Showing posts with label Fr. Barron. Show all posts

Videos - Saints, Popes, Priests, and Christ (how do you beat that?)

It looks like it will be a busy week!  The last few days I have been in Springfield for the ordination of Fr. Steve Arisman and Fr. Seth Brown, their first Masses, as well as my admission to candidacy for the priesthood (a pretty big step in the process), all of which will be topics for posts later this week (one thing at a time...).  This post though, will just be a few videos that I have run across recently that you really ought to see!

Here's one from Chris Stefanick.  Gosh, it seems like most of his videos end up on here, but they are all so awesome and this one is no exception.  It's about Fr. Kapaun, a chaplain during the Korean war, who completely devoted himself to his comrades, showing incredible devotion and courage in caring and saving them.  But his radical love extended even to his enemies, to those who hated him, to those who tortured him.


Video #2 is from a project called one billion stories (tons of fantastic videos on people loving and living their Catholic faith).  It's a short snippet of a young man hearing the call to enter seminary, and become a priest, and how why he is willing to give up everything for Christ, who gave up everything for him.



The third video is the vocation story of Colin Jones, a soon-to-be classmate of mine at the North American College, who I had the pleasure to meet when he was visiting another one of the guys at Brute a few months ago (or maybe it was last semester?).  Great talk about hearing the call and conversion!



Here's a video - a bit different than my usual finds - that is about "cutting the cord" (so to speak) and getting back to having real relationships with people, rather than just the more artificial, less loving, ones that we have on social networking sites and the like.  Obviously, I think there is a place for these kinds of things, but this is a good (and funny) reminder that there should be limits.



Alright, here's an awesome video - really short - about the ordination and first Masses of several used-to-be seminarians, now priests, from the Archdiocese of Denver.  I don't think I know any of these guys personally, but the video is a powerful glimpse at the first days of the priesthood of these young men!  Phenomenal!  Sorry it's not embedded - I know it'd be easier if it was embedded - but I probably spent 15 minutes trying to figure out a way to do it, and it just doesn't seem to be possible/allowed...  Sorry (click the link though - it'll make your day!)


For a 5th video, here's some clips from the Holy Father's historic trip to the Holy Land and his meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church (which has been split from Rome for almost a millennium now).  It is a powerful, uniting, and important meeting and 21st century technology means you can see it too!  


Alright, two more videos - both from Fr. Barron.  The first one is from his in-production series on the "pivotal players" (you know, important saints and other such folks).  It looks amazing and you can watch a few minutes of introduction right now!


And finally, the last video, the first part of Fr. Barron's talk on Christ, specifically focusing on how we need to know Christ as He is found in the Scriptures (both OT and NT), as priest, prophet and king.  Stunning videography, phenomenal reminder!
 

Quickie Friday Update (with videos!)

Hey guys! Here are a few videos that I have run across over the last week or so.  Some of them are long, but all are really fantastic!  I have several posts in the incubation stage, but haven't been able to finish them up yet. Exciting news: I sent off my application to the NAC this week! Have a wonderful Friday, remember to offer your sacrifice today up for something - it makes it so much more meaningful. Enjoy!






Pope Francis' Encyclical on Faith will arrive on Friday (July 5th)

As the title says, the encyclical on faith, started by Pope Benedict XVI, and now finished by Pope Francis, will be released on Friday (July 5th 2013).

Link: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2013/07/francis-lights-up-popes-first.html

I didn't want to just have a post with a link, so I figured I would add a video!  A while back I had a post on Faith, so here is a bit more on the topic - again from Fr. Barron.  Enjoy!

On a totally different topic, the dentist was alright, I got a bit of Spanish done, and work went well...


Eucharistic Adoration and Philosophers

I ran across this pretty cool video from Fr. Barron about Eucharist Adoration.  He comes at it from an interesting angle, and I thought some of you would enjoy it.  I have heard about all of these philosophers through the classes I have been taking, and it is really cool to hear about how they were greatly influenced by prayer in the presence of the Eucharist.  Enjoy!
 

Faith - Part 1

In my introduction to theology class, we started by talking about faith.  However, we seemed to spend a lot of time on how a person's particular faith needs to change over their life and how faith needs to undergo tests and crises before a person moves onto another level in their faith life.  I guess this isn't wrong, but I just found the definition lacking.  If faith is just something that is kind of flexible and constantly changing, where exactly are you putting your faith?  I want a faith that's solid.  I know it will grow, but I don't my faith to fall apart when the going gets tough.  That's exactly when I need a faith I can depend on. 

So, I went looking for a solid definition of faith, and thus, I was happily surprised when I found this video by Fr. Barron on Faith, Hope, and Love.  (I'll have to cover the other theological virtues some other time, but he covers the virtue of faith for the first 4 minutes or so)  Basically, Fr. Barron says that today we often misunderstand faith as something below or less than reason: something that reasonable, scientific, modern, people don't need.  We consider it something that only weak people need.  As Marx allegedly said religion is the "opium of the people".   Obviously, the Catholic view is not this.  The Catholic Church teaches that faith supports and respects reason (i.e. faith isn't unreasonable).  Faith is placing trust in a God who isn't controlled by reason.  Faith is beyond, but not in conflict with reason.  

Basically, the problem we have today is we want to limit faith to the human level.  Somebody that the theology professor quoted said that "to be human is to place faith".  Now, I'm not going to argue that humans don't place faith, but this way of looking at faith is limiting it to the human level.  Thus, we think that since faith is beyond reason it is weaker than reason; folks that's not the point.  Human reason is something that is limited by our nature as humans; it will only get us so far.  Faith can go further, but only if we let it.  Faith is uncomfortable because it is putting trust in something greater than ourselves; it is hard because it requires us to believe in something that we can't control.  We like control and faith isn't about gaining control but surrendering it.  

Now, digging a little deeper, it's time to crack open the catechism:  In paragraph 153 we find that Faith is a grace, it is a gift from God, and we can't get it on our own.  Matthew 16:16-17 - "Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."  Faith cannot be something that we think we are in control of and we can acquire, change, or drop at will.  In paragraph 154 we see that faith is still a human act; we have to decide to receive the grace of faith from God and accept His truths.   Paragraph 156 is especially relevant to what I was noting earlier: "What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived."  So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit."  Faith, in paragraph 157, is shown to be certain, it is founded upon God's word, so it's more truthful (and trustworthy) than any human science.  

My super-short-summary: Faith is a grace that God gives us, that we choose to accept, and then have to trust.  It can't go contrary to reason, but it will definitely go beyond reason.  Tough luck folks; faith isn't limited or controllable by you because it's from God.

Ok, there you have it - Faith - Part 1.  I am finding more and more about this virtue, so I'll have to write up a second post covering what I missed...