Fr. Barron's "Catholicism" Series A Hit

The Church can relax a little. Fr. Robert Barron's "Catholicism" series which is currently being shown on EWTN is doing a lot for the "New Evangelization." Those who are interested in promoting the "New Evangelization" in the Church should pay attention to Fr. Barron's formula for success. The series is written and hosted by him. Fr. Barron is a gift to the Church, a popular speaker, an academic, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and someone who is able to project on television a likable personality. He easily speaks about important Catholic doctrine and spirituality with ease, and without sounding condescending. He seems like a regular person and it's relaxing to watch him travel around the world, visiting religious sites and explaining religious truths.

The first time I ever heard Fr. Barron's name mentioned was a few years ago, at a meeting in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Bishop Frank Caggiano mentioned that he had just finished reading a book by Fr. Barron, "The Strangest Way-Walking the Christian Path," and Bishop Frank said, "It's the best book I've read in a long time." So I decided at that moment, out of curiosity that I would read the book. I also knew I would be hearing more about Fr. Barron in the future.

I recently purchased the DVD- "Untold Blessings-Three Paths to Holiness," from Fr. Barron's website: http://www.wordonfire.org. I enjoyed that.

The last couple of nights I've watched segments of the popular series, "Catholicism," and I was impressed (as you can tell) and I know it will do a lot towards promoting evangelization in our Church, if the series is utilized by parishes for high school and adult education.

I love that he included a part of the segment, shown last evening, on the saints, about St. Therese of Lisieux. All of the women saints that he spoke about were incredible human beings, that put flesh and blood on discipleship in an extraordinary way.

I hope atheists watch the series (wishful thinking) as it would give them a good idea of why billions of people in the world believe in God instead of nothing. God interacts and has established life-giving and enriching relationships with human beings throughout history and even in our modern world and Fr. Barron's natural way of explaining the importance of belief and Christian spirituality is a reason to hope.

NJA