Monday, April 25, 2022019Our world needs Christian faith. A book that proved this to me regarding the medical field is Losing Our Dignity: How Secularized Medicine is Undermining Fundamental Human Equality by Charles C. Camosy.
Monday, March 28, 202205This Lent I’m studying the “wilderness” or “desert” in Scripture, and especially in the journey of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The dangerous wild is a powerful image for the spiritual life, and it plays a large part in the lives of figures like Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, John the Baptist and Jesus. What about in...
Thursday, February 24, 2022035One of the shibboleths of our times is the word diversity. Our use of the word can easily signal our social, political and philosophical sympathies. It is ubiquitous in our culture, advertising and corporate life, and it is frequently portrayed as a moral value, one of the few claimed by our ostensibly secular society.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021084You’ve likely heard that Bishop Burns called for a diocesan synod. You’ve probably also heard that Pope Francis called for the Church to reflect on “synodality” as the very “path … which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” But what is a synod? And is “synodality” even a word?
Friday, November 12, 2021056One of the hot topics in political discourse today is globalization – that is, the tendency for the world population to become more integrated, or at least more technologically connected. Some people see this tendency as a threat to local communities, while others rejoice in it for its economic and social effects.
Thursday, October 14, 20210149Lots of us say we’re stressed. What is stress? According to the American Psychological Association, we can distinguish two kinds, one positive (eustress) and the other negative (distress). Positive stress is what we feel when we stand before a challenge that we believe is proportionate to our abilities — we feel excited and ready to...
Friday, September 17, 2021071Lately, I’ve been thinking about the upcoming diocesan synod announced by Bishop Edward J. Burns, which will integrate the synod announced by Pope Francis. What will this local synod, and then also the universal synod, mean for the Church in Dallas? After reading both Bishop Burns’ letter announcing the diocesan synod and “Radical...
Friday, August 20, 20210119 Photo by Cameron Kologinczak, seminarian of the Diocese of Austin, studying at Holy Trinity Seminary.
By Father John Bayer
Special to The Texas Catholic
This summer I had the joy of serving as chaplain for 12 seminarians from Holy Trinity Seminary as they participated in a formation exercise with COR Expeditions. COR...
Saturday, June 19, 2021050On Dec. 8, 2020, Pope Francis dedicated the coming year to St. Joseph. Now, in June, we are at the halfway point. To participate in his intention for the year, I read “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” by Father Donald Calloway. It was recommended to me by a friend, a layman, who started a prayer group...
Saturday, May 8, 20210208I’ve come to realize that the phrase “social justice” provokes very different reactions in Catholics, often according to their knowledge of the Catholic tradition and to their political sympathies. My sense is that some Catholics are very frightened by it. So, what should we think when our schools and parishes use this phrase? What...