Fr. Barron On "The Hobbit"

'Explosion of Life'

Jennifer Fulwiler is the host of ConversionDiary.com - of which I am a fan.   She is a convert to Catholicism from atheism and was asked to have a reality show made about her life.  Reluctantly, she agreed and below is Episode one of three.  I found it to be a great mix of apologetics, humor, story-sharing and real-life reality.  I especially love the line when she's describing her conversion to Catholicism and she says being Catholic is 'like an explosion of life' meaning that when you come to realize the beauty and fullness of the Faith it's like finally becoming alive, you finally being to truly live.  I couldn't agree more.  Enjoy:

Your Story

Several students attended the midnight showing of "The Hobbit" last night (kudos to those of you who still have the gusto to watch any movie in those wee hours).  The wonderful fascination of Tolkien's writings continues in this new genre of the motion picture but also in its original genre of literature.  What is it about this series that seems to capture so many?  As I once heard Christopher West express as he pointed to a crucifix, "Any good story, tells this story."  I think it is certainly the case that the stories that capture the most hearts and prove to last for extended periods of time, do somehow tell the story of redemption.  It's often not explicit, but nonetheless, it is there.  Stories of overcoming odds, good triumphing over evil, forgiveness, growth in virtue and holiness, sacrificial love - stories that contain these and other aspects of The Story capture us.  They put us in touch with what our hearts are truly longing for - God himself.  Deep down we know these stories are about us and the God who loves us and pursues us.  

Joseph Pearce has an article about "The Hobbit" at the National Catholic Register which gets at a similar point:

In short, we are meant to see ourselves  reflected in the character of Bilbo and our lives reflected in his journey from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain. 

Indeed, and perhaps surprisingly, Bilbo bears a remarkable resemblance to many of us, his diminutive size and furry feet notwithstanding.  He likes tea and toast and jam and pickles; he has wardrobes full of clothes and lots of pantries full of food; he likes the view from his own window and has little desire to see the view from distant windows. He is a creature of comfort dedicated to the creature comforts.  

In Christian terms, Bilbo Baggins is dedicated to the easy life and would find the prospect of taking up his cross and following the heroic path of self-sacrifice utterly anathema.  

The unexpected party at the beginning of the story, in which the hobbit's daily habits are disrupted by the arrival of unexpected and unwelcome guests, is, therefore a necessary disruption.  It is the intervention into his cozy life of an element of inconvenience or suffering, which serves as a wake-up call and a call to action.

In losing his bourgeois respectability - the price he must pay for becoming an adventurer - he forsakes the world and the worldly in favor of the pearl of great price.

As Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us, "We are not made for comfort, we are made for greatness."  This is the story.  It's your story.  It's my story.  That God loves us and has made us for more than we too often allow ourselves to settle for.  The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit remind us, through the characters of Bilbo and Frodo, that life really is an unexpected journey - a journey that leads us back to God and who He made us to be.

Read the rest of Pearce's article here.

P.S. If you enjoy this kind of thing (i.e. finding The Story in stories) then be sure to come to our Theology of the Body and Culture study next semester on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Marquette Student Center.

Thank You Drurys!

Great article on the Drury family whose roots are in our area and who gracefully continue to support the work of the Church in so many ways - thank you Drury family!  

In his personal life, Drury continues his Church-related philanthropy, a practice that his family maintained even when they were living on the farm with very few material possessions.

He and his wife Shirley participate in local fundraisers and community initiatives, as well as international efforts to help those in need around the world through organizations such as the Papal Foundation.

Currently, Drury is dealing with the federal contraception mandate. Issued in Jan. 2012 by the Department of Health and Human Services, the mandate requires employers to offer health insurance that covers contraception, sterilization and drugs that have the potential to cause abortions.

Although he is pro-life and objects to the mandate, his company is subject to it because it is considered “secular” by the government, despite the fact that it is a private family company.

Drury said that he has sent out notices that the company – which is self-insured – will not comply with the mandate and is in the process of pursuing a legal challenge to it.

“We will not participate in payments of any kind” that oppose Church teaching, he said.

Read the whole article here.

Prioritizing What We're Thankful For

Cardinal Dolan submitted a great article to the New York Post reflecting on what really matters as we all begin to take a break for Thanksgiving:

...my prayer this Thursday will be not first one of praise, but of petition. I will ask the Lord to keep us a culture where personal friendship, genuine conversation and family unity can be a high priority. I’ll beg God to keep those values constant in our society.

Why? Because I’m fearful they’re disappearing.

Experts in behavioral sciences and sociology seem to share my apprehension. These scholars write that personal contact — verbal, face-to-face quality conversation and healthy leisure where we simply “spend time” as family or friends — is going the way of the rotary telephone. Now we prefer to text, e-mail, Facebook or Twitter — with a personal phone call or letter even becoming quaint, and quality time in each other’s company rare.

And now the days that a classic, civil culture sets aside for such lofty projects as visiting, conversing or sharing a meal together — such as the weekly Sabbath and holidays such as Thanksgiving — are in jeopardy.

The stores, we hear, will open on Thanksgiving. Isn’t that a sign of progress and liberation? Sorry, but no — it’s a sign of a further descent into a highly privatized, impersonal, keep-people-at-a-distance culture, one that values having stuff and doing things over just being with people whom we love, cherish and appreciate.

While a student in Europe, I once spent New Year’s Eve in Holland with two other classmates. We stayed at a simple pensión run by a cheerful elderly couple, and our rate included breakfast and supper. That morning, the owners explained that New Year’s Eve was for the Dutch a solemn, quiet evening with family and friends.

Thus, they explained, the meal in the hotel dining room would not be available, and, they warned, nothing — no restaurant, bar or store — nothing in the city would be open. “This evening is for us,” they said, “like we understand Thanksgiving is for you. Everybody is with family or friends.”

Just as the three of us were about to conclude that we’d have a lonely, boring, hungry evening ahead of us, the couple exclaimed, “So, tonight, you are not customers. You are family. You join us, our children, grandchildren and close friends for supper.”

The three of us were near tears. And that evening of conversation, good food, song and even prayer before the meal was ever-memorable.

Read the whole thing here.

What/Who Fills Up Your Life?

Hip Hop Priest

Fr. Pontifex, aka Fr. Claude Burns, pastor of a parish in Indiana has become known from his video "Why I Love Religion and Love Jesus", but did you know that he also does this?





Hear more of his music and other videos here.

Fr. Barron Comments on The Dark Knight Rises

Just in case any of you haven't seen this movie yet, there is a little spoiler alert here in this commentary, so be forewarned :)  Dark Knight Rises has a crazy amount of things that we could talk about that are analogous to the spiritual life, but for the sake of those who haven't seen it yet, I won't go into it at the moment, although a detailed commentary may be supplied at some point in the near future...for now though, please enjoy another fabulous Fr. Barron video: