Today is the Feast of St. Augustine, a very prominent figure in the history of the Church. Father Steve reflects on St. Augustine's own history, his conversion, and the lesson that his witness continues to teach us, the restless seekers of the present day.
“And what is this God? I asked the earth and it answered: 'I am not God; and all the things in the earth made the same confession.' I asked the sea and the deeps and creeping things, and they answered: 'We are not your God, seek higher.' I asked the winds that blow, and the whole air with all that is in it and the wind answered: 'I am not God.' I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars and they answered: 'Neither are we God whom you seek.' So I asked all those things that entice the senses: 'Tell me then of this Mysterious One that I search for.' And all cried out to me in one great voice: 'God made us and God made you…'”
Today is the 100th birthday of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. In honor of this special day, the Word on Fire Blog is featuring Father Barron's video commentary on Blessed Teresa and her sisters, recorded after the recent filming trip to Calcutta for CATHOLICISM.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
Here, Father Steve offers his commentary on the the popular HBO series, Rome, in light of Anthony Everitt's book, Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor. Father Steve takes a closer look at the legacy of two of the most influential rulers of the Ancient Eternal City in contrast to another widely known figure in roughly the same historical period...
This past week I enjoyed some down time and took the opportunity to watch the second season of the television series
Rome. The series was created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. McDonald for the BBC and aired in the United States on HBO. The creators of the series were all fans of the drama
I Claudius, an adaptation of the famous re-telling of the history of the Caesars by Robert Graves which appeared years ago on PBS’s
Masterpiece Theater. I share their enthusiasm for this production and was captivated by this drama, which provoked me as a young man to read not only Graves’ books, but also the writings of Suetonious, from whom Graves cribbed much of his material. Neither
Rome nor
I Claudius are intended for a general audience because of their visceral subject matter: profanity, sex, treachery, and violence abound. Those with more sensitive dispositions might cringe, but the story of Rome and the Caesars is a story about all these things and more. If you can’t take this kind of heat, you had best stay far away from the cauldron of the Caesars. (For those of you interested in Father Barron’s review of season one of “Rome” the link is
here. )