Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

New: "That Nothing May Be Lost" by Rev. Paul D. Scalia

Now available from Ignatius Press:

That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion

by Rev. Paul D. Scalia

Fr. Paul Scalia reveals a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart in these inspiring reflections on a wide range of Catholic teachings and practices. Rooted in Scripture, these insights place the reader on a path to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God.

Among the topics explored are deepening one's knowledge of Jesus, partaking of the life of grace through the sacraments, and cultivating the art of prayer as a continuous conversation with God.

Each section is introduced by a moving essay by a highly regarded Catholic. Fr. Paul Check, Jim Towey, Scott Hahn, Mary Ellen Bork, Gloria Purvis, Raymond Arroyo, Lizz Lovett, Helen Alvaré, and Dan Mattson offer their personal accounts of being Catholic, which are followed by Fr. Scalia's illuminations. Archbishop Charles Chaput contributes a thought- provoking foreword, which begins the reader's exploration of the many important aspects of the Catholic faith presented in this book.

Fr. Paul Scalia, a native of Virginia, studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Ordained in 1996, Fr. Scalia was appointed the Bishop's Delegate for Clergy in 2012. He has written for various publications and has served as a frequent contributor to the Arlington Catholic Herald and Encourage and Teach, the diocesan blog.

"Fr. Scalia has written a book that deepens our faith and leads us closer to God in a hundred different ways."
— Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia, from the Foreword

"Fr. Scalia has a unique gift of taking stories from Scripture that we've heard many times and casting them into a whole new light. In this book he opens up Catholic teaching in fresh and sometimes surprising directions that will change the way you think about your faith."
— Carrie Gress, Author, Nudging Conversations

"It is the great joy of a priest to see the two people he loves most, the Lord Jesus and whichever person he is caring for at that moment, in each other's arms. It is my hope that the many reflections Fr. Scalia offers us in these pages will bring us all into the arms of the only One who can ultimately satisfy."
— Fr. John Riccardo, Author, Heaven Starts Now

"Sacraments are symbols that convey the reality they signify. All other signs remain distinct from the things they signify. Only sacraments bring about what they signify. Sacramental signs convey the sacred reality itself. There can be no more perfect communication than this. Only God could express Himself in this way."
— Scott Hahn, from the Introduction to Chapter IV, The Sacraments

"One of the blessings of being a Catholic is discovering we are part of a large extended family of holy people. Their stories cover many centuries and diverse cultures, and knowing them, we come to a better understanding of Christ, the One they loved and followed."
— Mary Ellen Bork, from the Introduction to Chapter VI, The Saints

"As I read my friend Fr. Paul's moving and rich reflections on various feast days, an image from my childhood returned. It is of a Corpus Christi procession through the French Quarter around St. Louis Cathedral. Once again that eternal clash of the sacred and the profane that the rest of the world tries to ignore or deny is made manifest. This is what feast days are all about: dedicated times for us to stop and experience the deeper spiritual reality beyond the blur of our chaotic lives."
— Raymond Arroyo, from the Introduction to Chapter IX, Feasts: The Pattern and Rhythm of the Christian Life

Fast-growing "FORMED" program harnesses the power and reach of "the new Roman road"

CWR Staff | The Dispatch

FORMED is a Netflix-like VOD and digital content service that features the best audio, video, e-books and feature-length films from Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, Word on Fire ministries, and others.

"There is a new Roman road today," says Dr. Tim Gray, president of the Augustine Institute, in explaining how the Catholic program "Formed" seeks to combine the zeal of the early Church with the tools of the digital age, "The new Roman road is the internet and the digital age. We need to take up these roads for the faith, for Jesus Christ.”

FORMED is one of the fastest growing Catholic programs today, described as "a Netflix-like VOD and digital content service for both seeker and believer that features the best audio, video, e-books and feature-length films from some of the world’s most credible Catholic sources, such as the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, and Word on Fire ministries."

Augustine Institute says there are now more than 210,000 FORMED users in over 2,300 parishes in the United States, with the website—formed.org—having about 2 million page views each month. And more dioceses are using the FORMED program; in 2016, the dioceses of Baker, Cincinnati, Lincoln, Colorado Springs, Philadelphia and Cheyenne used the program with great success. Other dioceses to implement FORMED recently include Arlington, Birmingham and the Archdiocese of New York, the second-largest diocese in the U.S.. The 2.6 million parishioners in the 296 parishes in the Archdiocese of New York, have unlimited access to the expansive FORMED content, at no cost, for the next year.

On December 1st, Cardinal Timothy Dolan sent out his Advent message, encouraging Catholics to use FORMED. He wrote:

Can I suggest one way you might fit some Advent preparation into your busy schedule?  Spend some time on FORMED.org, if you haven’t already signed up.  Thanks to a generous benefactor, all parishes in the Archdiocese of New York are currently signed up for this online platform that provides Catholic content such as movies, E-books, audio talks, Bible studies, and more!  There is an Advent study, as well as a new program on the Sacrament of Confession, called Forgiven.  I especially encourage you to watch this and prepare for our Archdiocesan-wide Reconciliation Monday on December 19.

The featured content on FORMED includes the "Catholicism" series by Bishop Robert Barron and his Word on Fire apostolate; the 12-session video program "Beloved" that "uncovers the mystery and the meaning of the sacrament of marriage"; the classic movie "The Jeweler's Shop", which is based on St. Pope John Paul II's best-selling book

The content featured on FORMED includes Bishop Robert Barron’s entire Catholicism series; "Beloved", a 12-session video program that uncovers the mystery and the meaning of the sacrament of marriage; The Jeweler’s Shop, a classic movie based on St. Pope John Paul II’s bestselling book; and the popular conversion story, Rome Sweet Home, by Scott and Kimberly Hahn.

“The use of FORMED and the small group concept has transformed our parish community,” says Annie Grandell, who is the coordinator of senior high youth formation at St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s parishes in Stillwater, Minnesota. “We are using it to journey through the retreat experience of the Hearts Afire parish-based program, where we gather weekly and then watch the videos on FORMED. So many people’s lives are changing — it truly has been an extraordinary gift during this extraordinary Year of Mercy!”

FORMED is frequently adding new content, including the recent addition of "Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession", a sacramental preparation program that explores the grace and healing offered in confession, demonstrating how this sacrament of mercy reveals the depth and bounty of God’s love. The first two “Forgiven” sessions are now available on FORMED. Children’s content is coming soon, including three animated films from "Lumen", audio dramas on the lives of the saints, a video program that is a dramatization of "Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree", and e-books from Sophia Press.

In addition, the program will also soon feature "Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi", a 10-part audio drama from the Augustine Institute Radio Theatre about the life of Francis of Assisi, the fun-loving son of wealth and privilege who gave up everything for the sake of Christ.

To learn more about FORMED, please visit www.formed.org.

Editor's note: Catholic World Report readers who leave a comment on this story are automatically qualified for a special giveaway. The winner will receive a free one-year individual subscription to FORMED (about a $120 value), and two runner-up winners will receive copies of Augustine Institute President Dr. Tim Gray’s latest talk, “Can You Trust God?” Winners will be selected on Monday, December 12th.

Catholicism embodied: “The Pivotal Players”

Catholicism embodied: “The Pivotal Players” | George Weigel | Catholic World Report

In Bishop Barron's new DVD series, six of the most striking personalities in Catholic history take center stage, the adventure of their lives serving to deepen our understanding of the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

Looking for some uplift after this tawdry election cycle? Some inspiration for tackling what lies ahead? A good way to enrich Advent? Examples of sanctity to help you be the missionary disciple you were baptized to be? Then let me recommend Bishop Robert Barron’s new DVD series, Catholicism: The Pivotal Players.

Pivotal Players is a follow-up to Bishop Barron’s immensely successful, ten-part mega-series, Catholicism, the most compelling presentation of the symphony of Catholic truth ever created for modern media. Key figures in Catholic history appeared throughout the original series to illustrate this truth of the faith or that facet of the Catholic experience. Now, with Pivotal Players, six of the most striking personalities in Catholic history take center stage, the adventure of their lives serving to deepen our understanding of the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

 

The six are Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Thomas Aquinas, John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, and Michelangelo Buonarroti: the reformer, the mystic, the theologian, the convert, the evangelist, and the artist. Two are doctors of the Church – and a third may be one day. Several of them inspired successors of St. Peter; another told a pope off in no uncertain terms. Two were Englishmen and converts from Anglicanism: one, will-o-the-wisp slight and the other gargantuan; one the quintessential Oxford don, the other, the quintessential Anglo-eccentric genius. One grew up a wannabe knight errant before his abrupt turn into radical evangelicalism. Still another was arguably the greatest genius in human history, his extraordinary talents ranging across sculpture, painting, architecture, poetry and other fields. Four were Italians (if you’ll permit the anachronism for an Umbrian, a Sienese, a sort-of Neapolitan, and a devout Florentine). Each of them was the human analogue to what astrophysicists call a “singularity,” someone to whom the old rules of spiritual gravitation didn’t apply.

And they shared something else in common besides the passionate intensity of their Catholic faith: each lived at a time of crisis for the Church, and each helped the Church address that crisis creatively while remaining true to itself.

Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena lived at times when institutional Catholicism had become complacent, losing its evangelical edge. By creating something utterly new in Catholic life – the mendicant religious order dedicated to evangelization – Francis inspired in the Church a new Gospel radicalism centered on the joyful experience of salvation. By persuading (perhaps better, shaming) Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from his political exile in Avignon, Catherine of Siena made it possible for the papacy to be again the center of unity for the entire Catholic world, as Christ intended it to be. 

Thomas Aquinas, for his part, grafted the “new learning” of Aristotle into Catholic theology in a creative synthesis that gave the Church conceptual tools that remain powerful today. In doing so, he helped create what we know in the West as higher education, even as he showed the Church how to incorporate the best of the  “modernity” of his time into its intellectual and spiritual life without losing touch with the truths it had long possessed as a bequest from the Lord.

Michelangelo lived during that moment of sometimes-brash human assertiveness we call the Renaissance; his theologically-driven art (which Bishop Barron explains in perhaps the most scintillating part of Pivotal Players) enriched the classically-inspired humanism of his day by marrying it to the biblical account of the human person.

Newman and Chesterton, closer to our moment, were key figures in crafting a Catholic response to the scientific revolution and the other dramatic changes that were reshaping how we think about things – and imagine our place in the scheme of things – during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That each of them did so in wonderfully winsome prose helped demonstrate the continuing vitality of the Catholic mind and spirit in an increasingly skeptical age, even as they bequeathed to the 21^st-century Church models of apologetics that remain cogent at a time like ours, when skepticism has often hardened into cynicism, or just plain boredom.

There are important things to be learned from each of these God-touched human personalities for the challenges Catholicism faces in the post-modern world of the twenty-first century. Kudos to Bishop Barron for bringing those things to our attention in a gripping way.

"Amoris Laetitia" and Vatican II’s Project of Inculturation

(Original photo: CNS)

Amoris Laetitia and Vatican II’s Project of Inculturation | Dr. R. Jared Staudt | CWR

Vatican II sought to initiate a dialogue with the modern world, meant to be an extension of the Church’s evangelizing mission. But things have not gone as hoped and planned.

Pope St. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council amid great optimism. Pope John called for aggiornamento and an opening of the windows of the Church, but we know that the 1960s were not a time of fresh air. In fact, I would argue it was the breaking forth into daily life of a long trajectory of radical individualism. The Council sought a renewed encounter with the modern world after 450 years of conflict, but wading into the muddied waters of modern culture came with a cost.

We can point to many external indicators of crisis in the Church which followed from misinterpretations and misapplications of the Council. I would point underneath the surface to an underlying disposition as the source of this crisis. The engagement with modern culture, which Pope John rightly sought, led many—mostly unwittingly—to accept the fundamental precept of modern culture: radical individualism and autonomy. This individualism then led many to reinterpret their faith and practice as something which conforms to them (a more anthropocentric view of religion), rather than something to which they must conform (a theocentric view).

We see this individualism coming out in numerous and varied ways, but a few large trends emerged. First, the reinterpretation of revelation not as an objective deposit but as something that comes to us subjectively through experience. Next, we saw the effect of this reinterpretation on catechesis and education, which no longer sought to impart doctrine but to affirm the experience of the individual. Finally, this led to a relativizing and marginalization of the Catholic tradition and magisterial authority as constraints on direct experience. The crisis following the Council was brought about in large part by accepting the ethos of the age, which is made clear by the almost unanimous rejection of Humanae Vitae by laity and clergy alike in 1968. This rejection was in the name of conscience and individual freedom.

I would place the year 1968 alongside of another: 1517. As we approach the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation next year, it may be helpful to look to at the subtle and not so subtle ways that the Reformation has impacted the way contemporary Catholics view their faith and the Church’s authority. Luther’s view of the primacy of conscience and the individuality of faith, epitomized by his appeal to conscience before the Emperor Charles V, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise,” have come to shape the way many Catholics view and practice their own faith. Like Luther, many Catholics view their conscience as authoritative while the authority of the Church must appeal to it for credence, rather than allowing their conscience to be shaped by the authority of the Church.

Vatican II and inculturation

Vatican II sought to initiate a dialogue with the modern world. This dialogue was meant to be an extension of the Church’s evangelizing mission. No more would the Church anathematize, but would engage the world in a brotherly exchange. Gaudium et Spes calls for this dialogue and then asks that the Church herself be marked by dialogue:

By virtue of her mission to shed on the whole world the radiance of the Gospel message, and to unify under one Spirit all men of whatever nation, race or culture, the Church stands forth as a sign of that brotherhood which allows honest dialogue and gives it vigor.

Such a mission requires in the first place that we foster within the Church herself mutual esteem, reverence and harmony, through the full recognition of lawful diversity.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Fr. C.J. McCloskey: "Behold the Man" is timely, readable, practical, sobering, and recommended

From Fr. McCloskey's recent review in National Catholic Register of Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers book Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality (Ignatius Press, 2016):

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers — a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who holds a graduate degree from the University of Dallas; he is considered by many to be one of the best Catholic preachers from the pulpit, as well as on radio and television, including EWTN — has written a highly readable and very practical book for men seeking an authentically Catholic male spirituality. As a bonus, Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Portland (Ore.) Archdiocese has contributed a long and excellent foreword.

Deacon Burke-Sivers draws from Scripture and the teaching of the Church to encourage men both to “man up” as the heads of their families and share their faith in their households and in their marketplaces. ...

This book should most certainly be read by those approaching marriage, as well as those already married. Women should also want to place this book in the hands of the husbands, brothers and sons in their lives, because it provides them with the roadmap to become the men they should be (and reminds them to stop and ask for directions if they become lost along the way!).

Read the entire review.

More praise for the book:

"This is a theological and anthropological tour de force that champions authentic male spirituality for the men of our times."
— Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C, Author, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy

"I know of no better presentation of masculine spirituality that balances authentic theology with practical application for the lives of real Catholic men."
— Tim Staples, Catholic Answers

"A highly readable book. A marvelous work for any man striving to live an authentic spirituality, which also addresses the major hot button issues of today."
— Father Brian Mullady, O.P., Author, Preacher, EWTN Host

"The biggest crisis facing the Church today is the crisis of authentic manhood. This book addresses virtually every issue that a Catholic man will face, especially the interior life."
— Jesse Romero, Catholic Evangelist and Radio Host

New: "God So Loved the World" by Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ

Now available from Ignatius Press:

God So Loved the World: Clues to Our Transcendent Destiny from the Revelation of Jesus

by Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ

In this volume the brilliant Fr. Spitzer probes in detail the major question that if an intelligent Creator God – manifest in logical proofs, scientific evidence, and near death experiences - who is the source of our desire for the sacred, and the transcendental desires for truth, love, goodness, and beauty, would want to reveal himself to us personally and ultimately.

He then shows this is reasonable not only in light of our interior experience of a transcendent Reality, but also that a completely intelligent Reality is completely positive--implying its possession of a completely positive virtue – namely "love", defined as agape.

This leads to the question whether God might be unconditionally loving, and if he is, whether he would want to make a personal appearance to us in a perfect act of empathy – face to face. After examining the rational evidence for this, he reviews all world religions to see if there is one that reveals such a God – an unconditionally loving God who would want to be with us in perfect empathy. This leads us to the extraordinary claim of Jesus Christ who taught that God is "Abba", the unconditionally loving Father.

Jesus' claims go further, saying that He is also unconditional love, and that his mission is to give us that love through an act of complete self-sacrifice. He also claims to be the exclusive Son of the Father, sent by God to save the world, and the one who possesses divine power and authority. The rest of the book does an in-depth examination of the evidence for Jesus' unconditional love of sinners, his teachings, his miracles, and his rising from the dead. As well as the evidence for Jesus' gift of the Holy Spirit that enabled his disciples to perform miracles in his name, and evidence for the presence of the Holy Spirit today.

If this strong evidence convinces us to believe that Jesus is our ultimate meaning and destiny, and desire His saving presence in our lives, that evidence should galvanize the Holy Spirit within us to show that Jesus is Lord and Savior, "the way, the truth, and the life." And our faith in him will transform everything we think about our nature, dignity, and destiny– and how we live, endure suffering, contend with evil, and treat our neighbor.

Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ,is a philosopher, educator, author and former President of Gonzaga University. He is founder and President of the Magis Institute, dedicated to public education on the relationship among the disciplines of physics, philosophy, reason, and faith. He is the head of the Ethics and Performance Institute which delivers web-based ethics education to corporations, and he is also President of the Spitzer Center of Ethical Leadership, which delivers similar curricula to non-profit organizations. His other books include Finding True Happiness, The Soul's Upward Yearning and Healing the Culture. 

The Benedictine Option

(Photo: us.fotolia.com | vermontalm)

The Benedictine Option | Dr. Randall B. Smith | Catholic World Report

Making Catholic hospitals and schools widely available again in a society in desperate need of both is how Catholics can once again become a cultural force.

Rod Dreher has suggested something he calls “The Benedict Option” as a response to the decline in religious faith and practice — and in the face of the increasing hostility toward them — in contemporary culture. The question he believes Christians must ask themselves in our current setting is, “What must the church do in order to live and witness faithfully as a minority in a culture in which we were once the majority?”

“As we try to determine which forms of community, which institutions and which ways of life can answer that question,” writes Dreher, “we should draw on the wisdom of St. Benedict and his Rule. We should innovate ways to adapt it to forms of non-monastic living in the world.” Among the Benedictine principles he believes should help inform this recovery-of-the-old-in-the-new way of life he is suggesting would be things like order, prayer and work, community, stability, balance, and hospitality.

Dreher has insisted repeatedly that he is not advocating a strategy of “retreat” or “disengagement” with the world. Rather, the term “Benedict Option” symbolizes what he describes as “a historically-conscious, antimodernist return to roots, an undertaking that occurs with the awareness that Christians have to cultivate a sense of separation, of living as ... ‘resident aliens’ in a ‘Christian colony,’ in order to be faithful to our calling.”

C. S. Lewis once described something similar in Mere Christianity when he called upon Christians to realize that they live in “Enemy-occupied territory.” “Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” The “Enemy,” however, as Lewis makes clear by capitalizing the title, is on his view the Devil, not primarily the culture-at-large, nor (God help us) our non-Christian neighbors.

The story of salvation history is the story of a fallen people in a fallen world to whom a Savior has come to redeem both them and through them all of creation. We are called to be instruments of God’s grace and a leaven in society, not enemies of our neighbors and instruments of their condemnation.

The Question and a Suggestion

A question that has bedeviled Christians from the very beginning is how to be in the world but not of it. So too, how to distinguish “the world” as the very good thing God created for us from “the world” that we have “subjected to vanity” and in whose pattern St. Paul warns us we are not to be conformed? How can Christians serve as a leaven in society without merely becoming one with it — without becoming salt that has lost its flavor, worth nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot?

Dreher’s answer is that we must pay greater attention to forming Christians prepared to live out Christianity in this alien cultural territory, and doing that requires embedding them within communities and institutions dedicated to that sort of formation. “The Benedict Option,” he says, “is about forming communities that teach us and help us to live in such a way that our entire lives are witnesses to the transforming power of the Gospel.”

I have no problem with any of this — in fact I’m rather a fan, in much the same way I’ve always been a fan of monasticism ever since I discovered the great Catholic tradition in college. So I have no criticisms to offer — although I would sound a warning gleaned from the history of monasticism about “intentional communities,” including (perhaps especially) “religious” ones that, while preserving their own autonomy, do not remain firmly tethered to the Church and the authority of the successors of the apostles, the bishops. The history of monasticism suggests that, without an anchor to something firm, most of these institutions lose their way rather quickly. It is not without reason that there is an old historian’s dictum that says: “The history of monasticism is the history of the reform of monasticism.” The monastic life looks pleasant enough, and it was never meant to be overly burdensome, like the life of the anchorites in the desert. But as professor of mine once remarked about the Benedictine Rule: “No, it’s not hard — unless you actually do it.”

So I have no criticisms — really — but I do have a suggestion, one gleaned from the history of monasticism.

If those proposing “the Benedict Option” are not advocating a “retreat” or “disengagement from” the culture, as I take them at their word they are not, then perhaps they might take another bit of guidance from medieval Benedictine practice about how as an institution (and not merely as individuals) a group can serve as a powerful leaven in society.

If we look back at history, two things that characterized monasteries changed European society perhaps more than any others: monasteries were centers of learning and centers of hospitality.

Continue reading at www.catholicworldreport.com.

The four things keeping millennials from finding God, according to Fr. Spitzer

Detail from the cover of "Finding True Happiness," by Robert Spitzer, S.J. (Cover design by John Herreid)

The four things keeping millennials from finding God, according to Fr. Spitzer | Connor Malloy | CWR

“We need some radical surgery, we don’t need Band-Aids.”

When he’s not lecturing around the world, giving interviews, producing documentaries, appearing on his EWTN show, developing curricula, chairing boards, and deepening his own spiritual life as a Jesuit priest, Father Robert Spitzer can be found writing his latest book out of his Magis Center office on the Christ Cathedral campus in the Diocese of Orange.

The former president of Gonzaga University (1998-2009), Father Spitzer launched the Magis Center with the stated mission “to restore, reconstruct, and revitalize belief in God, the transcendent dignity of every human person, the significance of virtue, the higher levels of happiness, love, and freedom, and the real presence of Jesus Christ.” Father Spitzer has breathed new life into Catholic apologetics, utilizing his grasp of science, philosophy, and the Catholic intellectual tradition to lift the veil imposed on modern society by secularism and the dictatorship of relativism.

This is the first of a two-part interview with Father Spitzer about his work at the Magis Center, as well as about his Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence quartet of books, two of which (Finding True Happiness and The Soul’s Upward Yearning) have been published by Ignatius Press and one of which (God So Loved the World) is now available for pre-order.

CWR: In less than one year we’ve seen an entire series emerge from you, the Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence series—a quartet of volumes on mankind’s relationship with the divine. Is the sense of urgency intentional?

Father Robert Spitzer, SJ: I think it is very intentional. It comes from my own intuitions teaching college students, originally. Then, when I saw the Pew survey and other surveys that tended to verify it, I became extremely concerned. The Pew Research surveys, both 2012 and 2015 surveys plus the 2010 survey of millennials, are all pointing to one thing: that millennials are becoming unbelievers—a category the Pew Forum calls “nones”—at about a rate of 1 additional percent per year. So that’s a rate of acceleration. About 11 years ago, we were at about a rate of 25 percent among millennials; today we’re at about 36 percent. If this keeps up, we’ll be at 50 percent or more unbelievers in just 15 years. And there’s no reason to suggest that it won’t keep up. So yes, the sense of urgency is there. If we don’t turn it around and soon, it’s going to really become an epidemic.

The other thing that’s really clear is that this has a lot to do with what’s going on in education—or should I say “mis-education”—starting not just in high school and in college, but also in seventh or eighth grade, where the kids are already online, looking at the Science Channel, getting a certain view of reality. Now, much of the Science Channel is great and I love it, but much of it has that hint of the pure Darwinian viewpoint, the materialistic viewpoint, a viewpoint that’s exceeding agnostic, a viewpoint that’s undermining the faith even in times of suffering. These are the kinds of things that need to be redressed in a hurry. Frankly, morality—as Pope Benedict pointed out many times—has become relativistic among young people. They are so convinced it’s all a mere matter of opinion…. But there are signs of hope, things we can use that God has given us. I think we have an interesting opportunity but, unfortunately, in the midst of an almost pandemic crisis.

CWR: Are there specific things that you see as blocking millennials from experiencing the divine in their lives?

Father Spitzer: I think it’s four basic factors that are coming into play. They are searching for authentic happiness. I think they would go up to transcendent happiness if they weren’t blocked, but here are the blocks that I see.

The number-one block, and the one that is definitely part of the whole propaganda scheme of many of the secular materialist people in our culture, is faith and science. The basic syllogism is this: faith and science are contradictory, science is truth, therefore faith must be false, a fantasy. This is, of course, not true, but it’s been propagated by the media and certain very vocal champions of science. I would say that 20-25 percent of our young people believe that cultural myth.

The second thing that is going on is the old “crutch argument” that was put together by Freud and Feuerbach a long time ago, but which has now reached the level of a huge cultural myth: that religion is reducible solely to human individual thinking. “We have suffering to contend with, feelings of darkness, we are restless and not at peace. So what do we do? We invent God. And we make God a very, very nice and benevolent God who protects us from suffering, darkness, emptiness, and death.” This is completely unfounded. No one ever invented a God who was nice—this came from Jesus! In the history of religions, gods are really capricious and mean, but starting with Israel and Christianity we begin to see who God is. But the problem with young people is that they get chided into it: “Oh dear, I see you are believing in a crutch. Little Johnny here has naively turned to religion, I’m so sorry to hear that…” Any kind of chiding which makes our kids look unintelligent and uncourageous is exceedingly difficult for them to deal with if they don’t have really good rational arguments and defenses. C.S. Lewis saw this in the 1940s, but it has made its resurgence today with social media and people like Richard Dawkins, a media darling, and now the kids are really up against it. I’m working with a high schooler now who literally gives me 15 questions a day; he is getting chided so much. Other kids are just throwing that Nietzschean-Freudian accusation against them and they’re falling prey to it at a fairly significant rate.

There’s a third problem with the more affectively-oriented kids, the heart kids: the seeming irreconcilability of suffering with God. They’ve been taught that God is a loving God, but when they come into their critical consciousness, they see the earthquakes, diseases, friends suffering, their suffering—the failure to address this question head-on is a really vexing thing for these kids. They believe that love and suffering are opposites. And Christianity has this incredible history of the reconciliation between love and suffering. Martin D’Arcy, C.S. Lewis have written wonderful works, but we need a contemporary re-interpretation of this and we need to get it out there as quickly as possible so they can see that love and suffering are not incompatible, that many times suffering leads us to love; suffering frees us from our narcissism, as Paul tells us in the Second Letter to the Corinthians. But the kids don’t have the ammo.

I’m not blaming the Church. I’ll just simply say we haven’t done any apologetics in a concerted fashion since Vatican II. I don’t know why. I’m still trying to figure this out myself—why did apologetics became a bad word, why did it become a reflection of some kind of inauthenticity of faith? We’ve somehow drifted into a Kierkegaardianism—we have to take a leap of faith across an infinite chasm. But I’ve never thought that at all! I luckily had great teachers who believed reason and faith came from the same source, with God never intending us to jump over an infinite chasm. We build a bridge over 99 percent of the chasm and then we jump, with the bridge constructed out of all the clues He has left us in nature, in the universe, in proofs of God, in miracles, in Jesus’s own life, and everything from the Shroud of Turin to near-death experiences. But you have to make the information known. And what has happened is we have now built up this incredible and wonderful curriculum from the bishops for high schools…with almost no apologetics built into it at all. They’re not addressing the faith and science question, they’re not addressing the question of the crutch argument, they’re not addressing the question of the reality of Jesus, they’re not addressing the question of suffering on any level that’s significant enough for students to be reinforced in their faith. If apologetics has to precede catechesis in order to engage kids both analytically and affectively, and if we are doing a great job on the second level but not on the first level, then we are building statues with clay feet.

The fourth problem is what I call “the Jesus doubt.” Even though there have been the likes of John P. Meier, Raymond Brown, and N.T. Wright, our kids don’t know they have crushed the Jesus de-mythologizers. So the History Channel (which does play good things) goes out and interviews these de-mythologizers…and these kids are uncritical: they don’t know the difference between a good or bad scholar. The kids hear this stuff—they hear Jesus was just a political guy or didn’t really rise from the dead.

But we have one other problem. It’s what I call perennial distraction by new media, by the Internet. These kids, even though they’re intrigued—“There’s a game to play, a website I got to go to.” Continual distraction. We are entertaining ourselves to death and I’m not sure if there’s the depth to ask the questions with all the multitasking. So when you combine the four problems, plus the continual distraction, they are in a tough situation.

We need some radical surgery, we don’t need Band-Aids. We’ve got to change our viewpoint.

CWR: It seems apologetics now is more about defending the Church’s positions on social issues than about clarifying her theological tenets.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Should Catholics Evangelize?

An inspiring new book, Catholic Street Evangelization: Stories of Conversion and Witness, answers an important question: should Catholics evangelize? And how can they effectively share their faith with others? This book begins with the inspiring story of the Editor, Steve Dawson – his dramatic conversion to Catholicism as a young man and his founding of St. Paul Street Evangelization, an international apostolate that has grown to hundreds of teams in seven countries in just a few years.
 
This book includes many moving stories of conversion and witness. The authors are ordinary Catholics who have come to love Christ so much that they now talk about Him with total strangers in public places—street corners, parks, and shopping areas. They aren’t theologians, nor are they highly trained apologists with Ambrosian rhetorical skills or Dale Carnegie slickness, yet their simple missionary efforts have yielded amazing results.
 
The book’s style is readable, accessible, and conversational. It illustrates the missionary calling of all baptized Christians, including Catholics. It reveals the joy and fulfillment that come to those who humbly yet boldly share the good news of God’s mercy with others.
 
“This book is a great reminder of the mission of the laity in evangelizing the world,” says the Most Reverend Allen Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit.
 
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, author of Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality, explains, “Dawson’s unique approach to sharing the Good News proves that it is not polemics but showing people the face of Christ that wins the day.”
 
Al Kresta, the President of CEO of Ave Maria Communications, says, “I love this book. I love these stories. This could be the most effective single volume at changing American Catholic attitudes about evangelization.”

“The young Catholics of St. Paul Street Evangelization have been remarkably successful in drawing to the Catholic faith people who had little interest in religion. In these pages are their stories: full of hope, full of joy, and full of success,” says Karl Keating, author of What Catholics Really Believe.
 
Dr. John Bergsma, Professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, says, “Pope St. John Paul II called for a New Evangelization, but who’s actually doing it? These people are. Read their stories, learn, and be encouraged.”

“These modern-day ‘apostles’ have undertaken the momentous task of teaching Catholics to step up and live out their calling,” says Steve Ray, author of Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church.
 
About the Author:
Steve Dawson is the founder and National Director of St. Paul Street Evangelization. He has been featured on EWTN Television and Radio, Catholic Answers Live, Catholic Connection, the Radio Maria Network, Sirius Satellite Radio, and Archangel Radio. He lives with his wife and two children in Bloomington, Indiana.
 
Steve Dawson, the Editor of Catholic Street Evangelization, is available for interviews about this book.
To request a review copy or an interview with Steve Dawson, please contact:
Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press at (239) 867-4180 or [email protected]
 
Product Facts:
Title: CATHOLIC STREET EVANGELIZATION
Stories of Conversion and Witness
Editor: Steve Dawson
Release Date: February 2016
Length: 184 pages
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58617-988-5 • Softcover
Order: 1-800-651-1531 • www.ignatius.com

What Makes the Church Grow?

Pope Francis leads a ceremony to open the Holy Door as the begins the Holy Year of Mercy before a Mass with priests, religious, catechists and youths at the cathedral in Bangui, Central African Republic, Nov. 29. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

What Makes the Church Grow? | Bishop Robert Barron | The Dispatch at CWR

While Catholicism is withering on the vine in many European countries, the center of gravity for Catholicism has shifted dramatically to the south, especially to the African continent

Just recently on the website maintained by the episcopal conference of Germany there appeared an editorial concerning Pope Francis's apostolic visit to Africa. As many have pointed out, the piece was breathtaking in its arrogance and cultural condescension. The author's take on the surprisingly rapid pace of Christianity's growth on the "dark continent" (his words)? Well, the level of education in Africa is so low that the people accept easy answers to complex questions. His assessment of the explosion in vocations across Africa? Well, the poor things don't have many other avenues of social advancement; so they naturally gravitate toward the priesthood.

What made this analysis especially dispiriting is that it came, not from a secularist or professionally anti-religious source, but precisely from the editor of the official webpage of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is no accident, of course, that the article appeared immediately in the wake of a very pointed oration of Pope Francis to the hierarchy of Germany, in which the Holy Father indicated the obvious, namely, that the once vibrant German Catholic Church is in severe crisis: its people leaving in droves, doctrine and moral teaching regularly ignored, vocations disappearing, etc. Thus it might be construed as a not so subtle shot across the Papal bow.

But it was born too, I think, of an instinct that is at least a couple of hundred years old that northern Europe -- and Germany in particular -- naturally assumes the role of teacher and intellectual leader within the Catholic Church.  In the nineteenth century, so many of the great theologians were Germans: Drey, Döllinger, Mohler, Scheeben, Franzelin, etc. And in the twentieth century, especially in the years just prior to Vatican II, the intellectual heavy-weights were almost exclusively from northern Europe: Maritain, Gilson, Congar, de Lubac, Schillebeeckx, Bouyer, Rahner, von Balthasar, Ratzinger, Küng, etc. Without these monumental figures, the rich teaching of Vatican II would never have emerged.

But something of crucial importance has happened in the years since the Council. The churches that once supported and gave rise to those intellectual leaders have largely fallen into desuetude.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Calling Men to a Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, author of "Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality" (Ignatius Press, 2015)

Calling Men to a Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality | CWR Staff | Catholic World Report

"Catholic men are destroying themselves by their own free-willed choices," says Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, whose book Behold the Man focuses on Christ crucified, covenantal love, and fatherhood

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, known worldwide as the Dynamic Deacon, is a powerful speaker who has presented talks on marriage, family, and men's spirituality all over the world. He is a passionate evangelist and preacher with a no-nonsense approach to living and proclaiming the Catholic faith. Deacon Burke-Sivers holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master of theological studies from the University of Dallas. He hosts his own weekly broadcast, From the Rooftops, on Radio Maria, and is the host of several popular series on EWTN television, including Behold the Man: Spirituality for Men. He and his wife Colleen have four children, and live in Portland, Oregon.

Deacon Burke-Sivers recently spoke with Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about his new book, Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality, published by Ignatius Press.

CWR: You participated last month in the World Meeting of Families as a speaker and also by assisting at Mass. What did you talk about? And what was your experience like at the event?

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: My topic at the World Meeting of Families was “Mary of Nazareth: The First Disciple and Mother of the Redeemer”. A disciple is one who hears, accepts, and puts into practice in their life every day the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church. I talked about how the Blessed Virgin Mary was the quintessential example of what it means to be a disciple: to listen to God’s voice, allow that voice to change your life, and then follow God with your whole being in the obedience of faith. Mary exemplifies how our response to God’s invitation to life-giving communion reflects our trust in his love for us.

I also pointed out that Mary was the first monstrance, the first vessel that held—in the tabernacle of her womb—the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Her first impulse was to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, which was the first Eucharistic procession. After receiving the Eucharist at Mass, we are sent forth to be “Eucharist” to the world, to tell people about our relationship with Jesus Christ. In this sense, whenever we receive the Eucharist, we become “pregnant” just as Mary was. Our mission, then, is to give life to Christ by going forward into the world and witnessing to the truth of our faith so that people can encounter the living God in us and through us.

I had a great time at the World Meeting of Families. It was wonderful to see such joy, enthusiasm, and love of the faith from families around the world. Many apostolates and ministries that are doing incredible work in the area of marriage and family life were also represented. The family is under assault by an increasingly hedonistic culture, and it was inspiring to see families looking to strengthen and deepen their commitment to each other and to the Catholic faith.

CWR: What are some of the positive signs you see in the Church regarding family life and men’s spirituality?

Continue reading in the CWR site.

New: "Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality" by Dn. Harold Burke-Sivers

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality

by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers

Lucid and inspiring, Behold the Man is a unique exploration of Catholic spirituality for men. Much of the literature written for Catholic men focuses on topical issues such as fatherhood and sexuality. While this book does not exclude these subjects, it is the first to present a comprehensive picture of Catholic male spirituality.

What is authentic male Catholic spirituality? What distinguishes it from Protestant male spirituality? How does masculine spirituality complement feminine spirituality? These questions and many more are answered in this book.

Drawing from Scripture and Church teaching, the author roots Catholic male spirituality in a covenant relationship with God and the cross of Jesus Christ. He demonstrates that when a man embraces the cross he is truly able to be himself—the man that God created and calls him to be. Behold the Man can deepen a man’s experience of Christ and help him to know the Lord more intimately.

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, known worldwide as the Dynamic Deacon, is one of the most sought-after speakers in the Church today. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master of theological studies from the University of Dallas. He hosts his own weekly broadcast, From the Rooftops, on Radio Maria, and is the host of several popular series on EWTN television, including Behold the Man: Spirituality for Men. He is married with four children.

"This is a theological and anthropological tour de force that champions authentic male spirituality for the men of our times."
— Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C, Author, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy

"I know of no better presentation of masculine spirituality that balances authentic theology with practical application for the lives of real Catholic men."
— Tim Staples, Catholic Answers

"A highly readable book. A marvelous work for any man striving to live an authentic spirituality, which also addresses the major hot button issues of today."
— Father Brian Mullady, O.P., Author, Preacher, EWTN Host

"The biggest crisis facing the Church today is the crisis of authentic manhood. This book addresses virtually every issue that a Catholic man will face, especially the interior life."
— Jesse Romero, Catholic Evangelist and Radio Host

The Sacrament of Matrimony: A Conversation with Millennials

The Sacrament of Matrimony: A Conversation with Millennials | Fr. Philip-Michael F. Tangorra, STL | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

Introduction

There is no debate that among those of the millennial generation, religious/sacramental marriages are in decline. Why are sociologists predicting that 25 percent of millennials will never marry, and that, currently, 25 percent of millennials between the ages of 25-34 cohabitate, instead of marrying?¹ Furthermore, Mass attendance and charitable giving to the life and support of one’s parish among millennials is also down from previous generations. Why is this, and why do I have anything to say about it?

First of all, I graduated from high school in 2001 … I am the very definition of a millennial! I know and understand the millennial generation—my generation—not because I am a sociologist or statistician, but because I am a part of the millennial generation. Second, the two opening statements above are true for good reasons:

1. The economic recession of 2007/2008 greatly impacted the earliest demographic of the millennial generation, and our career advancement, as well as our earnings potential. In addition, the incredible cost of college education and incurred debt has become prohibitive for young couples who wish to start a new life together when such debt can negatively affect one’s approval for a home mortgage.
2. Twenty-four percent of millennials grew up with divorced parents and 11 percent of millennials grew up in a single-parent household, not knowing (at least, well) their other parent. Why would our millennial generation commit to marriage, when we fail to see, in such a huge demographic of our parent’s generation, that marriage has a favorable outcome?
3. Religious practice among millennials, specifically Catholic millennials, is split. And this is a slight anomaly among millennials, because millennials, generally speaking, are very much united since the philosophy of “inclusivism” is probably the strongest value held by them. Thus, this particular point needs further exploration.

Religious practice among millennials varies. There are those who grew up in the enthusiastic embrace of Pope St. John Paul II, and who also loved Pope Benedict XVI. These millennials were greatly influenced by World Youth Day, and other such events, and papal teachings. On the other hand, there are those who grew up in a more secular or nontraditional home because their parents had lost the faith during the turbulent days of the 1960s and 1970s, or were divorced, or single-parent families. These millennials are more taken with contemporary trends and sociopolitical movements, which are largely at odds with traditional Catholic teachings on faith and morals. This is the “spiritual, not religious” crowd. Of course, there are also millennials who are just rebellious. Still, there are those who are faithful, church-attending Catholics, but marked with a clear interest characteristic of millennials, that is, they favor “change” and/or “inclusivism.” Specifically, they seek change regarding the Church’s stance on gay marriage, contraception, sex outside of marriage, and similar social issues. This “change” crowd feels that “inclusivity” is more important than centuries old understandings of marriage and family. Now, these characterizations are broad and general. But the millennial generation is all about being unique so, most likely, a millennial reading about these generalizations will find fault with them. Nevertheless, for all intents and purposes, they do characterize, in broad terms, the millennial Catholic.

Yet, we millennials are not a “lost” generation to the faith. Among millennials, there are certain characteristic marks that intrinsically lend themselves to religion. We have a great thirst for the mysterious and supernatural (will there be yet another movie or TV series about wizards, vampires, or the supernatural?). We are generally liberal, and thus express a great interest in social justice and service to the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised. We millennials are also upbeat and positive. We are self-confident, sometimes too much so; and we are respectful to our elders. Lastly, we see Jesus as “inclusive,” and inclusivity is our banner. The free gift of salvation is offered to all people of faith, hope, and love in God. Marriage as a sacramental sign of that inclusive offering of salvation by Christ is a point of emphasis that must be developed and proclaimed among us millennials. Any creative and insightful pastor/parish priest should be able to “tap” into these traits and give us millennials what we desire most: a sense of belonging. When we, as millennials, feel we can take some ownership, and are welcomed into a community such as a parish, that is a positive and inclusive message, and we will become a lifelong asset.

But for one issue, millennials need not become another lost generation to the Catholic Church. In the past, if a person was less active in the Church during adolescence or young adulthood, after marrying and having children, he or she would return, once again attending Mass faithfully, and participating in the parish community. Yet, with millennials (of course, we have to be different), this is not the trend. Why? Because what the Church teaches is wrong, bad, or exclusionary? Absolutely not. The problem is the oldest and simplest: a lack of understanding. We do not understand the message of the Church regarding marriage. This is probably due to any number of reasons, some of which include our experience of an unsuccessful marriage, or our experience of family life in our own upbringing. Poor catechesis during childhood is another possible reason (let’s make a collage!); or the influence of the secular media; or social issues “hitting home” with family or friends; or apparent, but not necessarily conflicting, values such as faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and inclusivism.

Consequently, there are two things that are greatly needed:

Continue reading at www.HPRweb.com.

Catholic Men Need Priests Who Will Lead

A man prays during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Andrew's Church in the Manhattan borough of New York March 5, 2014. (CNS photo/Carlo Allegri, Reuters)

Catholic Men Need Priests Who Will Lead | Matthew James Christoff | CWR 

A recent survey shows many Catholic men are ready to engage more deeply in the Faith—when priests make a commitment to actively evangelize them.

The New Evangelization has been a major effort in the Catholic Church for more than 40 years. Unfortunately, it has failed to stem several significant downward trends among faithful in the United States. Since 2000, 14 million Catholics have left the faith, parish religious-education participation of children has dropped by 24 percent, Catholic school attendance has dropped by 19 percent, baptisms of infants has dropped by 28 percent, baptism of adults has dropped by 31 percent, and sacramental Catholic marriages have dropped by 41 percent. Something is desperately wrong with the Church’s approach to the New Evangelization.

The New Emangelization Project has documented that a key driver of collapse of Catholicism in the US is a serious and growing Catholic “man-crisis.” Large numbers of baptized Catholic men have left the Faith, and many of those who remain Catholic neither know nor practice the Faith and are not committed to passing the Faith on to their children. Recent research shows that large numbers of young Catholic men are leaving the Faith, becoming “Nones,” men who have no religious affiliation. The growing losses of young Catholic men will have a devastating impact on the US Catholic Church in the coming decades, as older Catholic men pass away and young men fail to remain and marry in the Church, accelerating the losses that are already taking place.

While there are massive cultural forces outside of the Church (secularism, pluralism, anti-Christian bias, radical feminism, pornography, etc.) and missteps within the Church (failure to make men a priority, sex abuse scandals, etc.) that have contributed to the Catholic “man-crisis,” the New Emangelization Project has conducted dozens of interviews with top men’s evangelists that suggest a critical reason for the crisis is that bishops and priests have not yet made the evangelization and catechesis of men a clear priority. Men are being ignored by the Church, and they know it.

To gain deeper insight into the role of priests in the evangelization and catechesis of men, the New Emangelization Project conducted the Helping Priests Become More Effective in Evangelizing Men Survey in the fall of 2014. More than 1,400 practicing Catholic men from more than 1,000 parishes in the US participated in the survey.

Overall, the survey results suggest that only about one in five priests have made the commitment to actively evangelize and catechize men, but those who do have a dramatic impact on the faith lives of men. A large majority of men are ready to follow their priests, and in fact are longing for their bishops and priests to call, teach, and lead them. The survey underscores that large numbers of Catholic men are dissatisfied with the lack of attention from their bishops and priests.  

Seven themes have emerged from the survey results.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Divinization, Liturgy, and Evangelization

Detail from "Trinity" (Троица) by Andrei Rublev [c. 1410]

Divinization, Liturgy, and Evangelization | Jared Ortiz | CWR

A new volume of essays shows how the proper context for thinking about divinization is the liturgy, for God has chosen the liturgy as the primary locus for communicating his divine life

The goal of the Christian life is to become gods. This claim probably will strike many readers as exaggerated at best and downright heretical at worst. But this is what a Catholic priest or deacon says at every single Mass as he prepares the wine for consecration. “By the mystery of this water and wine,” he prays silently, “may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” This prayer suggests that the mingling of water and wine is both a symbol of and vehicle for our sharing in God’s divine life, what the Christian tradition has called divinization or deification or, in Greek, theosis. Simply put, God wants—to borrow a phrase from Augustine—to “turn his worshipers into gods” (City of God, 10.1).

While this claim sounds foreign, it is in fact the traditional teaching about salvation that Catholics, Orthodox, and even Magisterial Protestants have always held in some form. God doesn’t just want to save us from our sins (though this is a necessary first step); he wants to save us for himself, for immersion in his own blessed Triune life of love, for a glorious transfiguration wherein our humanity becomes resplendent with his divinity. And how does God intend to do this? Through the sacraments which communicate his life to us.

The liturgical context

Because this traditional teaching is not widely known, it is with gratitude that we should welcome the small collection of essays, Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ through the Liturgy, edited by Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP. Fr. Hofer, who teaches on the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., has gathered a handful of scholars, chosen for their ability to teach the faith in clear and compelling ways, to write on various aspects of divinization and the liturgy.

David Fagerberg discusses how divinization is connected to evangelization; Andrew Swafford delves into some of the Biblical roots of divinization; Fr. Hofer contributes an essay on how Aquinas’ teachings on divinization can help people in the pews; Daria Spezzano articulates why divinization is important for authentic liturgical renewal (this essay alone is worth the price of admission); and Michael Sirilla explores divinization in the New Evangelization. Together, these essays fill a critical gap in popular Catholic and scholarly literature.

Hofer argues that the proper context for thinking about divinization is the liturgy for God has chosen the liturgy as the primary locus for communicating his life to us.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Discover the biblical roots of the Eucharist in a dynamic new series from the Augustine Institute

The Passover Lamb. The Manna from Heaven. The mysterious Bread of the Presence. At the Last Supper, Jesus said “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood.” Some say they’re merely symbols of remembrance. Others say they’re really the Body and Blood of Christ, but can’t explain how that’s possible. The Eucharist is the center-point of the Mass – but where is it the Bible?

The answers are here, in the latest series from the Augustine Institute, LECTIO: EUCHARIST:  DISCOVERING THE MASS IN THE BIBLE. Renowned teacher Dr. Brant Pitre guides us through Scripture and Church teaching to illuminate the wonder and miracle of the Eucharist. With deep insight, Dr. Pitre gives a fresh and thoroughly biblical perspective for understanding the mystery that is the Eucharist. A comprehensive Bible study on the Eucharist, this new video series takes you step-by step through the Old and New Testaments, beginning with the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis and ending with the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in the book of Revelation.

The sessions in the Lectio: Eucharist series are: 

• Session 1: Source and Summit: Introducing the Eucharist – What exactly is the Eucharist? What do the various names of the Eucharist reveal? And why does the Church teach that it is the “Source and Summit” of the Christian life?
  
  
• Session 2: In the Beginning: Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life – What does the Garden of Eden have to do with the Sacrament we experience today? Is the Eucharist prefigured from the very beginning of the Bible?
  
  
• Session 3: Lamb of God: The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Passover Lamb – Why does God ask Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac? And how does this mystery point forward to the death of Jesus on Calvary and the sacrifice of the Mass?
  
  
• Session 4: Miracles of Exodus: Manna and Water – Are the wonders of the Exodus just miracles? Or are they signs pointing to the great miracle Jesus will accomplish in the Eucharist?
  
  
• Session 5: Mysteries of the Tabernacle:  The Bread of the Presence – What is the meaning of the mysterious “Bread of the Presence” that was kept in the Tabernacle of Moses? And what does it reveal about Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist?
  
  
• Session 6: Miracles of Jesus: Water, Wine, Loaves, and Fishes – The miracles of Jesus weren’t just displays of divine power. They were also meant to prefigure what he would ultimately accomplish in the Upper Room.
  
  
• Session 7: Bread of Life Discourse: John 6 and the Real Presence – In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, Jesus makes a startling statement about his own flesh and blood. What did it mean to the listeners of His time – and to us now as we approach the Eucharist?
  
  
• Session 8: The Last Supper and the Cross: The New Passover of Christ – What was Passover like at the time of Jesus? A closer look at how first century Jews celebrated the Passover reveals more than we might expect about the Last Supper.
  
  
• Session 9: The Mass: Emmaus and the Mystery of the Eucharist – Why does Jesus disappear after he breaks the bread on the Road to Emmaus? And how did the early Church understood Jesus’ words “Do this in memory of Me”?
  
  
• Session 10: Revelation: Heavenly Worship and the End of Time – What is worship like in heaven? And what can the book of Revelation teach us about our liturgy and worship on earth? 

Ideal for small group or home use, the Lectio: Eucharist series includes 5 DVDs with over 7 hours of video presentation. A Personal Study Guide with extensive devotional help and a Leader’s Study Guide can be added to make the group experience dynamic and penetrating.

Dr. Brant Pitre says, “If you look for the word ‘Mass’ in the Bible, you won’t find it anywhere. But if you start in the Garden of Eden and walk step-by-step to the book of Revelation, you will discover that the reality of the Eucharist is everywhere in Scripture. It is prefigured in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New, because the Eucharist is indeed the source and summit of the Christian life.” 

About the Host:

Dr. Brant Pitre is Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, where he specialized the study of the New Testament and ancient Judaism. He is the author of several books, as well as an extremely enthusiastic and engaging speaker. He has produced dozens of Bible studies on CD, DVD, and MP3, in which he explores the biblical foundations of Catholic faith and theology. He currently lives in Louisiana, with his wife Elizabeth, and their five children. is available for interviews about this series.

Dr. Brant Pitre, the host of the Lectio: Eucharist series, is available for interviews.

To view a sample episode or request an interview with Dr. Brant Pitre, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press at (239) 867-4180 or [email protected]

This Father’s Day: Vow to be a Committed Catholic Father

This Father’s Day: Vow to be a Committed Catholic Father | Matthew James Christoff | CWR

While there are numerous ways to categorize and analyze Catholic fatherhood, one way is to consider how Catholic men live out truth and mercy as fathers

It is mid-June, so it is time for the annual national “head nod” to fathers on Father’s Day. For many, Father’s Day will pass unrecognized; for others, Father’s Day will be celebrated with “man-gifts” (e.g. tools, sports gear, etc.) and perhaps with a pleasant BBQ with family. But how many will ponder the dismal state of fatherhood and what each father could do better?

For Catholic men, rather than just a day of only happy moments, Father’s Day should include a sober reflection on each man’s commitment to Catholic fatherhood. The sad fact is large numbers of men are failing at their duties as Catholic fathers. Christ expects Catholic fathers to seek holiness and perfection as each Catholic man will ultimately face the King and give an accounting for how they shepherded their children. This is a call for Catholic men to prayerfully assess their effectiveness as fathers for Christ on Father’s Day and vow to become Committed Catholic Fathers.

The Failing of Catholic Fathers

There is a growing awareness of the devastating Catholic “man-crisis” (see the New Emangelization Project Man-crisis Fact Sheet). One in three baptized Catholic men have left the faith. Of those who remain “Catholic”, over half are Casual Catholic Men, who neither know nor practice the faith. About a third of Catholic men practice regularly, but vary in their commitment to engage in the required call to make disciples. Only about one in ten Catholic men are Committed Catholic Men, men who practice the faith and are committed to pass the faith along to their children and actively evangelize others. The Catholic “man-crisis” is a crisis of catastrophic proportions.

The Catholic “man-crisis” matters, for large numbers of Catholic men are failing in their duties as fathers to pass along the faith to their children. At a child’s baptism, a Catholic father makes the solemn and irrevocable promise to God that he will do his utmost best to faithfully raise the child in the Catholic faith. The Catholic father’s commitment to pass along the faith is essential for research shows, while the faith of a mother is important, the faith of the father has the most influence on if a child will continue in the faith as they reach adulthood.

Sadly, Catholic fathers are failing to pass along the faith:

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Youth ministry today: Its strengths and limitations

Amanda Tralle, left, 18, and adult leader Michelle Mascolo of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Hicksville, N.Y., sing following eucharistic adoration at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Hicksville, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz, Long Island Catholic)

Youth ministry today: Its strengths and limitations | Bill Maguire | CWR blog

Too many parish youth groups shut out the very persons God intended to have the most impact on a teen’s faith: the parents.

It’s remarkable what God can do in a young person’s life over the course of a single weekend. Some whose hearts and spirits have been broken by their sins or the sins of others experience genuine healing through confession; others who’ve gone to Sunday Mass their entire lives encounter the real presence of Christ for the first time in Eucharistic adoration; others whose hearts and minds were shut to the faith warm and begin to open; still others discover the initial stirrings of a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

This is the power of large-group evangelization. These events can include youth conferences, weekend retreats, the March for Life, mission trips, and so forth. Parish youth groups can be highly effective at large-group evangelization. In fact, such groups shine brightest and do best when they focus on this kind of youth outreach.

I know this is possible, because like many people who’ve served young people in the New Evangelization, I’ve seen with my own eyes and I’ve touched with my own hands (1 John 1).

Limitations of large parish youth groups

Like others who’ve seen and touched, however, the unavoidable question quickly imposes itself: How do we preserve this beautiful encounter with Christ and yet help teens to build an ongoing, consistent Christian life once they’ve come down from their mountaintop experiences?

St. John Paul II put it this way:

Some experiences of religious enthusiasm, which the Lord sometimes grants, are only initial and passing graces which have the purpose of prodding [one] towards the decisive commitment of conversion, walking generously in faith, hope, and love.

And if anyone is qualified to speak about experiences of religious enthusiasm in the life of teens, it’s John Paul II: a man who facilitated the experience of religious enthusiasm for millions of young people at the World Youth Day events he initiated and over which he presided.

The Holy Father continues, however:

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Turning Youth Ministry into Apprenticeship in the Christian Life

Fourteen-year-old Oscar Kha is silhouetted as he prays during Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in Greece, N.Y. (CNS photo/Mike Crupi, Catholic Courier)

Turning Youth Ministry into Apprenticeship in the Christian Life | Bill Maguire | CWR

YDisciple, a new program from the Augustine Institute, takes a fresh approach toward teen ministry—one that is rooted in the parent-child relationship and in family life.

“Our children need sure guidance in the process of growing in responsibility for themselves and others.  Christian communities are called to support the educational mission of families. They do this above all by living in fidelity to God’s world, cultivating faith, love and patience. Jesus himself was raised in a family; when he tells us that all who hear the word of God and obey are his brothers and sisters, he reminds us that for all their failings, our families can count on his inspiration and grace in the difficult but rewarding vocation of educating their children.” — Pope Francis, General Audience, March 20, 2015

The Augustine Institute—creators of the widely popular and effective Symbolon faith-formation program for adults—has developed another excellent resource for parishes. This time, with YDisciple, AI offers a dynamic tool for reaching out to teens with the vibrant enthusiasm of the New Evangelization.

Precisely because YDisciple seeks to identify and address effectively the unique needs of teen disciples, it breaks with the current paradigm of all-too-many parish youth ministry programs: namely, that youth ministry should be largely peer-dominated, parent-free zones (for more on the benefits and significant drawbacks of youth ministry as it exists in most parishes, see "Youth ministry today: Its strengths and limitations").

YDisciple: Outreach to youth through parents

The YDisciple handbook begins with quotes from the Catechism and Familiaris Consortio regarding the privileged role of parents and the family in the evangelization and formation of young people. The handbook continues, stating clearly:

Any youth ministry initiative should begin with parents. Parents have the greatest influence in the lives of their teenagers, and they will be held accountable to God for the formation of their children. The role of the parish is to assist parents in fulfilling this responsibility. For this reason, the Church teaches that all pastoral work must take into consideration the pastoral care of the family.

Sean Dalton, director of YDisciple, highlights Pope Francis’ insights concerning the essential role of moms and dads in the religious formation of their children and the vital need for the Church to reevaluate and renew our current (and failing) outreach to young people:

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

“Created for Greatness”: The Emerging Catholic Men’s Movement

Matt Fradd speaks to a group of Catholic men.

“Created for Greatness”: The Emerging Catholic Men’s Movement | Joseph M. Hanneman | CWR

Conferences and faith-based groups are helping men know, defend, and live their Catholic faith.

Flanked by candle-bearing acolytes, the priest held the monstrance aloft and processed through the aisles of the massive Milwaukee Theatre. More than 2,500 men were on their knees in adoration as the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ passed before them, bedecked in gold. The solemn Eucharistic procession was the culmination of the ninth annual Men of Christ conference: a day of prayer, speakers, reflection, and Mass. In the halls outside the theater, the line for confession was 200 deep much of the day, even with more than 75 priests hearing confessions. Men waited an hour or more to confess their sins and be forgiven. For some, it was their first confession in years, even decades.

On a Saturday when the highly ranked Wisconsin Badgers were playing tournament basketball on television, a small city of Catholic men instead gathered in downtown Milwaukee to get closer to Christ. From ages 8 to 90, they filled the sprawling, ornate theater for more than eight hours of Catholic enrichment. The chorus of deep, resonant voices seemed to lift the roof during the Lord’s Prayer. Extended applause greeted Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki when he announced his support for concealed carry — then pulled out a Rosary as his weapon of choice. It seemed every man in the audience had one.

What’s going on here? The leaders of this emergent movement say the goal of events like this is nothing less than complete restoration of the Catholic man. Think “band of brothers” over pockets of loners; would be-martyrs instead of has-been quitters. Virtue and service over vice, sin, and addiction. Every Catholic Caspar Milquetoast is being called to emulate Don John of Austria, who with the Holy League saved Christendom from the Ottoman Turks. Yesterday’s average Joe is being remolded as priest, prophet, and king—a bold and self-sacrificing leader in the model of Jesus and St. Joseph. The call has gone out: real Catholic men wanted. Rosary-praying, faith-defending spiritual warriors. Education and training will be provided.

“Men need support and friendship of other Catholic men,” said Steve Ray, Catholic author, apologist, and creator of the Footprints of God documentary series. “We’re in a war, and men are starting to realize it. Life is getting tougher. We can no longer consider ourselves part of the flow of American culture.” Ray, who has spoken at the Men of Christ conference, said the timing is right for men to reclaim their Catholic faith and be prepared to defend it.

“Our society today is becoming very anti-Christian and especially anti-Catholic,” Ray said. “Our steeples go very high. We have very strong standards on morals and the world is going to hate us for it. Any man who stands up and says he is a Catholic and he believes what the Church teaches, he better be ready for a fight. That is why men are banding together. They are realizing we are going into a very difficult time in our country.”

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, host of “Behold the Man” on EWTN, said Catholic men need to be challenged to embrace leadership roles.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.