Columns 2022

For the past six weeks, I have been thinking about sharing my experience with “The Bible in a Year.” From late October through November, when I was driving through the different parts of our diocese, I was struck by the beauty of the “fall colors.” Even after a summer that was very dry, the leaves on the trees changed colors, as they do each year, and we are able to see some spectacular versions of the “Beauty of Creation.” I recall an experience when I first arrived in the diocese and Father Stephen Prisk was serving as the bishop’s secretary and Master of Ceremonies. For my first year in the diocese, Father Prisk did most of the driving when I visited parishes. I remember him saying, at some point early on, as we headed out to visit a parish, “You’re going to spend a lot of time on Route 80.”

Each year, in the beautiful Season of Advent, the Church invites us to focus and reflect upon the two great “Advent Figures”: St. John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord, and Mary, our Blessed Mother, who journeyed with Joseph to Bethlehem, where her Son, the Messiah, would be born. In the Gospel on the second and third Sundays of Advent, we hear of John the Baptist, as we heard him this past Sunday, encouraging and inviting us to repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand and “… the one who is coming after me is mightier than I…” Mt 3:11

In the two-plus years that I have been writing this weekly column, I believe that there have been times when, indirectly, I asked for or encouraged “feedback” from you (Dear Readers). I believe that now may be a good time to request that feedback more directly. So, I will begin with two questions: 1. How many of you listen to Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Podcast? (more about that in a moment) and 2. As we consider Bishop Barron’s “strategies for growth,” do you have a practical suggestion or strategy that could help us “evangelize” (grow the Church)?

This past week, from Nov. 14–17, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) held their semi-annual “General Assembly” in Baltimore, Md. The “fall meeting” is always in Baltimore, and the June meeting is held in a different part of the country each year. This year’s General Assembly was my third “in-person” meeting. The first two meetings I “attended” in November 2020 and June 2021 were held “virtually” on Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I begin my column this week with two (somewhat lengthy) quotations and by addressing you personally, with an awareness that, by the time you read this, some of you may have already cast your ballot in this year’s (coming) election. I also hope that many will read this as they consider voting on “Election Day,” Nov. 8. I take this opportunity to remind all Catholics that part of being who we are and who we are called to be as disciples involves our sharing the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, by contributing to the “common good.” In other words, part of being a faithful disciple or living as a Catholic Christian means that we are called to be good and faithful citizens — wherever and in whatever (political) circumstances we may live.