Any journey towards the Church is primarily a journey towards God. This journey towards God is found through Jesus Christ.
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St. Basil the Great on Fasting
May 29, 2020 | 02:00 amFasting is among the oldest religious practices in history. Nowadays, however, in a society that is dictated by consumerism, materialism and an overall lack of self-restraint, the discipline of fasting is widely unappreciated. The Catholic Church remains one of the[…]
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Sigrid Undset and “Those Queer Men and Women the Catholic Church Calls Saints”
May 28, 2020 | 02:00 amNearly a century has passed since Sigrid Undset wrote the biographical essays about holy men and women, and the letters, which eventually would be collected and published under the heading Stages on the Road. It is a title evocative of the[…]
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“The Chosen”: Get Used to Different
May 27, 2020 | 02:00 amAs a general rule, I avoid most religious dramatizations, finding them often too kitschy or heavily pretentious. But the recommendations to watch the television series The Chosen became too many to ignore, even as I found them a bit confusing.[…]
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St. Philip Neri and the Wisdom of Holy Fools
May 26, 2020 | 02:00 amFrom St. John the Baptist to St. Francis of Assisi, the Church has a long tradition of “holy fools,” men and women who subvert the world's wisdom with shocking lives. Br. Philip Neri Reese looks at one of these saints,[…]
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Bob Dylan’s “Murder Most Foul” and the Death of Ideals
May 25, 2020 | 02:00 am“Pivotal” is an important term at Word on Fire. To date, Bishop Barron has released ten films on the “Pivotal Players” of Catholicism, ranging from the fourth century with St. Augustine and St. Benedict to the twentieth century with Flannery[…]
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The Birthday of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
May 27, 2020 | 02:00 amOn this great feast of Pentecost, I would like to say “happy birthday” to every Catholic listening to me, for we hold, in our traditional theology, that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. It would behoove us on this[…]
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The Ascension of the Lord
May 20, 2020 | 02:00 amWe come today to the great Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which sheds so much light on who we are as Christians and what we are supposed to be about as a Church. I want to focus on[…]
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Give a Reason for the Hope That Is in You
May 13, 2020 | 02:00 amFor this sixth Sunday of Easter, I would like to continue with the first letter of St. Peter, which is our second reading for this weekend. Peter says, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for[…]
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St. Joan of Arc
May 30, 2020 | 07:00 amToday is the feast of St. Joan of Arc, the patroness of France. Joan was born to a peasant family in Champagne, France in the early 15th century.From a young age she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret speaking to her. Then, in 1428, when she was 13 years old, she received a vision telling her to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom from the invading forces of England and Burgundy.Overcoming opposition and convincing members of the court and of the Church, she was given a small army. She charged into battle bearing a banner which bore the names “Jesus� and “Mary� as well as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.Due to her leadership and trust in God, she was able to raise the siege of Orleans in 1429. Joan and her army went on to win a series of battles. Because of her efforts, the king was able to enter Rheims. He was crowned with Joan at his side.Eventually, Joan was captured by the forces of Burgundy in May of 1430. When her own king and army did nothing to save her, she was sold to the English. She was imprisoned for a time and then put on trial. Bishop Peter Cauchon of Beauvais presided over her trial. His hope was that in being harsh with Joan, the English would help him become archbishop.Joan was condemned to death on counts of heresy, witchcraft, and adultery. On May 30, 1431, she was burned at the stake in Rouen, France. She was 19 years old.Thirty years after her death, her case was retried and she was exonerated. In 1920, she was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. She is the patroness of France, captives, soldiers, and those ridiculed for their piety.