Awhile ago I asked some well-known Catholics (including you all) what they'd like to ask Fr. Barron. Well Fr. Barron answered. So I'll be doing a little series here for awhile called "Ask Father Barron" where we'll get to experience these questions and answers. Will be fun!

Today's question comes from Fr. Reed at CatholicTV.com. He asks Fr. Barron what he thinks the single most important thing is that we can do to build up the life of the Church - particularly in the parish. It's such a great question. Fr. Barron has an equally great and simple answer.

Here it is:

What do you all think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

View the entirety (so far) of my Ask Fr....READ MORE

The Pope's authentic presence on Twitter has been, in my opinion, the single most significant evangelistic move by the Vatican regarding it's use of new media (and maybe old media, too) in our day. At least it has the potential to be so.

The Vatican website, the Pope2You project, Vatican radio, the Youtube channel and all of the other notable steps they've taken have been important, but @Pontifex (the Pope's twitter handle) has the most potential when it comes to evangelization. And, ironically, it's probably been the most simple.

I say all of this because:

• It will probably end up regularly reaching the most people who need evangelizing (out of all those projects)
• It's...READ MORE

This Christmas, Mass at your parish will be packed with thousands of parishioners that you don't know. Many of which you will likely not see again until next Easter or Christmas. And maybe never again. This is a massive opportunity for parishes and, more importantly, for those parishioners.

These "C&E" parishioners (or simply infrequent visitors new and old) are still waiting for that something that inspires them to take that next step on their faith journey. Something that convinces them of the value of showing up every week and being a regular part of your community.

What are we doing to make that "something" happen? It's our responsibility, actually. And it doesn't have to be that...READ MORE

George Weigel had a thought provoking post-election piece where he proposes that the Church "pre-emptively withdraw from the civil marriage business." And what he means specifically is that our clergy should decline "to act as agents of government in witnessing marriages for purposes of state law." In other words, don't sign the civil papers, deny the role of also acting as government witness, etc. 

He went on to make the case:

"If the Church were to take this dramatic step now, it would be acting prophetically: it would be challenging the state (and the culture) by underscoring that what the state means by 'marriage' and what Catholics mean by “marriage” are radically different,...READ MORE

If you're discouraged or think the world is upside down, I have something for you.

Guess what, regardless of who won the election, today we still have millions of babies being aborted every year. We still have 50% of marriages ending in divorce. We still have a supposedly Christian culture that has separated sex from marriage from procreation. We still have many Americans who are more likely to vote based upon peer pressure, or how nice somebody is, or their own self-interest, or by what the media told them, or by what's socially easy than they are to vote based on their own moral or religious convictions (or any economic sense). We still have lonely and suffering people in our...READ MORE

The ancient Celts and Romans believed that the souls of the dead could walk among us. And every year at the end of October they would wear scary masks and build fires to scare them off.

Christians saw that they got it half right. That the dead (just as the living) do have souls and they are just as much a part of the Church as the rest of us. Additionally, Christians recognize that other spiritual beings, good and evil, do in fact exist - many of them seeking your ruin. In the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration of All Saints Day (Martyrs Day at the time) to Nov 1...in effect "baptizing" these ancient pagan celebrations and re-orienting them to the truth. So that made the...READ MORE

I often here people talk about the online world vs. the "real world" as if they are exclusive or contradictory things. And that's understandable in an age where we're all trying to figure out just how all this new technology is supposed to fit into our lives in a healthy way.

But just because something is online or digital doesn't mean it's not real. As people of faith, we of all people should know that just because something can't be physically touched doesn't mean it's not real. Lots of "real" things are happening online. Real people are making real connections there, sharing real truth with real feelings that are every bit a part of reality as anything else in your life.

Sure, a...READ MORE

We've heard the line a million times. "I'm against abortion except in the case of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother." We disappointingly heard Paul Ryan repeat it as the "Romney Administration's" position on abortion in the recent debate.

The rape part I get. I think it's wrong and illogical, but I at least understand the emotional appeal there. The idea of a woman bearing the child of her rapist is an unimaginably heart-wrenching proposition. It's something nobody should ever have to do. And in the midst of such emotional wreckage, it's easy to be fooled into thinking that if we can all look away for a moment while we snuff the baby out and pretend he/she never...READ MORE