you enough right there. Hesbergh embarked on his blasphemies decades ago.
You can have the cachet of Notre Dame, or you can have a true Catholic college like Aquinas. Not much of a football school though.
In all honesty, we didn't know, Carol. We didn't know.
Now ... we know. If you don't know anyone on the inside, you don't know how bad it is. She regales me daily with the sadness that is Indiana State University at South Bend. Purdue with a dome. I call it Berkeley Midwest. It is given over to the clownish left, which is an anti-Catholic cult.
As a conservative Roman Catholic, I feel increasingly disenfranchised by the leftward leaning of many priests and Catholics I encounter. I have confronted a few on how they square the tenets of their faith with Marxist principles, and I get responses about how Jesus would support redistribution of wealth, the sinfulness of the capitalist system, and so on. Unfortunately, most of these people show a complete lack of understanding of the U.S. Constitution and of conservative principles. The Catholic Church appears to have lost control of most of its bishops and priests (if not its cardinals), and is becoming unrecognizable to traditional Catholics. The article does not seem to tread into these area, but noting that the series was written by a Chicagoan, I will assume his political orientation is of the progressive bent.
The Vatican has also come out in the past decade as being both anti-war and anti-death penalty. Given that most American conservatives are pro- both of those things, how do conservative Catholics respond to that? Given that all other first world countries outlaw the death penalty, and generally don't wage war unless warranted, I would say conservatives in those countries have an easier time not being hypocritical when they stick to fighting the pro-life battle.
Notre Dame is almost as Catholic as the other Big East colleges. If they are able to field a competitive football and basketball team, I feel they are blessed. However, they (and Georgetown, et. al.) are about as religious as a wh*rehouse.
I enjoy the Rite of Exorcism the Most! Although I gotta say even thou the Devil will ALWAYS lie, at least he is the ONLY Supernatural entity, willing to talk to a crowd in 2,000 years...
Barron tries to Judaize his faith, calling Jesus a "Rabbi" preaching "Torah," but when he attempts to hebraicize his name he uses a bizarre Greek spelling "Ieshoua"?
Kathryn, thank you. I always forward these to my wife who is a better Catholic than I, though I remain devoted. It is easy to focus on the problems -- i too was outraged by Notre Dame's cavalier attitude to life issues -- but for my part as a child of the 1970s things have only improved in recent years. Virtually every young priest i come across seems to display a very strong fidelity to the faith, so much so that I almost take it for granted from them. That also seems true of those active in the laity. To others I would say: do not leave Rome just because some locals go haywire, instead stay and fight. This fight will always be with us.
I pre-ordered the entire "Catholicism" DVD series and have already watched the whole thing. It is superb in every way. Whatever your ideas about the Catholic Church, and Christianity in general, you will find the series very illuminating.
As it happens, Fr. Barron grew up in my parish and still says Mass there around once a month. For what it's worth, he's a great guy and as you can imagine we all look forward to his homilies.
For those of you who've never encountered Barron, he combines excellent scholarship with a geniality and humility that are rare. Beyond Fr. Barron himself, the cinematography of the series is breathtaking. Fr. Barron constantly reminds us that the Church is meant to appeal to BOTH the "right and left brains" of humanity -- it embraces reason and art in equal measure. For him, art is itself theology, as is science, history and philosophy.
As a Catholic I do understand those who complain that, of late, some elements within the Church have become too "political." This is frequently manifested as a liberal bias. Well, you won't find that here. This is pure, unvarnished Catholic Christianity. It reminds me very much of C.S. Lewis's famous work "Mere Christianity." This series is destined to be a classic and should not be missed.
I don't know Barron's politics but I know he does not shy away from the truth of the faith. Even the non-pc truths. So before you jump to conclusions go to wordonfire.org and watch some of commentaries yourself.
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