-
To the Desert
Why I left Substack Much of the little we know about the life of St. Benedict comes from The Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great. St. Benedict’s story begins with his departure from a decadent and decaying Rome and his pursuit of the Lord in the solitude of Subiaco. Pope Benedict XVI describes this time in…
-
Seven Keys for Sustainable (Youth) Ministry
I have been asked to present about “sustainable” youth ministry to youth ministers in my archdiocese. I will present the following (or something like it). What is the goal of parish youth ministry? To make disciples (of every teen in the parish). It’s not “having pizza with teens,” “trying to make faith fun,” “giving kids…
-
Crossing the Bar
Remembering my grandparents My high school literature teacher was obsessed with Tennyson, and for good reason. I remember explicating “Crossing the Bar,” and thinking about death, though it was too distant from my 14-year-old brain to get far. Years later, death became real to me as I held my grandfather’s hand while he breathed his…
-
The Saint as a Window
On the Solemnity of All Saints The following is an excerpt from my book Surviving Catholic Ministry, pgs. 10-11. I often reflect on Joseph Ratzinger’s teaching about sainthood. By “sainthood,” Ratzinger means something like St. Paul’s reference to the Christians of the early church. For Paul, the word did not denote only those canonized, or…
-
The Football Memoir of a Sub-mediocre "Hundred Pounder"
What the game taught me about virtue and life. I had no business playing football. My slender, ectomorphic frame couldn’t wait to offload any weight gained. I metabolized food almost as fast as I took it in. But, I did play football and looked like a coat rack with a helmet and shoulder pads. My…
-
On Complaining: Today's Most Common Cancer
The following is an excerpt from my new book Surviving Catholic Ministry, pgs. 64–65. Though they are to be places of prayer, parishes are noisy things. There is a lot of chatter. It’s easy to participate in it and for this noise to sweep us away. The world is noisy enough as it is. The…
-
On Humility, Resiliency, and Courage
Quick takes from Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI Recently, a few passages from Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI have been floating through my head. They all have to do with the triple-theme of humility, resiliency, and courage.1 Regarding humility, he says that we need humiliations. This appears in his Last Testament, as he recounts a certain academic…
-
A New Way of Seeing
On Recovering a Sacramental Worldview I am speaking at a high school youth ministry event in the near future. In this post, I’m attempting to convert my talk notes into an essay. In the talk itself, I will likely say what follows or something similar. I never really know until it’s happening. I once heard…
-
Wisdom of Sorrow
On the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows — September 15 Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth,think of the Lord with uprightness,and seek him with sincerity of heart;because he is found by those who do not put him to the test,and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.For perverse thoughts separate men…
-
Deep Soil Evangelization
A lesson from a Russian farm Yesterday, I attended a Beacons of Light event with Archbishop Robert Casey. He shared his vocation story and then spent the rest of the time fielding questions. His answers resonated with my experience. The archbishop emphasized the cultural shift from a Christendom culture to a new apostolic age (à…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Brad Bursa 