This past weekend, Father Barron had the opportunity to see Bob Dylan in concert at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago. Read his synopsis of this legendary concert experience here.
Last Saturday night, I saw Bob Dylan, one of my great heroes, at the Riviera Theatre on the northside of Chicago.
With me were Bobby Mixa and Rozann Carter from the Word on Fire office and Mike Leonard, the executive producer of the Catholicism Series, who last saw Bob Dylan in 1963!
The theatre is fairly small (capacity around 2500), and I managed, with Bobby’s help, to get pretty close to the stage.
There were a number of aging hippies with gray pony tails and granny glasses, but I was surprised by the number of young people who were on hand.
Dylan is one of those rare figures from the golden age of rock and roll who has managed to hold his appeal across the decades.
His voice is pretty much shot, but he sang with a lot of passion—and his band, led by the great guitarist Charlie Sexton, was terrific...
Today, long time Catholic blogger Ellyn von Huben responds to the recent Washington Post article entitled, "Catholic Bloggers aim to purge dissenters." Read what she has to say here.
I may well be the thousandth blogger to be riled up by the
Washington Post article “Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters.” Having been blogging as a Catholic mom/homeschooler, etc. since 2002, I think I possess enough experience as writer and voracious blog reader to allow me to weigh in.
The author, Rachel Zoll, certainly tried for the money quote by using
the National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen making reference to a “Taliban Catholicism.” Despite the fact that I have been known to refer to his paper as the National Catholic Distorter (rather than this article’s use of Destroyer), John Allen is usually quite the well-modulated writer, and Zoll would have done well to quote a bit more of some of Allen’s comments such as, “On the one extreme lies what my friend and colleague George Weigel correctly terms 'Catholicism Lite,' meaning a watered-down, sold-out form of secularized religiosity, Catholic in name only. On the other is what I call 'Taliban Catholicism,' meaning a distorted, angry form of the faith that knows only how to excoriate, condemn, and smash the TV sets of the modern world."...
Today, Father Steve has the great honor of introducing a new Word on Fire blog contributor, Heather King. Read Father Steve's introduction of this profoundly insightful convert to the Catholic faith, and then read her initial post on this Feast of All Saints and All Souls entitled, "Why I Kneel."
Heather King describes herself as an ex-lawyer, ex-drunk Catholic convert with three memoirs. If you are not intrigued by this snippet of a resume, she is also a commentator for NPR's
All Things Considered, and now she can add "contributer to the Word on Fire blog" to her repertoire. The honor truly belongs to us and the privilege belongs to our readers...
This Halloween weekend, Father Steve speaks about the connection between the celebration of All Hallows' Eve, All Souls' Day, and the ritual and tradition of the Catholic Church-- a connection which he explains has been largely lost. Read his commentary here.
We regret to inform you that this year’s Halloween celebration has been cancelled. Because the celebration of All Saint’s this year is preceded by a Sunday, many bishops in the United States have determined that the obligation to attend Mass this year on the Solemnity of All Saints has been abrogated. Given this fact the traditional festivities celebrated on the eve of All Saints Day (aka “All Hallows Eve”) are also no longer obligatory. We are sorry for any disappointment that this may cause, but there is always next year....
(And, don't forget to watch Father Barron on WGN America tomorrow, Sunday the 31st!)
This Sunday,
WGN America: Word on Fire with Father Robert Barron features part two of the “Big Picture of Salvation History” – plus a sneak peek at Episode One of the CATHOLICISM series. The show airs on Sunday morning at 9:30 am EST (9:30 am on the Chicago affiliate).
Read here what Father Barron says about this special preview during “The Year of CATHOLICISM."...